Tag Archives: WBCQ The Planet

Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bill Tilford, who shares this From The Isle of Music update:

March 21 in the Americas (March 22 in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania), our very special guest will be Ivan Acosta, leader of the Jazz ensemble Grupo de Cuba Somos in Santiago de Cuba, along with 3 songs by his ensemble. Also, more of Piñera Concertante, some vintage 1970s hits by Los Latinos and Grupo Los Llamas and some Timba from Dayron y El Boom.

*** Every Monday night from 8pm-9pm EDT in North, Central and South America (Tuesday morning from 0000-0100 UTC in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania) on the short waves on WBCQ The Planet, 7.490 MHz: From the Isle of Music, a new radio program dedicated to the music of Cuba – Jazz, Fusion, Timba, Nueva Trova, Son, Classical, Folklorica, interviews with musicians, even a little history of the music now and then. Partly in English, en parte en español. “Like” our page to keep informed about what we will bring you. (For those without shortwave or outside of viable signal range, there are also a couple of ways to stream the frequency via Internet; see the instructions in our NOTES section).

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Update: From the Isle of Music

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Many thanks to SWLing Post reader, Bill Tilford, who shares this From The Isle of Music update:

Starting March 14 we will be at 0200-0300 UTC Tuesdays (8-9 PM EST Mondays in the Americas)

March 14 in the Americas (March 15 in Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceania), our special guest will be Leo Garcia, leader of Timbalive, which just released a new Timba album, Gasolina de Avion; we’ll converse with him and play some music from the album. We’ll also play a new single by Haila Maria Mompie. We’ll also share more of the Cuban Classical album Piñera Concertante, a great new Jazz release by Cesar López & Habana Ensemble, and some traditional music by Ecos de Tivoli.

*** Every Monday night from 8pm-9pm EST in North, Central and South America (Tuesday morning from ~~0200-0300 UTC~~ [CORRECTION 00:00-01:00 UTC] in Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania) on the short waves on WBCQ The Planet, 7.490 MHz: From the Isle of Music, a new radio program dedicated to the music of Cuba – Jazz, Fusion, Timba, Nueva Trova, Son, Classical, Folklorica, interviews with musicians, even a little history of the music now and then. Partly in English, en parte en español. “Like” our page to keep informed about what we will bring you.

(For those without shortwave or outside of viable signal range, there are also a couple of ways to stream the frequency via Internet; see the instructions in our NOTES section).

Click here to view the From the Isle Of Music Facebook page.

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WBCQ moving from 5,110 to 5,130 kHz

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SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who hosts a radio show on WBCQ, received the following message from the station yesterday:

The FCC has just informed Allan Weiner that the military needs our 5110 frequency.

So your show on Friday 3/11 (10pm Eastern – midnight) will be broadcast on 9330 and 5130.

WBCQ has been announcing this change on the air. Many thanks to Mike, who shared this video of Allan Weiner making the announcement last night:

Click here to view on YouTube.

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From the Isle of Music: a new music program on shortwave

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Havana, Cuba (Photo: Wikimedia)

Many thanks to Bill Tilford, Owner/Producer at Tilford Productions, who writes:

Beginning Monday, February 1, I will be hosting a weekly, hour-long music program, From the Isle of Music, dedicated to the music of Cuba, on WBCQ, 7.490 MHz, every Monday night from 8-9pm EST (currently 0100-0200 UTC).

I began listening to shortwave in childhood and now want to give something back to the medium.

This will be a cultural panorama of multiple genres from Classical to traditional music to Timba to Jazz to Funk, including a lot of things that people outside of Cuba might not know are played there. There will also be interviews. It will be partly in English, partly in Spanish. I hope to do this in the spirit of some of the best cultural programming of the golden years of shortwave.

There is a Facebook page, also titled From the Isle of Music, with more information.

Many thanks, Bill! I will certainly tune in and look forward to your music selections and commentary. Please keep us informed if you have any updates!

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The Amateur Astronomer: Tune in to Troy’s Christmas gift

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SWLing Post reader, Troy Riedel, received a gift like no other from his son this Christmas. No, it wasn’t the fabulous Celestron telescope in the above photo. On Christmas Eve (December 24) Troy sent the following message:

Merry Christmas, Thomas.

I have to tell you what my son gave me for Christmas a few hours ago.

He purchased 1-hour of radio time for me on WBCQ (5110) for Wednesday, 30 December at 8 P.M. EST.

I will have to pre-record approximately 50-55 minutes over the coming days (not much time to prepare).

After telling my son this is cool – I also added this is the most stressful gift I’ve ever received.

My son suggested I may want to talk about astronomy.

A cool gift, indeed. Evidently––and even more cool–– Troy is something of a hardcore amateur astronomer. I also encouraged him to do a show on this topic; I can’t think of the last time I heard a show about astronomy on shortwave!

Troy Riedel, host of The Amateur Astronomer

So, despite the challenge of putting a show together in less than a week, Troy confirmed yesterday that he has already completed the show and WBCQ will air it at the following time/frequency:

5,110 kHz on Dec 30, 2015 at 8:00 PM EST (1:00 UTC December 31, 2015)

Troy is looking forward to reception reports and will announce the address during the broadcast.

Oh––and being the good man he is, Troy is also including a PSA for Ears To Our World. Thanks, Troy!

Looking forward to the show!

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