The New Thing, named after a term applied to avant-garde jazz, also sponsored photography, art, music, and karate classes. The situation at WPFW is but one example of the crisis confronting jazz radio across the country. Today's Playlist But Hughes maintains that the new schedule is in line with the stations historic values while pushing the limits of its audience. One highlight was a visit by Charles Mingus. A recent radio show on WPFW began with a quote from Shakespeares Henry V, as the love-struck king woos his future wife. 360Development Director202-588-0999 ext. Whoops! His program on WPFW, however, focused more on blues vocals than jazz instrumentals, and soon he was singing at live performances. Is it a community of mostly black leftwing jazz fans who are also interested in foreign affairs, zydeco, and alternative medicine? The first announcers were Faunee Williams, who hosted the morning drive-time show, and Gwen Redding, who was heard in the afternoon. But the proposed new programmingexcept perhaps a neosoul show from Atlanta that was quickly ditchedhardly seems to change that. var addy_text39617 = 'news' + '@' + 'wpfw' + '.' + 'org'; On Saturday, June 2, from 1 p.m.-3 p.m., we will host "Jazz FM: Maintaining Tradition," a presentation on jazz music and history in the D.C. and Baltimore areas.With help from veteran broadcasters Miyuki Williams of WPFW-FM and George "Doc" Manning of WEAA-FM, we will explore the media's role in jazz preservation as Williams and Manning share their on-air and off-air experiences on presenting . var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; Hearing his voice was always a guarantee that Id hear an old favorite or a new release or if I was lucky, a combination of both! Still, even there hes made changes, dropping a couple of niche programs and bringing in a new one focused on go-go and other D.C. sounds, House of Soul, hosted by James Funk of Rare Essence and DJ Adrian Loving. A part of WPFW died over the weekend By Clinton Yates December 3, 2012 When I left WPFW (89.3 FM) as an on-air volunteer nearly two years ago, it was because I was dreading this day. //