RAIN DATE: SEPTEMBER 4, 2008

On September 4, 2008, around 10 a.m., anyone within range of NCCU’s bowl area will hear the sounds of cool mainstream jazz wafting through the air as WNCU 90.7 FM presents “Jazz in the Bowl.” WNCU’s morning announcer, B.H. Hudson, will bring the music and her laid back style to the yard to welcome students, faculty and staff back to campus for the beginning of another academic year.

“We have fun with the music here at WNCU and we want everyone in the NCCU community to hear what we do and be excited by it,” said Hudson. “We want them to know Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and other jazz greats past and present. And most of all we want them to know that they don’t have to go far to listen to the greats. WNCU is located in the Farrison Newton Communications building on campus”.

Jazz guitarist Kevin Van Sant will perform live at this event. He is a jazz guitarist based in Durham, NC. Van Sant regularly performs across North Carolina and elsewhere on the East Coast. He has also performed in Russia and throughout Europe. Performances in Europe include five times at the legendary Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland.

WNCU general manager, Edith Thorpe, hopes “Jazz in the Bowl” will entice faculty, staff, and new student listeners to WNCU.

“One of our primary commitments at WNCU is to make sure that our students are aware of mainstream jazz in its many forms,” said Thorpe. “With this event, we hope to further demonstrate our pledge to make sure that jazz is alive and well in this community. What better way to do this than to expose our young people to this extraordinary music. Jazz doesn’t have a hip hop beat, it swings. We want to be a conduit to help NCCU students explore this music.”

WNCU 90.7 FM is a National Public Radio affiliate station and functions as a training facility for student interns. WNCU is one of only a few jazz stations in the country to play mainstream jazz as a primary format.

“Jazz in the Bowl” is free and open to the public. This event will air live on WNCU 90.7 FM from 10 a.m. until 11:45 p.m. Thursday, August 28, 2008. For additional information call 919-530-7445.