One of the city’s oldest radio stations recently celebrated its 50th anniversary at Symphony Hall during the Atlanta Jazz Festival.
For five decades, WCLK has broadcast classical and contemporary jazz and gospel music as a way to foster community engagement, artistic expression and musical education.
The concert series, called WCLK@50, saluted the NPR affiliate with a retrospective of music they aired through the years.
“WCLK is my favorite station in the world, and I don’t say that because I am affiliated with this show. said John “Lil’ John” Roberts, musician, professor at the Berklee College of Music and musical director for WCLK@50. “[WCLK] is my second home.”
Roberts directed the concert’s all-star band of Atlanta’s finest jazz musicians like Phil Davis, Rodney Edge and Tres Gilbert with performances by Kathleen Bertrand, Cleveland Jones, Rhonda Thomas, and Iman Grace-Cooper.
The concert was also a homecoming, as it was part of this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival, which WCLK participates in every year.
Roberts said that he and others approached Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the director of the jazz festival, about adding the station’s 50th anniversary concert to the festivities and she thought it was a great idea.
“They said we would like to take this to the city of Atlanta for the jazz festival and see if they would mind having the stage where we would have a WCLK@50 tribute and I said ‘yeah, let’s see what comes out of it,’” Williams said.
Roberts said the concert had a “magical vibe” and everyone was smiling cheek-to-cheek hearing some of their favorite songs and danced in their seats and even in the isles.
“The show was mesmerizing,” said Wendy Williams, General Manager for WCLK. “WCLK was blessed by each and every performance that covered five decades of music that you can only get from our station.”
For over five decades, WCLK has served the Atlanta metro area, with its mission to develop and provide high-quality multimedia and broadcast programming that uplifts, educates, and informs its listeners globally.
On April 10, 1974, WCLK took to the airwaves for the first time with a small 54-watt transmitter housed at the McPhetters-Dennis Hall on the campus of Clark College,now Clark Atlanta University. “Maiden Voyage” by Herbie Hancock was the first song played, which became a historical moment for the capital city.
“It started out as a student training ground laying the groundwork for WCLK along the Mass Media Arts department, instructors and others in the community,” Williams said.
She added that they wanted to convey community when they gathered the jazz luminaries of the Atlanta metro area.
Williams said that WCLK@50 was the a continuation of a series of more events in the months ahead making the celebration far from over.
One of its firsts was inspired by the 1958 “Great Day in Harlem” photo op. The station organized the “Great Day in Atlanta,” featuring jazz musicians, WCLK alumni and staff, and CAU President Dr. George French.
Former mayors Shirley Franklin, Bill Campbell and former Atlanta First Lady Valerie Jackson, representing the late Mayor Maynard Jackson, joined current Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens seated in front of the steps at the school’s Harkness Hall.
The next installment of the WCLK@50 concert series will be Jul. 6 at the Stockbridge Amphitheatre featuring violinist Karen Briggs with performances by Regina Belle, Phil Perry, Oleta Adams, and Tommy Davidson and hosted by Kerry Gordy.
Tickets are on sale now.
The following photos were taken by our own Kelly Jordan:
A WCLK 50th anniversary retrospective by Kelly Jordan
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