CNN – January 20, 2012 – Etta James, whose assertive, earthy voice lit up such hits as “The Wallflower,” “Something’s Got a Hold on Me” and the wedding favorite “At Last,” has died, according to her longtime friend and manager, Lupe De Leon. She was 73. She died from complications from leukemia with her husband, Artis Mills, and her sons by her side, De Leon said. She was diagnosed with leukemia in 2010, and also suffered from dementia and hepatitis C. James died at a hospital in Riverside, California. She would have turned 74 Wednesday. For more information, click here.

New York Times – January 20, 2012 – Johnny Otis, the musician, bandleader, songwriter, impresario, disc jockey and talent scout who was often called “the godfather of rhythm and blues,” died on Tuesday at his home in Altadena, Calif. He was 90. Leading a band in the late 1940s that combined the high musical standards of big band jazz with the raw urgency of gospel music and the blues, Mr. Otis played an important role in creating a new sound for a new audience of young urban blacks. Within a few years it would form the foundation of rock ’n’ roll. For more information, click here.

Paul Motian, a drummer, bandleader, composer and one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years, died on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 80 and lived in Manhattan. The cause was complications of myelodysplastic syndrome, a blood and bone-marrow disorder, said his niece, Cindy McGuirl. Mr. Motian was a link to groups of the past that informed what jazz sounds like today. He had been in the pianist Bill Evans’s great trio of the late 1950s and early 1960s and in Keith Jarrett’s so-called American quartet during the 1970s. But it was in the second half of his life that Mr. Motian found himself as a composer and bandleader, with work that could be counterintuitive or straightforward, runic or crowd-pleasing. For more information, click here.

Jazz90.1 is pleased to announce the addition of “Roots of Smooth” to its lineup, Wednesday nights at midnight. Each week, The Roots of Smooth provides a place for various music genres to co-exist on the same program and to be heard in a context that connects these genres in relation to a particular featured artist. The commentary offered by the musicians often reaches beyond the music and addresses their own unique and individual humanity, creating a lens that at times examines their lives in intimate ways that you wouldn’t find in a music composition. It is my hope and belief in hearing their stories you will be drawn closer to the music by perhaps seeing yourself through their creative lenses. Hear Roots of Smooth every Wednesday night at midnight only on Member Supported Jazz90.1.

Jazz90.1 is pleased to announce the addition of some great features on our iPhone and Android app! Now you can browse even more photos of station events, see videos from Jazz90.1, check out the latest Jazz90.1 news and headlines, view and save upcoming Jazz90.1 events to your calendar, seen a real time Facebook fan page ticker, view a real time Jazz90.1 playlist, and even download past Sound Bytes radio shows. These changes are in addition to the cool features already included with the app, like our DJ bios section, program schedule, contact and donation pages, and ability to listen to Jazz90.1 streaming live from your device. The best news of all – the Jazz90.1 app for iPhone and Android is FREE from the iTunes app store, and Android Marketplace!

Jazz90.1 is pleased to announce the addition of “Martial Music Muster” to our lineup. The show, hosted by WGMC veteran Paul Pakusch will feature martial music as presented by fife & drum corps, bagpipe bands, brass bands, military bands, and drum & bugle corps.  The show will air every Sunday morning from 6-7 a.m. beginning November 20th. Some of the Rochester area’s own corps will be featured, including the Gates Keystone Club Pipes & Drums, Excelsior Brigade Fife & Drum Corps, and Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps.

Ray Serafin started his 30 year radio broadcasting of the Polka Bandstand Show on August 2nd, 1981 in Rochester, NY. The one hour radio show featured Polkas, Waltzes and Oberek’s and was heard on Sunday afternoons on WGMC 90.1 FM. In 1993 the Polka Bandstand Show moved to Saturday mornings at 10:00am. In April 1994 Al Meilutis joined Ray Serafin as the Co-host of the Polka Bandstand Show. On August 5, 1995 the show expanded to a 2-hour format. And today, the popular radio show airs every Saturday morning in Rochester from 10:00am- 12:00 noon on Jazz90.1. The Polka Bandstand Show can also be heard live around the world on the Internet at www.jazz901.org.
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Jazz90.1 is pleased to announce the addition of the popular Jazz at Lincoln Center radio program with Wynton Marsalis to its lineup. The weekly series can be heard on Jazz90.1 (WGMC-FM) Wednesday evenings at 8 p.m. Jazz at Lincoln Center is dedicated to inspiring and growing audiences for jazz through television and radio programs, live performances, publications and education. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and a comprehensive array of guest artists, Jazz at Lincoln Center advances a unique vision for the continued development of the art of jazz by producing a year-round schedule of broadcast events for audiences of all ages.
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New York Times – June 3, 2011 - Ray Bryant, a jazz pianist whose sensitivity and easy authority made him a busy accompanist and a successful solo artist, beginning in the mid-1950s, died on Thursday. He was 79. His wife of 20 years, Claude Bryant, said he died at New York Hospital Queens after a long illness. He lived in Jackson Heights, Queens. Mr. Bryant had a firm touch and an unshakable sense of time, notably in his left hand, which he often used to build a bedrock vamp. Even in a bebop setting, he favored the ringing tonalities of the gospel church. And he was sumptuously at home with the blues, as a style and a sensibility but never as an affectation.
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May 28, 2010 – NPR - Gil Scott-Heron died Friday afternoon in New York, his book publisher reported. He was 62. The influential poet and musician is often credited with being one of the progenitors of hip-hop, and is best known for the spoken-word piece “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised. Scott-Heron was born in Chicago in 1949. He spent his early years in Jackson, Tenn., attended high school in The Bronx, and spent time at Pennsylvania’s Lincoln University before settling in Manhattan. His recording career began in 1970 with the album Small Talk at 125th and Lenox, which featured the first version of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The track has since been referenced and parodied extensively in pop culture. For more information, click here.