WBGO and stations like WUTC-FM, where I've worked the past 11 years, have to make some compromises to stay on the air.  In a typical market, a public radio station may consider itself fortunate if they get contributions from 10% of its total audience. I've lost count of how many times someone in our market has sung praises of something we've aired, whether it is an NPR talk show or a local jazz program, while not supporting the station with an annual gift.

Then people have the nerve to contact a station and ask why their favorite program was dropped or why the station isn't playing as much jazz as it used to.  Folks, if you don't support the station that's playing jazz in your area, it won't last forever.

Costs continue to rise for public radio stations like WBGO and WUTC. Ours is affiliated with NPR and PRI, neither of which go down in their membership and programming costs. NPR just broke up the package where stations used to be able to pay one price and get a buffet of weekly programming to choose from, now McPartland's Piano Jazz, Jazzset, Billy Taylor's Jazz From the Kennedy Center, Jazz at Lincoln Center, etc., are all priced substantially higher individually.

A typical NPR station raises much more money from its NPR talk shows, though a good deal of that cash ends up going for those programs. Sure, you can get music online, etc., but how do you do listen to jazz when you're not near your computer or CD collection?

I encourage jazz fans who want to hear serious jazz on public radio, not smooth jazz (which failed miserably to attract donors on our station), pledge your financial support to your area jazz station and consider also supporting syndicated programs like Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz directly, too.  Marian has dug into her own funds to keep her show going over the past several years, joined by a few hundred of her loyal fans. You can even attend a Piano Jazz program taping as a very unique benefit.

I have the freedom on my program, Timeless Jazz, to create my own weekly playlist, which includes both new releases and classic recordings.  I play things exclusively from my personal collection, which includes numerous out of print collectable LPs and CDs as well as recent releases and reissues. I've also have done dozens of phone interviews.  An  interview I did with McCoy Tyner was featured with his music over 3 separate 2 hour programs. 

I create my own program themes, whether comparing "The Composer vs. The Interpreter," a program specifically devoted to one instrument or family of instruments, or a show demonstrating how jazz compostions are sometimes derived from earlier works. Where else but on public radio can a producer have the freedom to do this?  Who's going to be playing selections from the now unavailable Complete Commodore Recordings put out a few years ago by Mosaic?

For 9 of my 11 years in public radio I've been in charge of development (corporate underwriting and membership solicitation). I've heard many of the gripes about programming and all of the excuses for not making a financial commitment to support the station. Public radio probably won't cease to exist, but jazz radio specifically needs far more support than it's getting from its listeners to continue its presence on the airwaves. Stations can't pay their bills with fan letters or phone calls praising the selection just played.

Most listeners don't understand how difficult it is to fund an all jazz radio format in most markets. I know of several stations which dropped jazz entirely, including WUWF in the Florida panhandle, and the Charlotte, NC, station, which switched to an all talk format a couple of years ago.

Among the shows which broadened my interest in jazz: Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz and Jazz Alive! The first and best produced of the live jazz NPR programs

The rare live jazz shown on public TV before I was hip enough to send an annual check. Now our market is stuck with Lawrence Welk reruns plus endless showings of Yanni, John Tesh and other banalities.

For Jazz on Public Radio to survive, we need your help.