KEANNA FAIRCLOTH - Radio Personality / Television Host / Event Emcee / Voice Over Actor
Since 2003, Keanna Faircloth has worked as a radio personality, writer, and artist advocate. From 2019-2022, she served as the host of Afternoon Jazz on WBGO 88.3 FM in Newark, NJ. While at WBGO, Keanna created and produced the widely acclaimed interview series, The Pulse. Currently, she serves as the Artist Relations Coordinator for jazz and classical piano at Yamaha Artist Services New York.
Keanna got her start in jazz radio during her sophomore year at Howard University as an intern at WPFW, where she quickly became a regular on-air host. She would remain a fixture on the air there for 16 years. In 2018, she created the podcast Artimacy where she has interviewed artists like Robert Glasper, Dionne Warwick, Wynton Marsalis, Melba Moore, and countless others. In April 2024, she along with GRAMMY award-winning drummer and co-host Ulysses Owens, Jr. launched Jazz Beyond Tradition on WJCT 89.9 FM’s Jacksonville Music Experience and soon-to-be syndicated on various public radio stations across the country.
The culmination of her radio work led to being named a “Future African American Leader in Radio” by Radio Ink Magazine in 2019. She has amassed literally hundreds of interviews and hosts festivals both nationally and internationally-- from the DC Jazz Festival to the NYC Winter JazzFest, to JazzFest Berlin. Keanna has been featured in national publications, and has been published by WBGO, WRTI, The New York Times, and NPR Music. She also served as a contributor on NPR’s New Music Friday edition of All Songs Considered, and on WBUR’s Here and Now. Most recently, she served as a judge for the 10th annual NPR Tiny Desk Contest.
Artimacy on YouTube: An "Artimate" Conversation with Terence Blanchard - January 8th, 2022. Terence Blanchard joins K. Charles on Artimacy to chat about his groundbreaking year becoming the first black composer presented at New York's Metropolitan Opera, the inspiration behind his GRAMMY-nominated 2021 release "Absence", what motivates him to continue to create, and much more!