By RC Stilwell
Los Angeles has a lot of things: Expensive cars, beautiful people,
sunshine, visible air, and if there really are aliens visiting this
planet, they're probably somewhere on Los Angeles freeway. L.A. also has
the lion's share of musical and artistic talent, so its radio scene is
bound to offer something special. Because of that, we'll take a look at
just one station on this trip, because it's well worth the attention.
You would think a city the size of L.A. would have enough jazz fans to warrant a full-time jazz
station, and it does. KLON, 88.1 FM, is the flagship jazz station for
the Southland, a 24 hr., non-commercial giant operating from the campus
of Cal State Long Beach. But it is not a "Student Station," (K-BEACH
just started broadcasting a couple of years ago in that capacity). KLON
is a professionally staffed non-commercial station - something of an
oddity in a business where nearly all non-commercials are staffed by
volunteers. Maybe that's appropriate, given the Los Angelean attraction
for oddities. But it's a great listening deal for jazz fans, wherever
they may be. It's available on cable and satellite access, if you have the
right service available. It is in fact the highest rated jazz station in
the United States, and the number one rated public radio station in the
L.A. market.
(All those people have a dramatic impact on a station's numbers, and
there may be some additional listeners courtesy of All About Jazz, if
things work out. You'll know more about that as soon as we do.)
The station line-up has Alfredo Cruz doing weekday mornings from
6-10AM. He is fairly new at KLON, but not new to jazz and jazz radio. He
was a producer for NPRs "Jazz Alive" show in Washington, D.C., and
hosted "The Latin Jazz Cruise" on Newark's WGBO, another jazz radio
giant. Alfredo is followed by Helen Borgers, a Cal State Long Beach
student some 19 years ago who started producing radio dramas, and later
took a weekend spot at KLON, which later led to the mid-morning slot,
from 10AM to 3PM.
Helen is followed by "The Voice Of Jazz Radio" in Southern
California, Chuck Niles, with 42 years experience to that claim. His
trail leads from playing professional sax at age 14 to Los Angeles to
his place as the most recognized voice in L.A. Jazz. Some jocks are
Masters at their craft, and Chuck Niles is truly a Master of jazz radio.
Chuck's 7PM show leads into a variety of shows, depending on the
evening: Tuesday evening it's "Making The Music," on Thursday it's "Pia
no Jazz," and on Friday it's jazz on The Latin Side with Jose Rizo. Jose
came by way of UC Santa Barbara where he founded "Radio Chicano" on
KCSB. He also writes for Jazziz magazine, and is a teacher in L.A.
On Monday & Wednesday, Sam Fields starts his shift at 7PM, and on
Tuesday & Thursday he starts at 8PM. Sam has radio roots back to 1972
when he worked at KBCA with Chuck Niles. Another Master of the craft,
Sam takes you to midnight when James Janisse takes over the midnight to
6 AM slot. A jazz fan from his days at Locke High School's radio
station, James joined KLON in 1992. His wide ranging knowledge of jazz
fills the longest continuous shift on KLON each weekday night, except
Friday nights when Jose is followed by the "Atomic Lounge" with Sean
Heitkemper, a SCLB transplant who often focuses on Swing (new &
traditional). Trent Cobbs, one of the newest members of KLON, takes over
after "Atomic Lounge," for a unique musical blend into Saturday morning.
Weekenders are one of the hidden treasures of many radio stations,
and KLON offers some of the best. "Mostly Bop" features Scott Willis,
KLON's Music Director. Scott is followed by "Jazz Profiles", which leads
into Ken Borgers, who has hosted jazz programs since 1968, is KLON's
Program Director and producer of special programming.
Ken is followed by Gary Wagner's "Nothin' But The Blues". Once a
teenage radio pirate, Gary's worked at several stations in Southern
California and Illinois, and has been at KLON since 1992. The "Saturday
Night Jazz Party" starts at 7 PM with James Janisse, followed by
"JazzSet", and "Jazz Scene" with Scott Wells. Mike Newport takes over
Saturday nights at midnight; a veteran of Armed Forces Radio, he's been
on-air Portugal, Norway, and Japan. Mike also does the "Vocal Jazz" show
on Sundays from 10PM to midnight.
Sunday morning brings Stan Brager's "It Don't Mean A Thing," a focus
on roots jazz from 6 to 9AM. Billy Taylor's show follows that, with Ken
Borgers and Gary Wagner taking you through the afternoon. Sunday evening
features "Jazz & Blues", "Jazz From Lincoln Center", "Vocal Jazz" --
James Janisse comes in at midnight, the fabled final hour of the
weekend.
KLON also features occasional special programming, such as The
Playboy Jazz Festival. It is one of premier jazz stations in America,
and has attained that distinction through years of service to the L.A.
area and hiring some of the finest jazz broadcasters in the world. With
its additional reach on cable, and satellite distribution, this station
will remain one of the standards by which jazz radio is measured. 24
hours a day, seven days a week, all year long, noncommercial jazz radio.
It doesn't get any better than that!
