Tony Palkovic was born in Youngstown, Ohio and started playing the trumpet at age 9, first in his grade school band and continuing through high school with the concert and marching band. At the age of 12, Tony became interested in the guitar and played at parties, school dances, and nightclubs throughout his teenage years. Following high school, Palkovic studied music and film at Columbia College in Chicago before transferring to the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in composition.
Following his graduation, Palkovic led a jazz-fusion band under his name, which he played with throughout the Midwest, before releasing his first album, Deep Water in 1980. Released to critical fanfare, Deep Water made many top 10 airplay lists on jazz radio stations across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Palkovic moved to the Claremont area in 1983 and continued to record and release albums of original music, including 1983’s Every Moment, 1985’s Born With A Desire, and 2001’s Esoteric. Over the years, Palkovic recorded and toured with world-renowned musicians such as Patrick Moraz, Jimmy Haslip, Ric Fierabracci, Steve Weingart, Doug Lunn, Enzo Todesco, Hans Zurmuelen and Krys Mach; and shared a concert bill with artists like Richard Elliot, Jeff Lorber, Kenny G, The Average White Band, and Weather Report. Palkovic’s playing has also been praised by the likes of Guitar Player and 20th Century Guitar magazine, with Guitar Player commenting, “If you haven't yet heard Tony Palkovic's brand of music, you don't know what you're missing.”
Tony Palkovic began hosting the “Tony Palkovic Jazz Show” on KSPC in January of 1989. Focusing on jazz, the jazz-fusion genre in particular, Palkovic’s show was heard throughout the greater Los Angeles area for nearly 30 years and often featured interviews and live performances with some of the most renowned names in jazz. On Claremont, Tony described the city as, “the last of American culture and that's why I feel at home here." Sadly, Tony passed away on December 16, 2019 at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer. His archived radio shows will continue to be broadcast on Thursdays at noon on KSPC.
Obituary
The news that Tony Palkovic lost his battle with cancer shocked and saddened jazz-fusion lovers everywhere. As a huge supporter of both live and recorded music, Palkovic has featured musicians Joe Zawinul, Allan Holdsworth, Bunny Brunel, Alphonso Johnson, Alphonse Mouzon, and others for three decades on the Tony Palkovic Show KSPC Claremont 88.7 FM. With a Bachelors degree in Music, Tony incorporated his musical training into his writing and arranging, which also led to his discriminating palate when selecting his playlist—each guest and each track was always painstakingly chosen. In interviews, he talks about listening to everything and playing on air the music that moves him and his listeners the most.
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“The format is jazz-fusion. But that involves Latin music, some funk, straight-ahead, r&b . . . so fusion is all styles. Although in the beginning [fusion] wasn’t defined that way—it was rock and jazz. If the music sounds good to me, is up-tempo, rhythmic, has positive energy, ambience, intricate qualities that I feel my listeners like, that’s a tune that I’ll play.”—Tony Palkovic
At any given show, one could hear interviews with Kevin Eubanks, Stanley Clarke, Chad Wackerman, Vinnie Colaiuta, Virgil Donati, and even Chase Masterson (“Leeta” of Star Trek: DS9), and on a special occasion, the cultural ambassador of Indonesia and Strunz and Farah. (Tony was a big fan of Strunz and Farah before coming to California.) They were also on his show and performed at least 10 times. Palkovic has also engineered other live performances on his show with reoccurring guests Brian Auger, Larry Coryell, Kaylene Peoples, and Armand Sabal-lecco just to name a few. The radio show also featured in-studio and phone interviews.
“Tony was one of the good guys. He championed good music. He was a great guitar player and we were very happy to work on one of his albums. He was also a wonderful and gracious radio host. We were honored to be invited on his show several times. He was also a friend, and we will miss him and his spirit.” –Brian Auger & Karma Auger
Tony Palkovic became a radio host after his band performed at Pomona College (Claremont) over 30 years ago. The jazz director asked him if he wanted to play live on the show. After he performed live and did an interview with the band, the station director suggested he have his own show. He had a voice that sounded like radio.
Erica Tyron, Director of Student Media, Pomona College KSPC 88.7 FM
“We are all very sad this morning at the passing of Tony Palkovic. He hosted “Tony Palkovic’s Jazz Show” on KSPC for the past thirty years, bringing fusion jazz with elements of Latin, straight-ahead, funk, rock, and R&B; and a program so unique that it was unparalleled elsewhere on the radio. Tony interviewed and swapped tales with so many heavy hitters from the jazz scene over the years; he really provided a behind the scene’s look at the lives and careers of jazz musicians from all around the world in a way that was accessible to all kinds of listeners. This is a huge loss to the KSPC family and to everyone who was on or listened to the show. During his illness we continued to play Tony’s shows from the archive, and we will continue to do so in the future on Thursdays noon – 2pm on KSPC. Please listen in, we will have some special tributes on air and online soon.” https://www.kspc.org
Tony was not only a radio host . . .
“I’m a guitarist. I studied at Berklee College of Music. Graduated with a degree. My major was composition, but I was playing in bands ever since I was 12. I just decided that when I was college age that it was either going to be film or music. So I attended Columbia College in Chicago and studied film and music. I realized that music was the way I wanted to go and transferred to Berklee College of Music in Boston. I was there for four years, graduated then started practicing a lot. I made a couple of albums and moved to California. The albums that I made were getting airplay all over the country. There were a lot of jazz stations then—commercial jazz stations—and college jazz stations. I had a full-sized ad in Jazztimes magazine for my second album. I got listed in Billboard magazine. I then made a third album, which has been reissued on vinyl with a label. And now the younger people are a new audience for vinyl. It’s great.” –AGENDA Magazine, “Spotlighting the Spotlighters, an Interview with Radio Host Tony Palkovic”
Bunny Brunel
“Tony was not only a great musician, he was also a great human being, always helping other musicians with his radio show. I am glad I was his friend and played on his last album.”
Praised by Guitar Player and 20th Century Guitar Magazine, Tony Palkovic has performed in clubs and concert halls including the BET television network. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in Boston with a Bachelors Degree in Composition. After which he led his own band, playing jazz-fusion in the Midwest, eventually moving to Los Angeles, which has been his home since 1983. Palkovic released his first album Deep Water (1980), which made several “Top 10” lists for airplay on jazz radio stations all over the U.S., Canada, and Europe. This led to the recording of his second album Every Moment (1983), Born With a Desire (1985); Esoteric (2000) with Patrick Moraz and Krys Mach; and As to Another (2019) with special guest artists Brian Auger, Bunny Brunel, Jorge Strunz, Jamie Glaser, Kofi Baker, Krys Mach, Matt Malley and Baba Elefante.
Len Davis, Radio Host
“Tony Palkovic was a dear friend and radio buddy. As a presenter of Bitches Brew on radio for over 30 years, I always listened to his show because he always had many musicians on his show that I knew or admired for a long time. We shared our music freely and both played tunes from each other’s programs. In 2005, I finally had the opportunity to meet Tony when my wife and I visited Los Angeles. After midnight at KSPC FM, we recorded a show featuring keyboardist John Novello and bass player/teacher J K Kleutgens. We played and discussed music. It was a night I will always remember. Tony helped me with promos for my show and introduced me to new music. We supported each other’s shows. More recently in 2017, in Los Angeles, we met up, had a few drinks before our flight back to Melbourne. I was so glad I got to see him one last time. Tony, you gave a great deal to the music and to Radio. May the music live forever.”
"Tony was a huge supporter of musicians, and it has been an honor and a privilege to be on his show. I will miss him so much. The jazz-fusion community has lost a big influence. Tony Palkovic, you will always be in our hearts!"- Kaylene Peoples, Jazz Recording Artist
Tony Palkovic has touched thousands of avid listeners from his radio show. He’s entertained audiences with his band’s performances throughout his career as a gigging musician. And he leaves a legacy as a recording musician and composer. Tony Palkovic was featured in print in AGENDA magazine back in November 2017 (https://bit.ly/2EBObed). From that interview will be a documentary about the life and impact of this supporter of jazz-fusion music. Tony Palkovic has opened for Weather Report, Jeff Lorber, Average White Band, and Three Dog Night. Other past guests on "Tony Palkovic’s Jazz Show" are Tony MacAlpine, Don Randi, Otmaro Ruiz, Mickey Jones, Jimmy Haslip, Alex Machacek, Victor Bailey, Dweezil, and countless others. Tony Palkovic will be sorely missed. Jazz-fusion radio has lost a giant!
“One thing about music is . . . I find the people that play music or love music, they seem to be happier people!” –Tony Palkovic
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