Frank Sinatra Jr., center, with WBGO Board of Trustees Chair Stephen N. Ifshin and WBGO President and CEO Amy Niles at the ballroom of the Mandarin Oriental New York, Monday.
Bob Costas and the late Cephas Bowles first met each other in the 1970s, working together at WAER-FM, the radio station of Syracuse University. Bowles, a longtime executive at jazz station WBGO-FM in Newark, died in February, at the age of 62, and Monday, Costas attended WBGO’s Champions of Jazz Benefit 2015, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York, to announce the formation of an endowment fund in Bowles’ honor.
“Bowles was committed to creating opportunities for future generations of Newark youth to engage in broadcasting and the creation of this fund will begin to realize those dreams,” said WBGO, in a press release.
Also at the gala, Frank Sinatra Jr. performed songs such as “My Way” and “Theme From ‘New York, New York,’ ” in honor of the 100th anniversary of Frank Sinatra’s birth, this year. Pianist Monty Alexander performed as well.
The evening’s proceeds will support WBGO’s efforts to keep jazz heard at its home at 88.3 FM, and also at other public radio stations (through the shows it produces), and online.
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