Jennifer Jean York (born August 30, 1962) is an American journalist and bassist. An award-winning studio and helicopter traffic reporter in Los Angeles, she has received acclaim for her coverage of the Laguna Fire and the Northridge earthquake.
Jennifer York was born in Covina, California and raised in nearby Hemet. She started playing the piano at the age of five, but switched to playing bass guitar in seventh grade because the instrument reminded her of one that she had seen Paul McCartney play. York graduated from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Communications. [1] [2]
York worked as a talent coordinator for Pierre Cossette Productions, contributing to events such as the Grammy Awards and the American Music Awards. After graduating from UCLA in 1984, York went to New York City to work as an assistant producer for Joel Siegel at Good Morning America . [3] She was eventually promoted to the Field and Series unit. [1] [2] Three years later, she took a job as the promotions director of WWDJ, a Christian radio station in Hackensack, New Jersey. [1] The music playing there inspired her to begin looking at bass-playing as a viable career. [3]
In 1987, after returning to Los Angeles and enrolling in the Musicians Institute, York took a job playing bass guitar with an all-female band at Disneyland, while simultaneously working as a waitress at Jerry's Famous Deli. When the Disneyland job ended two years later, she became a Metro Traffic and aerial reporter for KFWB radio, becoming the second-ever female traffic reporter to fly in a helicopter (the first being Kelly Lange, who flew for KABC). In 1992, she joined KTLA Morning News and Shadow Traffic as their aerial traffic reporter. [1] [4] York won numerous awards for her reporting at the station, earning an Emmy Award in 1993 for her coverage of the Laguna and Malibu fires [1] as well as two more the next year for the Northridge earthquake and her morning news reports. She also received three Golden Mike Awards in 1998, 1999, and 2003 and another Emmy in 2003, and left the station in 2004. [5] She joined the morning show of KFSH-FM a year later alongside Billy Burke, [6] presenting there for two years before leaving the station in 2007. [7] York returned to traffic reporting in 2012, with her familiar voice being heard on the air again, this time reporting from the studios of KNX news radio [5] [8] and working for Total Traffic Network. [9] Over the years, York's visibility throughout Southern California led to her being featured as grand marshal at parades [10] and emceeing at trade, [11] [12] car, [13] and helicopter shows. [14] She retired from KNX On May 10, 2024. [15]
York is an accomplished bassist. She first played electric bass with the Smart Cookies band, and later with the Christian rock group Rachel Rachel, of which she was the founder. The group, now defunct, recorded two albums on the Word Records label [3] and performed at several events such as the Long Beach Jazz Festival, the Pasadena Playboy Jazz Festival, and the Montreal Drum Festival. [2] [16] In 1992, she began to take up the double bass, being mentored on this instrument by John Clayton, and Christopher Hanulik, principal bassist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. [1] Three years later, she formed an all-female jazz instrumental group called the Jennifer York Quartet, [5] which performed at various clubs and venues such as the Grape Harvest Festival in Ontario, California [17] and the Southern California Jazz Festival at the Koll Center in Irvine. [3] The band embraces many musical styles including Latin, funk, and swing, along with mainstream jazz. [18] In 1999, the band released a four-song compact disc. [17]
York has been featured on shows such as Larry King Live , Entertainment Tonight , and Leeza , and appeared in films such as Bandits and Hollywood Homicide . [2] During the Mercyhurst College Talent Show scene of Tom Hanks' 1996 movie That Thing You Do! , York can be seen as the acoustic bass player for the girl group that is performing in the contest.
York married Nils Johnson—a bassist who played with Ray Charles —in 1993. [1] They lived in Studio City. [18]
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Awards. She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989. Critic Scott Yanow wrote that she had "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century".
Stanley Clarke is an American bassist, composer and founding member of Return to Forever, one of the first jazz fusion bands. Clarke gave the bass guitar a prominence it lacked in jazz-related music. He is the first jazz-fusion bassist to headline tours, sell out shows worldwide and have recordings reach gold status.
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Jill Whelan is an American actress. After working in television commercials, she landed her breakthrough role playing Vicki Stubing, the daughter of Captain Stubing, in six of the nine seasons of the American television series The Love Boat (1977-1986). She later guest starred on the revival Love Boat: The Next Wave. She has had numerous guest roles in TV shows and played Lisa Davis in Airplane! In 2015, she was hired as a celebrations ambassador by Princess Cruises.
Carol Kaye is an American musician. She is one of the most prolific recorded bass guitarists in rock and pop music, playing on an estimated 10,000 recordings in a career spanning over 65 years.
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Good Day L.A. is an American morning television news and entertainment program airing on KTTV, a Fox owned-and-operated television station in Los Angeles, California, owned by the Fox Television Stations subsidiary of Fox Corporation. The program broadcasts each weekday morning from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific Time. The program features news, traffic, weather, and entertainment segments. The program also features weekly segments on finance, tech, wellness, and food.
Jennifer Leitham is an American musician and double bass player. Being left-handed, she has also used the nicknames "Lefty" or "The Southpaw."
Lee Rocker is an American musician. He is a member of the rockabilly revival band Stray Cats.
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Stephanie Edwards is an American television personality and actress.
Desiree Tyler Horton, nicknamed "Chopper Chick," is a helicopter pilot and television personality based in Los Angeles, California.
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Sam Rubin was an American journalist who served as the entertainment reporter for the KTLA Morning News and as a television host of entertainment talk shows and specials. Rubin reported on the entertainment industry for over thirty years and interviewed many Hollywood stars. He was also the co-author of two biographies, one on the former first lady Jacqueline Onassis and another on actress Mia Farrow.
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