by Laura Savini
WLIW21 Vice President of Marketing & Communications
This morning WLIW21 debuted our new on-air station IDs featuring the soulful sounds of American jazz trumpeter Chris Botti! The jazz-rock theme music was composed by Juilliard third-year undergraduate student Niccolo Athens and arranged by composer Chuck Lovejoy. When I first heard the arrangement I was inspired by the beautiful trumpet lead and thought, “I want viewers to hear the WLIW21 I.D. music and think, ‘That’s a hip, cool station that I want to be a part of.’” Chris Botti was the style we were looking for—so I called and asked him to play it! Chris and I have worked together on air many times, and he’s partnered with WLIW21 and other stations across the country for three successful PBS specials, including Chris Botti in Boston, so he quickly agreed.
“I wanted to do this for WLIW21 because they’re one of the PBS stations that supported me early in my career. Supporting a New York cultural institution is important and recording this music for WLIW21 is my personal way to say thanks,” said Botti. Chris’ playing is breathtaking, as usual. His interpretation literally brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn’t be happier with the results.
Professionally, this is exciting for WLIW21 and our audience – to have this talent sharing his beautiful playing with us all day long. Personally, Chris is at the very top of my list of favorites as a person and a talent. I am proud to have his music grace our airwaves. And his playing is such a perfect match with the Niccolo Athens composition. Chris and WLIW21 are both strongly committed to supporting the next generation in their endeavors.
Listen for Chris’ playing in WLIW21’s new station IDs during program breaks throughout the day. The IDs also feature footage of New York metro area icons, including Coney Island, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Long Island shoreline. For more information on WLIW21’s new look, read Inside THIRTEEN’s Q&A with Michael Bierut of design studio Pentagram.
Watch WLIW21’s new station IDs right now, and let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.
Listen to the full version of WLIW21’s new theme music featuring Chris Botti.
Thanks for your support,
Laura Savini
WLIW21 Vice President of Marketing & Communications
Really love the smooth, cool jazz combined with the seascape and river scape visuals. Definitely captures the essence of summer.
Laura – I live upstate, so, alas, I can’t watch WLIW over the air, but I can find you online and I love your new station IDs. How terrific that you have such an emerging new talent in your midst as young Mr. Athens, and that a luminary like the marvellous Chris Botti added the unmistakable sound of his gorgeous trumpet to the project! (I’m a big fan of Chris’s music.) Your new station IDs present a marvellous combination of compelling images and evocative sounds – kudos to you and WLIW for taking such a creative approach to what otherwise often can be uninspiring brief segments of airtime. Bravo!
I just wanted to say that I absolutely love the background music. When my husband is watching “This Old House” and it breaks between shows I stop whatever I’m doing and listen to it.
I went online to your website for the soul purpose of finding out whose music is playing during those station ids. The visuals and music are perfect!!! Beautiful collaberation!!
I love the jazzy soulful music playing during station ids and the NY scenic views. It is so calming. I just had to go online and find out who was playing and see if the tune was on a jazz cd that was on sale.
Like so many comments before me, I too, had to go online to try and find this beautiful tune. I what a lovely piece. I feel like an “Honored New Yorker” when I hear this play and view the scense of NY. Again, beautiful!
Is the C Botti theme available?
This theme vividly captures the pulse of New York City! There is no other location/city that is painted in the mind when it plays. It is definitely NYC’s theme song!