WNYC Radio's The Jazz Loft Project

FAIN: TR-50008-08

WNYC Radio (New York, NY 10013-1220)
Sara Fishko (Project Director: January 2008 to September 2010)

Production of two one-hour radio programs, 10 shorter modules (8 to 14 minutes each) and digital components on the history and culture of jazz in New York during the 1950s and 1960s.

WNYC Radio requests a $100,000 production grant (outright funds) from the NEH for the broadcast portion of The Jazz Loft Radio Project, a documentary radio series that will feature a collection of audio recordings taken by photojournalist W. Eugene Smith during the years 1957-1965 in the "Jazz Loft," an after-hours meeting place for many of the day's best jazz musicians. Sara Fishko, WNYC producer and host, will work with Sam Stephenson, The Jazz Loft Project founder, and a panel of scholarly and professional advisors to produce 10 programs of 8 to 14 minutes in length featuring material from audio archive, interviews, narration, and sound design. The series is designed to introduce Smith's collection to the general public and investigate a range of broad-based humanities themes, including jazz and musicology, urban politics, civil rights, and cultural development, among others, through the lens of jazz music.

Media Coverage

W. Eugene Smith and the Jazz Loft (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Gene Santoro
Publication: Chamber Music Magazine
Date: 10/11/2009
Abstract: On W. Eugene Smith and the Jazz Loft (Chamber Music Magazine, September/October 2009)
URL: http://www.jazzloftproject.org/files/file/ChamberMusic001.pdf

ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award (Media Coverage)
Author(s): ASCAP/Deems Taylor
Date: 11/21/2011
Abstract: The Jazz Loft Project wins 2010 ASCAP Deems Taylor Award
URL: http://www.jazzloftproject.org/blog/general/jazz-loft-project-wins-2010-ascap-deems-taylor-award

2010 Deadline Club Award (Media Coverage)
Author(s): 2010 Deadline Club Award
Date: 11/21/2011
URL: http://www.deadlineclub.org/2011/01/09/2010-awards/

2010 New York Press Club Award / "Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York" Award (Media Coverage)
Date: 11/21/2011
URL: http://www.nypressclub.org/awards.php

2010 National Headliner Award (Media Coverage)
Date: 11/21/2011
URL: http://www.headlinerawards.com/Winners2010Broadcast.html

Associated Products

The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series (Radio/Audio Broadcast or Recording)
Title: The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series
Writer: Sara Fishko
Producer: Sara Fishko
Abstract: From 1957 to 1965, the master photographer W. Eugene Smith had a studio and darkroom in a dilapidated building on 6th Avenue north of 28thstreet in Manhattan. The Jazz Loft, as it became known, had already become a favored spot for jam sessions by hundreds of jazz players of the day. During his years there, Smith became obsessed with the goings-on in the building, musical and otherwise, and he taped and photographed them with an unimaginable thoroughness, capturing thousands of hours of sound as well as tens of thousands of images. The sounds and stories that emerged from those years are the basis for The Jazz Loft Project, a ten-part radio series. Hear the whole story of the Jazz Loft years in The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series. Original air dates: 11/16/09-11/25/09
Date: 11/16/09
Primary URL: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/jazz-loft/2010/feb/01/
Primary URL Description: The website for The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series
Format: Radio
Format: Digital File
Format: Web

Prizes

2010 ASCAP/Deems Taylor Award
Date: 12/9/2010
Organization: ASCAP/Deems Taylor
Abstract: ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) has announced the winners of the 42nd Annual ASCAP Deems Taylor Awards for outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music... The ASCAP Deems Taylor Multimedia Award honors three inter-related undertakings: a book, The Jazz Loft Project: Photographs and Tapes of W. Eugene Smith from 821 Sixth Avenue, 1957-1965, Written by Sam Stephenson, Published by Alfred A. Knopf; a radio program, The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series: Produced at WNYC Radio (in association with the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University) by Sara Fishko with Dean Cappello, Julie Burstein and Edward Haber; and a website, www.jazzloftproject.org, produced at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University by Sam Stephenson, Lauren Hart and Dan Partridge.

2010 Deadline Club Award
Date: 1/9/2010
Organization: The Deadline Club
Abstract: Winner for "General Reporting" in Radio/Audio: Deadline Club, 2010 · Sara Fishko, Edward Haber, Julie Burstein, Dean Cappello, WNYC, Jazz Loft Project Radio Series

2010 New York Press Club Award / "Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York" Award
Date: 2/1/2010
Organization: New York Press Club Award
Abstract: "Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York" Award Story or series that is most complimentary of New York City.

2010 National Headliner Award
Date: 1/1/2010
Organization: National Headliner Awards
Abstract: Second Place for Documentary or Public Affairs WNYC Radio The Jazz Loft Project Radio Series Sara Fishko

National tour of The Jazz Loft Project (Exhibition)
Title: National tour of The Jazz Loft Project
Curator: Sam Stephenson
Abstract: In January 1955, celebrated photographer W. Eugene Smith quit his longtime job at Life magazine. In search of greater freedom and artistic license, he accepted a three-week freelance assignment in Pittsburgh that turned into a four-year obsession and, in the end, remained unfinished. In 1957, he moved out of the home he shared with his wife and four children in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, and into a dilapidated, five-story loft building at 821 Sixth Avenue (between 28th and 29th streets) in New York City’s wholesale flower district. The building was a late-night haunt of musicians, including some of the biggest names in jazz—Charles Mingus, Zoot Sims, Bill Evans, and Thelonious Monk among them—and countless fascinating, underground characters. As his epic Pittsburgh project broke down, Smith found solace in the chaotic, somnambulistic world of the loft and its artists. The exhibition evokes the jazz loft through more than 200 images, several hours of audio, and 16mm film footage of Smith working in the loft. Setting the scene is Smith’s gritty photographs of the loft and his pictures of the flower district below his fourth-floor loft window. Viewed alongside his master prints, Smith’s 5x7-inch work prints further indicate the breadth and depth of the loft story. Listening stations give access to remastered selections from Smith’s reel-to-reel tapes, which caught everything from rousing jam sessions to historic radio and TV broadcasts, loft conversations, and street noise. Concerts and other programming will supplement the exhibition experience.
Year: 2010
Primary URL: http://www.nypl.org/events/exhibitions/jazz-loft-project

The Jazz Loft: A Preview Performance Chat (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: The Jazz Loft: A Preview Performance Chat
Abstract: Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes In a loft at 821 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, during the late 50’s and early 60’s, jazz musicians gathered nightly for jam sessions. WNYC is at work on the Jazz Loft Radio Project, a ten-part series using a treasure trove of tapes made in the loft by photographer W. Eugene Smith. “Jazz Loft Live” will bring together musicians from that magical time -- who haven’t performed together in decades -- including pianist Dick Katz, vibraphonist Teddy Charles, bass player Bill Crow and drummer Ron Free, to play in the exciting, spontaneous and free-wheeling style that characterized the Jazz Loft era. Project Director Sam Stephenson of CDS at Duke and Senior Producer Sara Fishko of WNYC, will also preview the upcoming Jazz Loft Project, sharing Smith’s photographs and excerpts of the audio tapes. A Q & A with the musicians will round out the evening.
Author: Sara Fishko
Date: 05/07/2009
Location: WNYC, New York Public Radio
Primary URL: http://www.wnyc.org/thegreenespace/events/2009/may/07/jazz-loft-preview-performance-chat/
Primary URL Description: Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes In a loft at 821 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, during the late 50’s and early 60’s, jazz musicians gathered nightly for jam sessions. WNYC is at work on the Jazz Loft Radio Project, a ten-part series using a treasure trove of tapes made in the loft by photographer W. Eugene Smith. “Jazz Loft Live” will bring together musicians from that magical time -- who haven’t performed together in decades -- including pianist Dick Katz, vibraphonist Teddy Charles, bass player Bill Crow and drummer Ron Free, to play in the exciting, spontaneous and free-wheeling style that characterized the Jazz Loft era. Project Director Sam Stephenson of CDS at Duke and Senior Producer Sara Fishko of WNYC, will also preview the upcoming Jazz Loft Project, sharing Smith’s photographs and excerpts of the audio tapes. A Q & A with the musicians will round out the evening.

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