Beginning in June 2024, NIU Associate Professor of Jazz Guitar and Jazz Studies Bobby Broom will host a new original program, Jazz Spectrum, on WNIJ 89.5. Broom is a jazz guitarist and associate professor of jazz guitar and jazz studies in NIU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts. He’ll draw on his long career as a musician and educator to entertain the northern Illinois public radio audience and introduce the history of jazz music.
“We’re thrilled that Bobby Broom will be hosting this weekly program on WNIJ 89.5,” says Station Manager Staci Hoste. “The J in WNIJ stands for jazz! When WNIJ signed on in 1991, jazz was a staple of the station’s programming, and we’re excited to be returning to those jazz roots.”
Friday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., Broom will share jazz music that represents the breadth and depth of the great American art form. Guided by his well-informed jazz aesthetic and personal taste, the show will cover a wide range of jazz in a variety of styles, eras, instrumental configurations, moods, etc. He’ll present the music within a narrative that illuminates cultural, historic and thematic relevance.
“Jazz is America’s gift to the world,” Broom says. “After its first 100 years, jazz continues to grow and flourish – and with today’s talented musicians, it’s in good hands. I can’t wait to celebrate the jazz of the past, present and future with public radio listeners.”
Broom began studying guitar at the age of 12, and by the age of 16 he was known in New York City as a jazz prodigy. In his long career as a jazz musician – based first in New York and later Chicago – Broom has 15 commercial album releases to his credit and has performed concerts on five continents. Broom has toured and recorded with world-renowned jazz musicians such as Sonny Rollins and as a band leader. He has brought his jazz guitar sensibility to a wide range of styles, from smooth jazz to classic jazz standards, to jazz interpretations of pop, rock and blues classics.
Broom’s primary focus will be on entertaining, with the hopes of encouraging listeners’ interest and discovery of jazz music. Themes such as “Jazz’s Most Famous Year (1959)” and “Jazz and the Great American Songbook” will provide an enjoyable listening experience while helping to build knowledge of jazz history. The show will usually be pre-recorded, but Broom encourages listener requests and questions via online engagement. He’ll also host periodic live in-studio broadcasts.
Learn more or listen online at wnij.org/jazzspectrum.