Jazz Power Initiative and WBGO Radio Have Announced a New Partnership to Advance Their Shared Mission

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 30, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Jazz Power Initiative (JPI) and WBGO Radio have announced their intent to partner in support of their shared commitment to “curate, preserve, present, and teach jazz as a living force for personal growth, community connection, and cultural understanding.”

This partnership will connect the Upper Manhattan communities served by JPI—Harlem, Washington Heights, and Inwood—with New Jersey, especially Newark, where WBGO is based, and extend their reach globally.

Eli Yamin, a.k.a. “Dr. E”, Co-founder, Managing and Artistic Director of JPI, had this to say about the partnership, “Twenty-two-year-old Jazz Power Initiative is one of 47-year-old WBGO's children and, like family, we live and breathe by the same jazz beat. In partnership, we will be stronger in service to our beloved community, making jazz music and culture eternally accessible to audiences, young, old, and everywhere in between.”

Together, these two publicly funded arts and culture institutions do the important work of preserving this musical genre rooted in African American tradition, and often referred to as “America’s Classical Music.”

For over four decades, WBGO has preserved and promoted jazz music and culture. Since 2004, Jazz Power Initiative has developed young musicians and fostered their creative growth. Together, both organizations have introduced thousands to jazz pioneers and legends, while providing emerging artists with opportunities to perform and connect with audiences.

Steven A. Williams, WBGO’s President & CEO, stated, “Collaboration is elemental in the worlds of jazz and community service, and so it is quite natural for WBGO and JPI to be drawn together by the magnetism of our shared purpose - and the possibilities for synergy that can feed the cultural and intellectual appetites that exist among the constituencies we serve. In fact, the extraordinary potential for extension and enhancement begs the question: why hasn’t a collaboration between our organizations happened before now!”

The partnership will launch in April with joint initiatives to engage both organizations’ audiences and ensure that jazz continues to unite the global community through its improvisational spirit.

Together, these organizations uphold jazz as a model for expressive freedom, intergenerational learning, and community empowerment. By combining education, performance, and public media, they aim to foster a more informed, inclusive, and creatively engaged society shaped by the enduring power of jazz.

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ABOUT JAZZ POWER INITIATIVE
Jazz Power Initiative (JPI), the d/b/a of The Jazz Drama Program, is a Northern Manhattan based non-profit organization committed to transforming lives through jazz performance and education. Founded in 2003 by jazz musician Eli Yamin, a.k.a Dr. E, and teacher/writer Clifford Carlson, JPI centers jazz, rooted in African American culture, within American history and community. Through immersive programs in jazz music, theatre, and dance, JPI has reached nearly 10,000 youth and over 1,100 educators, and has presented more than 260 performances featuring over 100 professional musicians each year.

ABOUT WBGO
WBGO broadcasts to millions of radio listeners in the New York/New Jersey metro area via 88.3FM, and many thousands more globally via WBGO.org, and variety of radio streaming services. From its home base of Newark, New Jersey, WBGO also produces award winning podcasts and the nationally syndicated program Jazz Night In America, which is co-produced by NPR and heard on 200 stations nationwide. WBGO is also widely regarded as an anchor institution in community engagement through its partnerships, concerts, education, and editorial programming.

Sam Mattigly
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