The Vanguard

On the air since 1979, this noncommercial Newark jazz station (88.3 FM) has become one of the city’s most influential cultural forces. WBGO supports the local scene by sponsoring more than 100 concerts a year and is renowned for  comprehensive programming that never descends into “Jazz Lite.” On Sunday evening’s “Jazz from the Archives,” listeners are treated to riches from the staggering 100,000-plus recordings in the library of the Rutgers-Newark Institute of Jazz Studies. A generation of listeners have done  Saturday chores to the R&B accompaniment of Felix Hernandez’s “Rhythm Revue.” The station’s 10,000-watt omnidirectional transmitter generates a strong signal reaching 15 of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Those out of range can tap their feet to WBGO’s streamed webcasts.