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- This is One-On-One.

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- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

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- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi, everyone.

Welcome to "Remember Them."

Steve Adubato with Jacqui Tricarico, my co-anchor, our executive producer.

Jacqui, we recognize, we honor Cephas Bowles, who was a terrific leader in the world of public media and also the station, the radio station, the jazz, the public jazz radio station that he led for so many years.

WBGO 88.3 on the FM dial streaming all over the world.

Jacqui, I interviewed Steve Williams, who's the current CEO, the leader over at WBGO and also Richard Roper, who has been not just a trustee at WBGO, but a leader and one of the key architects of that station.

What'd you take from those interviews?

- Cephas had such a passion for WBGO and really had such a stand in its evolution over the years, and we get to hear a little bit of that in an interview we see up next of Cephas, a little bump-in video before we see the interviews that you did with those two folks.

From many years ago, Steve is talking about that evolution and how important it was for him to take WBGO to the next level.

And the station started in Newark in his hometown, so he had that direct connection as well.

And I know Steve, you got a chance to interview Cephas many times.

What was something that always struck you when you got to speak with Cephas?

- Well, what's interesting about Cephas, he was born in 1952.

He went to Barringer High School, played for the Barringer High School baseball team.

And I always knew that 'cause I grew up in the neighborhood and he was one of the older guys who had done great things, but he's a great athlete.

But then he transitions into media, a leader in media.

And here's the thing that always struck me about Cephas.

He understood the importance of public media, particularly when you think about where we are right now with public media under attack, assault from so many different angles.

Steve was one of those entrepreneurs, one of those people who loved jazz, who loved public media, but he understood the importance of being a very good business professional, meaning raising money, spending money wisely and truthfully, Jacqui, in all candor, I learned an awful lot about how to run our not-for-profit media production operation from people like Cephas Bowles.

Every person did more than one thing.

You had to run a tight ship.

You couldn't depend upon any one source of funding.

And it was because of Cephas Bowles and others around him that WBGO has become the iconic, important public jazz institution that it is, radio station it is.

- Yeah and a partner of ours, we are so lucky we get to air some of our programming on WBGO, as well.

- Absolutely, so we recognize and honor our late friend, Cephas Bowles, and also the radio station he loved and cared about so much, WBGO.

Check it out.

(bright music) - WBGO from day one was in the clubs recording music.

Why?

Because this is legitimate serious music that needs to be documented, not only for current day listeners, but for those future listeners.

For educational purposes, we need to respect the musicians.

Many people consider jazz to be the highest art form that the African Americans have ever created.

Now we can debate that.

- That America's ever created.

- Exactly.

It is celebrated worldwide.

And WBGO as today, the sole carrier of this music forum on the radio full-time in the jazz center of the world really believes it's important that we document, that we educate and that we exist so that people, both young and old, can enjoy this music.

- We're now joined by Steve Williams, who's President and CEO of WBGO, the iconic, important, significant public jazz radio station based in Newark.

Good to see you, Steve.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

(Steve Williams laughs) - You got it.

Hey, listen, Steve, let's do this.

While we honor and recognize Cephas Bowles, who was instrumental and so important in the development, the evolution of WBGO, we also recognize and pay tribute to WBGO.

Your connection to Cephas.

I knew Cephas early on in my career.

He was a colleague, a friend, a mentor.

He was great.

What did he mean to you, and how were you connected to him?

- Well, first, without Cephas and his amazing stewardship of WBGO, I wouldn't be here, and in fact, I owe this Experience, which has been the greatest professional experience and personal experience for me, being at the helm of WBGO, to Cephas because Cephas is the one that really set the tone and the stage and the security of the institution, all of the innovations and as I said, stewardship that made it possible for WBGO to be in existence by the time I came along.

(Steve Williams laughs) You know, I owe him many things, including this great experience for me.

But, you know, interestingly enough, Steve, I didn't meet Cephas until much later on in his career.

He had already been at WBGO for some time.

When we met in the mid 1990s, I was actually the director of programming for another station, the WQCD, CD 101.9.

- A commercial jazz station.

I love that as well.

- That's right, yeah.

- But different from WBGO.

- They're completely different from WBGO.

- You guys were playing, over there, you were playing Chuck Mangione.

- Chuck Mangione, and- - Let's just say that.

- Kenny G and Grover Washington and David Sanborn.

- Yes.

You guys were saying... You guys are playing Woody Shaw.

(Steve Adubato laughs) - Yeah, right, exactly.

But Cephas being the always curious individual, big brained individual that he was, he had lots of questions for me, WQCD's operations, and we were, by all accounts, a very successful broadcast operation in New York City at that time.

He was very curious about what we were doing, not only to maintain, but to progress as a broadcast entity.

So we had a number of conversations about BGO's relationship to QCD, and that's how we really became friends and got to know each other.

- Steve, for those who don't understand or appreciate, and we've been putting up the website, we'll continue to put up the website for WBGO, for those who don't understand, and by the way, WBGO is one of the first public jazz radio stations to stream, correct?

- Correct, and that was one of his innovations- - One of his many.

- Out of BGO, mm-hmm.

- Yeah, so for those who don't understand and appreciate the significance of WBGO, Help put that in perspective, Steve.

And by the way, on the second half, we're talking to Richard Roper, who if it were not for Richard Roper, there would be- - There would be no WBGO really.

Well, let's put it this way, the BGO that we know today.

WBGO was in existence- - That's right.

- In Newark Public Schools, but it was Richard Roper and a small group of dedicated individuals- - That's right.

- Forward-thinking individuals who then turned what was a part-time radio station, really- - That's right.

- By the students of Newark Public Schools.

- And Steve, hold on.

I'll tell you how crazy it is.

Before WBGO became the station it is, and when it was run by the Newark Public Schools, my dad, my late dad, Steve Adubato Senior, was a teacher at Broadway Junior High, seventh grade history teacher, and he had a show.

(Steve Williams laughs) God rest his soul.

It wasn't good.

It was my father pontificating about history, and the kids never got to say anything, but that was BGO then.

And then what happened, Steve?

- Well, then when BGO signed on the air in 1980, really late 1979 into 1980, it immediately became a focal point for Newark, the community that surrounds WBGO and the country and really the world as being one of the few full-time radio stations that played jazz exclusively.

And since then, WBGO has grown and become the preeminent, the leading jazz media organization in the world.

We have close to a million followers in the New York City Metropolitan Area, which includes Newark, and tens of thousands of followers across the globe on every continent, even Antarctica.

We have listeners in Antarctica- - They're very loyal.

Why so loyal, Steve?

- Because of our dedication, our steadfast dedication, to a single notion, which is jazz broadcasting.

And it's a rare thing for any broadcast entity to exist as one single thing, the thing that they started out as, for as long as WBGO has.

In fact, in New York City, there are more than 60 signals, and less than five of them are broadcasting the same format that they started with at the beginning of their existence.

BGO is certainly one of them.

- Lemme also share this.

In addition to being the most significant jazz radio station anywhere in the country, in the world, as Steve just said, there's public affairs, news-centric programming.

We are, in fact... Our programming is also broadcast on WGBO's.

- That's right.

- Our friend Doug Doyle there as well.

So there's a great news and public affairs operation as well.

Let me ask you this, in the time that we are taping this, Steve, going into the fall of 2025, with the assault, if you will, on public media, where does WBGO fit in, A and B. I know this is an unfair question.

What do you think Cephas would think?

- I think Cephas, he and I would be in alignment on many things as it relates to the state of public media in the country and the prospects for WBGO.

As you probably know, public media has been in the crosshairs from a political standpoint for decades.

And so, Cephas, as I have, really part of our existence is to prepare for the eventuality of independence.

And, in this most recent defunding of public media, including WBGO, I think we lost about a half a million dollars in funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which makes up close to 10% of our annual operating budget.

But because we've been preparing for this eventuality for decades, really, but more recently, for the last 18 months, we are firmly implanted in our community and prepared, you know, for survival, not just survival, but ultimately thriving- - That's right.

- By becoming more than just a radio station.

As I said earlier, we are really a global jazz media entity, and it's that distinction, which will be the key to our survival ultimately, and we will survive, yeah.

- WBGO will survive, and Cephas Bowles was a big part of that and- - Played a huge role, a huge role, even today.

The things that he did prepared us for- - That's right.

- Yeah, where we are today.

- Yeah.

Steve Williams is the President and CEO of a great public media institution, WBGO.

Hey, Steve.

Thank you.

I appreciate it, my friend.

- Thank you, Steve, for giving me the opportunity, and again, I want to thank Cephas and his family for keeping WBGO alive long enough for me to be able to realize my dreams.

- You got it.

I'm gonna talk to Richard Roper right after this.

More about the great Cephas Bowles and WBGO.

Stay with us.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We are honored to be joined by Richard Roper, who has many titles, but I'm gonna put this in perspective.

He is the founding trustee Newark Public Radio Inc, the licensee of Radio Station WBGO Jazz 88.

I've known Richard for many years.

He had a long history and legacy at Princeton University and has been a policy expert for many years, and there would not be WBGO and what it's become if Richard we're not a key player in that.

Richard, thank you for joining us, we appreciate it.

- My pleasure.

- You know, we'll talk about Cephas a little bit, Cephas Bowles just a little bit, and it's very much connected.

Why does the legacy and the impact of WBGO matter so much, now more than ever, Richard?

- Well, I think when news and public affairs are so truncated, the voice of WBGO is an important part of the infrastructure, the news infrastructure for this region.

The station provides classical American music, called jazz, but it also provides news and public affairs that I think is of value to Newarkers, the greater Newark region, and beyond.

In the absence of print newspaper, print media, and investigative reporting, an organization like WBGO, with the capacity to reach thousands of people across the region, that's the New York Metropolitan region, makes it an essential part of what is the news infrastructure for the region.

- Richard, when you got, and first of all, when did you get involved and why in WBGO?

- I was, at one time, director of something called the Office of Newark Studies.

It was an entity created by New Jersey Foundations with the intent of providing expert policy advice to the first Black mayor, African American mayor of the city of Newark, Ken Gibson.

I was a staff member initially.

In fact, my first job after graduate school was with the Office of Newark Studies.

Subsequently, I became its director, and while director, I supervised the final stages of a study that my predecessor, Jack Kroskov, had initiated, looking at something called WBGO FM, a radio station owned and operated by the Newark Board of Education.

Unfortunately, the Newark Board of Education was not in a position to take advantage of that resource, and it was, in effect, laying an extra piece of responsibility for which the board could not provide resources.

So Jack Kroskov initiated the study, led by a fellow by the name of Robert Ottenhoff, to take a look at what might be done to address how that resource might be maximized.

And it was Bob's work over the course of a couple of years that led to a proposal that the board be asked to give up ownership of the station to allow a nonprofit entity, that I then was responsible for creating, called Newark Public Radio Inc.

and allowing it to petition the FCC to assume the ownership of the license.

That was done.

But we had one big obstacle.

The board was not sure this was a good idea, but the Mayor of Newark.

- They weren't using it, Richard.

- They weren't using it, that's correct.

They didn't have the resources, the capacity to take advantage of it.

And we, Bob Ottenhoff and I, convinced Mayor Gibson, actually, it was my job to make this case with the mayor, since I was the director of the office.

The office, by the way, was a part of the mayor's cabinet.

It was created by foundations to assist the mayor, but it was administered for the city by Rutgers University.

So I was being paid, and in fact, the staff that participated with the office were not paid by city government, we were paid by Foundations, but through grants made to Rutgers University.

But the mayor was convinced that the resource that was available to the region should be made available to the region, and he encouraged the board to accept the proposal from the Office of Newark Studies to transfer the license from the board to Newark Public Radio Inc.

And a three member board of trustees was created to serve as the managing policy arm of the station.

That was me, a woman by the name of Rita Cohen, who was then the president of the New Jersey League of Women Voters, the statewide New Jersey League of Women Voters, and a third person from NJIT, the finance director there.

- Well, folks, someone might say, "Wow, that sounds complicated."

And the answer is yes.

- It was.

- It must have been.

And for those of us who are involved in public broadcasting, we have our own, as I always tell folks this, we have our own 501-C3, the Caucus Educational Corporation, but we are partners and colleagues.

We our partners in public media.

And public media is a complicated endeavor.

And partnerships, collaborations, contracts, boards, all of it is complex.

But along those lines, what made Cephas Bowles such a great leader at WBGO, please, Richard?

- Cephas was a Newarker by birth.

He had gone to the West coast for his college education.

He came back to the region because we asked him to come back.

He was a successful general manager of a public radio station on the West coast.

And we were in the process of selecting the third person to lead as general manager of WBGO.

Cephas was intrigued by our interest in him, and he saw the opportunity to make an impact at an institution that was Newark based, that was trying to serve as a vehicle for communication in the region, and was, interestingly enough, concerned about reaching, not just the Newark audience, but the broader regional audience.

And he was the right guy to enliven what WBGO was becoming, had not become as yet, but what WBGO was becoming, which is a national treasure.

- And Cephas, by way of background, I only know this from living in the North Ward of Newark, one of the five wards in the city, one of the public high school in the north ward of Newark was Barringer High School, where, in fact, Cephas went there and was not only a great student, but a great athlete, played baseball as well.

And you should also check out two things.

Number one, research Cephas Bowles.

The other thing is, Richard Roper mentioned Ken Gibson, the mayor of Newark.

we did an in-depth examination of Mayor Gibson, our website, "Remember Them," is up right now.

Look at that.

It is an extraordinary documentary about the mayor.

Richard, you wanted to say, I interrupted you, I apologize.

- Oh, no, I was simply going to say that Cephas was special.

He brought not only talent, but a vigor, a commitment to the station, but also a commitment to Newark and the Newark metropolitan region.

He was a special guy.

We loved him.

He left us too soon.

- Absolutely.

Let me ask you this, in the couple minutes we have left.

For those of us who have dedicated our professional lives to public media, to media, but particularly public media, and WBGO being the most significant public radio station in the region, and the national treasure around Jazz.

What is your greatest concern about the future for public media in this time, in this environment, Richard?

- Well, obviously, the posture of the current administration in Washington is not one that is inspiring, quite frankly.

In fact, it's just the opposite.

It has taken a position that is hostile to public radio.

It has taken a posture that is hostile to a cultural expression that doesn't conform to a politically conservative agenda.

And those two things make it very difficult for institutions like WBGO to hang on.

But I believe it will survive.

It's in the process of being relocated from its current studio to a site on the NJPAC campus.

BGO will become a part of what is a highly regarded artistic venue in the region, in the state, actually in the nation.

And I think that's gonna make a big difference and help it continue to do the kinds of good work it has been doing.

- And we'll continue to partner, and by the way, you can check us out, our programming on WBGO, and we're longtime partners with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as Richard mentioned.

- Terrific, terrific.

- Richard, I cannot thank you enough for joining us.

We wish you all the best, and thank you for your very meaningful contributions to public media, particularly WBGO, and to share your very personal recollections of Cephas Bowles.

Thank you, Richard, all the best.

- And thank you for bringing this issue to the attention of the broader public.

- Thank you.

Listen, to all of you, check out all of our "Remember Them" specials on people who are no longer with us, but their legacy lives on.

I'm Steve Adubato, for my colleague, Jacqui Tricarico, and our entire team, I thank you so much for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by PSEG Foundation.

NJM Insurance Group.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.

The New Jersey Education Association.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

United Airlines.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

And by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by BestofNJ.com.

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