Willis Conover

Jazz broadcaster

Willis Clark Conover, Jr. was an American jazz producer and broadcaster on the Voice of America for more than forty years.

He produced jazz concerts at the White House, the Newport Jazz Festival, and for movies and television. By arranging concerts where people of all races were welcome, he is credited with desegregating Washington, D.C. nightclubs.

Conover is credited with keeping interest in jazz alive in the countries of Eastern Europe through his nightly broadcasts during the Cold War.