jazz89 KUVO/KVJZ On-Air Hosts

“Music washes away the dust of everyday life.” Art Blakey. This quote says it all for Allen Scott. Hosting a jazz music show at KUVO is an escape for him from everyday life; this is truly his “oasis in the city.”  Allen currently works in the hospitality industry as a hotel management director but his professional career spans decades as a broadcaster in both radio and television. He has worked for two major networks and media outlets in Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. He moved to Colorado in 1985 and found love and happiness through his family and a new found love for public broadcasting. He has devoted his life over multiple years on-air as a professional and volunteer in public radio in Aspen, Carbondale, Colorado Springs and now more than a half dozen years at KUVO. He resides in Colorado Springs but is passionately dedicated to the commute which provides him the honor and privilege of sharing jazz music with the listener/members of Jazz 89, KUVO.

Andy celebrates 24 years with KUVO on Labor Day 2013.  He started as a volunteer on-air host and eventually became the stations'  Music Director. He still is involved with KUVO as the Thursday evening host of Jazz Odyssey, Sunday nights' Jazz Tales and MidMorning Jazz on Mondays and Tuesdays. Andy was born in New York City but has lived in Denver virtually all his life. He’s half Irish and half Shoshone and revels in coming from two distinct and rich cultures. One of the many reasons he feels KUVO is so very important to listeners is its' attention to various cultures.

Currently Andy is the leader of the eclectic band Coyote Poets of the Universe, who are recording their sixth CD.

Andy lives next to the Highline Canal and when he isn’t playing music, writing, performing or broadcasting he spends time walking on the canal and enjoying the beauty of Colorado.

Arturo has been part of "The Oasis in the City" since the Spring of 2003. Before that, he was part of Miami's jazz station for 13 years. Arturo was fortunate to have been raised listening to the progressive radio stations of Los Angeles, instilling in him a love and knowledge of many music styles while his parents hosted many Cuban music dance parties at home. Arturo is an award-winning Music Director: he's been awarded the Music Director of the Year honors for 3 consecutive years while at jazz89 KUVO and once before in Miami. Arturo brings an enthusiastic and passionate approach to his music programs, coupled with pertinent information in the traditions of classic jazz radio. Arturo proudly states, "Jazz is my favorite 4-letter word and the world's greatest art form".

Becky Vartabedian was first bitten by the radio bug in March 1996, when she won a two-hour slot on KXPK's "Peak Amateur Hour," playing alternative rock with an annotated playlist.  While a student at Regis University, she hosted the "Happy Happy Hour" on KRCX, Regis's student-staffed radio station. Becky began volunteering at KUVO during pledge drives in 2006 and returned to KUVO in 2012 after three years in Pittsburgh, PA. Becky is the Thursday night host of the Jazz Odyssey, and has volunteered as the producer for KUVO's "First Take with Lando and Chavis," . Besides spending time at KUVO, Becky teaches at a local university and is in the home stretch of completing a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Duquesne University. She lives in Denver with her husband, Andrew. 

email Bob at bob@jazzwithbobparlocha.com

Born and reared in Vallejo, California, Bob learned about jazz from his mother's Count Basie and Duke Ellington records. He grew up listening to former KJAZ owner Pat Henry, broadcasting at that time on KROW, and to Jerry Dean, who used to do a weekly KJAZ show from Vallejo. In high school, Bob played saxophone and flute and sang in road bands.
For 10 years jazz remained a hobby while he worked in psychiatric nursing at UCSF, developing interpersonal skills that would serve him well in the music business. After one routine day at the hospital, he heard Pat Henry inviting prospective deejays to submit audition tapes to KJAZ. Bob sent in his tape and Henry ultimately hired him to program Saturday evenings, which eventually led to the Dinner Jazz shift.
A sensitive programmer, articulate spokesman for jazz, and astute analyst of the music scene, Bob's master of ceremonies style has enhanced many jazz concerts and fundraisers. His credits include the Gil Evans Orchestra's concert at the Pacific Coast Collegiate Jazz Festival, the UC Berkeley Jazz Festival, Oakland Arts Explosion, Jazz at the Palace, Bay Area Jazz Awards, the San Francisco International KJAZ Festival, and KJAZ host on the SS Norway Jazz Cruises. Check out Bob's Playlist.

Carlos has over 40 years experience in radio. While still in high school, his first night on the air was January 13, 1968 on the Armed Forces Caribbean Network in Puerto Rico. In 1970 he was the week night host on WOUR in Utica, NY, one of the first FM “underground rock” stations in the country. By the late 70’s Carlos moved back to Puerto Rico where he produced and hosted a new show on WZAR called Jazz Where It’s Been and Where It’s At. During this time he met and interviewed many jazz artists, including Count Basie, Betty Carter and Dexter Gordon.

Lando came to Denver in 1980 where he spent 5 years as Music and Program Director and mid-day host at the nationally recognized soul music station KDKO. Carlos worked a year for KBCO in Boulder before coming to KUVO in 1987. As Program Director he has helped establish KUVO as one of the most respected community based jazz stations in the country. He remains committed to airing culturally diverse programs with significant appeal to people in the Latino and African American communities.

Carlos is currently co-hosting First Take with Lando & Chavis. It’s music, news and community affairs every weekday morning at 6am on KUVO and KVJZ-Vail.

From the moment one hears "Girl from Ipanema," the show's opening theme song, along with Cenir's deep, sultry voice, a Brazilian fantasy begins.

Cenir has been reaching discriminating listeners with her radio show on KUVO since 1993, and was subsequently chosen has having "the sexiest voice on Denver's air waves" in 1996 by Westword.

Born in the state of Espirito Santo, Brazil, Cenir was raised in Rio de Janeiro and possesses a well-rounded knowledge of Brazilian music. Her program features most genres of Brazilian music including samba, choro, bossa nova, Brazilian jazz, and MPB to name a few.

Cenir stays abreast of the rapidly changing musical scene in Brazil. Always on the lookout for new music on trips to Rio and here in the U.S., she replenishes her collection of  Brazilian CDs now numbering over 1,500!

Cenir's education is extensive. She obtained an undergraduate degree, from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio); a Masters degree from University of Colorado at Boulder; and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia where she started her radio program, at WTJU, in 1990. Her degrees are in ancient Greek and Latin.

Charlie Cump was born in Chicago, and was encouraged to study piano at an early age. He later played cornet in his grade school band, and fooled around with a guitar in college. When his brother Dave brought jazz LP’s home from college, Charlie was introduced to a bit of Dave Brubeck and others. As an undergraduate student in western Michigan, his interest started growing through college friends who introduced him to Roland Kirk, Weather Report, Eric Dolphy and others. A class in jazz history taught by a jazz piano player sealed his fate.

Ever since then, Charlie has pursued the enjoyment of live and recorded jazz wherever he has found it. In the 1980's, he twice taught a very basic class in jazz history through the “Denver Free University” to share his love of the music. For the last six or seven years, Charlie has volunteered as an occasional on-air host. He tries to program music which is entertaining, but helps the listener experience some new artists and tunes. Charlie believes in the delights of the sound of surprise.

Denver born and bred, Cool Lew is a product of Denver Public Schools and the University of Denver, where he received degrees in both business administration and law. He works as a financial consultant alongside his wife, who is a CPA. Lew is also active in community activities: at present he is president of the George Washington Homeowner's Association.  A jazz drummer, Lew played seriously during college and law school and still occasionally sits in on a club date. He has a music room at home where he jams with local musicians. Lew has been a KUVO volunteer since 2000; he worked as a substitute host for five years and has been hosting TGIF: Friday Night Jazz with Cool Lew for five years. He likes to keep your toes tapping on, serving up upbeat bebop and modern jazz.

Dan Feinberg started at KUVO in the summer of 1988! He's held down the Thursday evening time slot since the early '90s. Born in Detroit, Dan enjoyed popular music growing up and first had his mind blown by jazz as a high school student. (That was a LONG time ago.) You'll hear continuous GREAT MUSIC on Dan's show: old, new and everything in between.
Over the years Dan has produced weekly features on Miles Davis and all his various groups and sidemen. Although he is not doing those any more, from week to week everyone from Airto to Zawinul is on Dan's playlist. Thank YOU for listening!

Danny Valenzuela grew up in El Paso, Texas listening to Oldies and Tejano Music. After attending UTEP on a Music Scholarship and a stint in the Navy as a weatherman, he made his home in Denver because he liked the climate and the changing of the seasons. He met Carlos Lando in the mid 80's, while working as a Broadcast Engineer. In 1990, he joined KUVO as a co-host of the popular show, Cancion Mexicana and started Denver's first Spanish DJ Service, Latin Nites DJ's. After ten years of hosting Cancion Mexicana, he moved on and hosted The Super Tejano Show on another radio station. A year of collaboration with Carlos, KUVO's Program Director, resulted in KUVO's newest program, The Latin Soul Party.

Debra Gallegos has been volunteering with KUVO since 1985, when she hosted an evening jazz show. Today, she is the co-host of Canción Mexicana, and along with her comadre and co-host Mona Lisa, plays music rooted in Mexico and interpreted by artists from New Mexico, Texas and Colorado. As a musician and performing artist, Debra’s musical taste spans many genres, so expect to hear traditional interpretations from artists such as Flaco Jimenez or Ana Gabriel, as well as the innovative sounds of Albert Zamora, Gonzalo, and talented local musicians. She grew up in Denver and has been an actor and musician for most of her life, performing in Colorado and the Southwest.

Born in Memphis and raised in the Midwest, Dee Dee Bridgewater moved to New York and – as Glinda the Witch in The Wiz on Broadway – won a 1975 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. Monday nights, she sang jazz with the popular Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Orchestra downtown at the Village Vanguard.  In the 1980s, Bridgewater settled in Paris to perform in Sophisticated Ladies and Lady Day, a one-woman portrayal of Billie Holiday in French, which earned her a Sir Laurence Olivier Award nomination.

In 1995, her self-produced CD Love and Peace: A Tribute to Horace Silver brought Bridgewater's voice back to the United States. Dear Ella, dedicated to Ella Fitzgerald, won two Grammy Awards in 1998. Subsequently, Bridgewater has produced This Is New with music of Kurt Weill, and J'ai Deux Amours/Two Loves Have I. Her current self-produced, Grammy-nominated album, Red Earth – A Malian Journey, features Bridgewater with her trio, guest vocalists and a balaphon/kora/flute/percussion/vocal ensemble from the small west African nation she embraces as her ancestral home.

Bridgewater became the host of JazzSet in October 2001, on the retirement of the original host, saxophonist Branford Marsalis.

Rockin' Colorado crowds for over 10 years, DeeJay SD's versatility knows no bounds. SD has entertained crowds throughout the Midwestern region from the Four Corners to Texas, Djing MC Battles, fashion shows, poetry gatherings, concerts, parties, weddings, clubs and much more. SD's Dj career started in 1998, after finding his dad's old turntables while cleaning the basement. He studied the techniques of various masters of the craft, inevitebly arriving at his own style. He was soon afterwards doing small parties and mixtapes for the kids in his school. After graduating from high school in 1999, SD ventured out into some of the local bars and clubs. Later he was introduced to the battle world and began a new path in his Dj life. Joining local Dj crews he was able to push his talent to even greater heights. And being open to avenues unavailable to many Djs, SD has developed a grace, style and charisma not often seen in the chaotic world of Djing. Currently DeeJay SD is the owner of SoulsticeRadio.com,  providing news and updates about Soul Artists and happenings around the Mile High City, He also DJ's regularly at Funky Buddha's Brown Sugar on Wednesdays, which has been highlighted in the Denver Post. SD's talent continues to evolve and expand with the passage of time, and is he is definitely in a class of his own.

Bella Scratch started her career as a DJ in the year 2000. She honed her skills learning to mix, cut, scratch, select music and rock parties from weddings to night clubs. Today she takes new gigs providing the opportunity to play her favorite genres including Soul, Hip Hop, R&B, and Classic hits! Bella began performing professionally as an emcee at the age of 16. Her first EP titled Hip Hop Engraved was professionally recorded and sold roughly 400 units. Currently she has a Sunday Night residency at Randall's. Bella continues to record new music and also performs with the first major Hip Hop cover band Lady Wu-Tang.

K   is for Krafty

-    is for

N   is for Naughty

E   is for Earthy

E   is for Engaging

Originally from New York, Easy Bill has been the host of the R&B Jukebox since November 2002. He was introduced to the sounds of honking saxophones, pounding pianos, and the Big Beat through the swing revival of the mid-nineties. Learning more about the music from books and old magazines led to a job at a record store, where he began collecting his extensive music library that he now shares with listeners across the Front Range every Saturday night on the R&B Jukebox.

A musician himself, Bill has played guitar in various groups since moving to Colorado, in genres ranging from rockabilly to straight-ahead blues. He now fronts his own band, Easy Bill & The Big Beat, and performs around the area when not hosting the show. Their debut CD, entitled "Midnight Creep", was recorded in the Performance Studio at jazz89 KUVO.

On his nights off he can be found swing dancing with his friends, going out to enjoy live music, or trying to figure out when Rolando Garcia is actually going to be in town so that they can hang out.

Ed Danielson hosts "Jazz with Ed Danielson" on Saturday afternoons from 3-5pm.  Ed has been with KUVO for over twenty years, having previously hosted the Morning Beat, and he's also worked the Saturday morning and Monday evening shifts. “For some inexplicable reason, when I was a little kid, my straight-laced Swedish Baptist grandmother had an old 78 of ‘Royal Garden Blues’ by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, and I’ve been a jazz fan ever since I heard that.” Many years ago, he played jazz records on a long-gone Denver radio station, and was station manager of his college radio station back in the 1960s.

email Erik at ectroe@gmail.com

Gee whiz! Whoda thunk that the son of Iowans could have reached the heights of cosmopolitan prestige as host of a two-hour program on the nation's number-one jazz and blues station? It really does go to show that you really can be anyone you want to be in this land of ours...

Although I was born in LaGrange, IL (just like John A. Lewis of my favorite group, the Modern Jazz Quartet), I've been a Denverite since 1981.

My father, a trumpeter, introduced me to the sound of jazz via his collection of Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson records and I took off from there. My association with KUVO began in the summer of 2002. I came in thinking I had something of a solid background in jazz but boy, was I humbled by the encyclopedic knowledge of Ed Danielson, Rodney Franks, Carlos Lando and others on the jazz89 staff. Filling in the gaps of my own musical education - an ongoing process, of course - has been a very enriching experience for me, and I truly enjoy getting to share my passion for music with you on the air.

When I'm not dorking out on my LP collection (about 3000 albums and growing quickly), you can find me working at Twist & Shout Records on Fridays, at the KUVO office spiffying up our station website other weekdays, or just sitting on the couch watching cartoons and playing ancient video games.

Gabriel was born into a family of musicians with roots in Detroit and New Orleans. She came to Denver several years after college. Like many others, Denver was a stop on the way to somewhere else for Gabriel, but she’s been here for over 30 years! Gabriel has been a volunteer at KUVO since 1990. She spent several years working in the membership department and continues to work with membership.  She was convinced by other on-air hosts to try being an on air host. Her first shift was Saturday morning, 2am to 5am. Her callers were bakers and cab drivers. Since then, she has progressed to Saturday afternoon and has held the Saturday noon to 3pm slot for quite a while. Gabriel is partial to jazz standards, swing, bebop and straight ahead tunes. She features Sarah Vaughan Time every week, a feature that came about as a result of a listener who called weekly to ask, “Is it Sarah Vaughan time yet?”  It is and will be, as long as Gabriel is on the air at KUVO!

Geoff Anderson has reached the 25-year mark as a KUVO volunteer. For almost all that time he has been on the air Tuesday evenings. Geoff started in public radio in 1976 at KCSU in Fort Collins. After taking a time out from radio to attend law school and start a legal career, Geoff dove back into jazz radio by volunteering at the then fairly new KUVO in 1988.

Geoff is a fan of many types of music and attends concerts around town on a regular basis. He writes reviews of most of the shows, many of which are posted on kuvo.org and allaboutjazz.com. Working in radio in the '70s, and being a music junkie in general during that time, resulted in an extensive record collection that he has kept intact to this day. That provides the material for Geoff's weekly feature, "The Vinyl Vault," heard every Tuesday at 8:30. Geoff picks a record from his collection that isn't in the KUVO library to share with his listeners.

Geoff occasionally fills in on All Blues, heard Saturday evenings from 5 to 7. In his spare time he is a real estate attorney at Sweetbaum, Levin & Sands, PC.

George Peck became interested in radio and jazz at about the same time – in the 9th grade! While George's band instructor was booking the Ramsey Lewis Trio to appear in the local high school gym, George had just started a part-time after-school DJ shift on his small hometown AM radio station. While George's professional career now revolves around software and voice acting, he still loves radio and jazz. And KUVO is a great way for him to combine his two passions!

Greg Rasheed has hosted The Gospel Train on KUVO since 2003. He came to the station in 2002 from KDKO, where he was the sports director and hosted a Quiet Storm show from 2001 to 2002. Rasheed also hosts a sports show on KGNU in Boulder.

Besides radio, Rasheed has a long history of working in the social justice movement. He came to Denver in 1993 from Washington, DC, to run the local American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker-based peace organization. Greg was with the Friends until 1997. He was the director of the Park Hill Community Inc. from 2003 to 2011. He also ran for City Council in 2008. Rasheed has served as the Democratic precinct committee leader for his neighborhood since 2008.

Born in Detroit Michigan, I have worked and lived in Denver, Colorado since 1972, after graduating from North Central College, Naperville, Illinois with degrees in Spanish and Political Science, and a secondary teaching certificate. In 1970-71, I lived in Madrid, Spain and studied at Filosofia y Letras in the Georgetown University Program. In 1972, after returning to Denver I began working with community and non-profit groups, like the Common Market Food Cooperative, and as a substitute teacher. During that time I was fortunate to be able to travel to Latin America numerous times, and ended up working in Jalapa, Veracruz, Mexico in 1981-82 as the Director of the Study Abroad Program for the University of Colorado, Boulder. 1983 found me in Washington DC working as a reporter for AIP, the Independent Press Agency of Central America.
Upon returning to Denver in 1984, the Justice Information Center hired me to work as a court interpreter, which I have done now for 28 years and feel fortunate to have earned State and Federal certification as an interpreter.
Finally, in 1985, radio station KUVO 89.3FM began broadcasting my bilingual program, La Nueva Voz, which celebrates 27 years this year. Thank you to so many friends, colleagues, mentors and supporters who have made all of this possible. MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS !

KUVO listeners may know Janine as a Latin Jazz musician and dedicated supporter of the pleasures that this unique jazz station brings to the neighborhood and the world. Of Puerto Rican descent, via Brooklyn, NY and Trenton, NJ, Janine has lived with a deep love for Afro-Cuban/ Caribbean traditions and Jazz for as long as she can remember. Also steeped in traditional and straight-ahead jazz, a fondness she inherited from her trumpeter mom, Janine has a passionate love for this great American art form. She has been a professional performing artist in a variety of genres for the past 35 years. Now, Janine is delighted to share music as a KUVO host, and also continues to record and perform.

In the 1950s when everyone else his age was listening to Elvis Presley and Connie Francis, Jim Cullum locked onto the sounds of early jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton.  At first he thought he might want to play trombone, but one day while helping his dad in the grocery business, Jim caught sight of an antique cornet in a store window and fell in love.

While attending Trinity University in San Antonio, Jim formed a seven-piece traditional jazz group, the Happy Jazz Band, with his father the late Jim Cullum, Sr., who had played professionally with Jack Teagarden and others in the 1940s.  In 1963, a group of San Antonio business leaders established The Landing, a jazz club on the San Antonio River Walk, as a showcase for the Happy Jazz Band.  Under Jim, Jr.'s direction the band evolved into a nationally-acclaimed professional company known as The Jim Cullum Jazz Band.  Jim Cullum’s lifelong passion has been researching, preserving and presenting jazz and popular song from the turn of the 20th century to the mid-1940s.

Known for his long tenure with Conjunto Colores, J.T., as his friends call him, has played with many greats in all types of music, such as jazz vocalist Leon Thomas, keyboardist Richard Kermode (Janis Joplin, Santana), David Amram, bassist Marshall Hawkins, Richie Cole, Jon "Bowser" Bauman of Sha Na Na, The Drifters, The Coasters, Lesley Gore, The Shirelles, local artists Hazel Miller, Vic Cionetti, Ron Henry and Mistura Fina, among many others.Jimmy has also been a clinician with drummers Gerry Brown, Mark Craney, percussionists Alex Acuña, José Rossy (Weather Report) and guitarist Robben Ford. He also hosts "Salsa Con Jazz"on KUVO 89.3 FM Sundays 4-6 PM.
J.T. Trujillo is a Yamaha Guitars, GHS Strings and Markbass Amplifiers Artist.

Saturday morning host James Joyce – JJ – has been in the broadcast business since 1973 and celebrated 26 years at KUVO in January of 2013. He graduated from Manual High after being a member of the 1971 State Champion Track Team, running the Mile Relay. In the US Navy, JJ was a demolitions expert and served in Viet Nam. He was very happy when offered the opportunity to be a part of the Armed Forces Radio and Television Services in Western Australia.
Back in the day, JJ was a member of the band Dr. Lover and the Soulful Interns. His music collection includes 7,000 LPs, 5,000 CDs and several hundred 78s. He loves all kinds of music, although you can certainly hear his fondness for the smooth, funky tunes in his playlists.
Each spring, JJ and Lady J travel to New Orleans for the Jazz and Heritage Festival, where JJ collects new music. They also make it a point to attend a NASCAR event or two each year. And finally, with a name like James Joyce, you can’t blame the guy for showing up at the St. Patrick’s Day parade every year, where the members of the James Joyce Reading Society greet their favorite black Irishman.

I grew up on the plains of eastern Colorado, and was exposed to jazz at a very young age through my Dad’s love of the music. He traveled to Denver on business regularly, and always found time to go to the jazz clubs that flourished in Five Points, and made friends with a great many of the musicians that played there. This was in an era when white men didn’t often go to the Points, but Dad could sniff out a good jazz club almost anywhere, and went fearlessly. He taught me not only a love of jazz but also to ignore skin color and see the person. I’ve loved jazz and people ever since.

I have been a volunteer with KUVO for nearly 7 years, starting out volunteering for the pledge drives, answering phones. I have been listening to KUVO for quite a while, and decided it was time to get involved. I became more involved with the drives, finding that working at KUVO was like being part of a big, happy family, meeting great people and getting to listen to great music as a bonus.

In 2007, I started doing on-air work, filling in on nights and weekends for vacationing regular hosts. This has continued since, and I truly enjoy the chance to get on the air and share my love of jazz with our listeners. In my programs, I try to stay with the general theme of the host I am replacing, if they have one, but I do try and play a wide variety from the station’s vast library. The greatness that is jazz really can’t be put into any particular box; like one of my Dad’s favorite sayings was, “Jazz just IS.”

For over 24 years, Linard “Scotty” Scott has hosted Origins / Orgy in Rhythm, “the Black Experience translated into music.” He has interviewed many musicians including: Oscar Brown, Jr., Hugh Masekela, McCoy Tyner, and Bo Diddley, has emceed for Nina Simone, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders and Branford Marsalis, among others. He is a disc jockey and an archivist of Black Music, having collected over 25,000 albums, CD’s, cassettes, books and other memorabilia. Scotty is a published poet, essayist, writer and lecturer. He also teaches kindergarten at Gilpin Elementary and, after a 40 year hiatus, recently received his degree in African American Studies from Metropolitan State College.

Born Margaret Marian Turner in 1918 in Windsor, England, Marian began to teach herself Chopin waltzes on the piano by ear when she was only three years old. She later pursued classical training at London's Guildhall School of Music before joining a four-piano vaudeville act, traveling throughout Europe during World War II to entertain the Allied troops.

While on tour in Belgium, she met and began to perform with her future husband, famed Chicago cornettist Jimmy McPartland. In the U.S. after the war, McPartland performed for a brief time with her husband's Dixieland quintet. But she heard the call of bebop and began to head in other musical directions.

McPartland formed her own trio and landed a two-week stint at the renowned Hickory House in New York City. With her ability to gently shepherd a poignant ballad, to swing with real power, and to stay ahead of new developments in jazz, McPartland turned those two weeks at the Hickory House into an eight-year residency. It became a gathering place for jazz colleagues such as Oscar Peterson, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington.

Since April 1979, legendary pianist Marian McPartland has welcomed a stellar line-up of jazz artists for one hour of conversation and improvisation on her Peabody Award-winning program. Each week, McPartland, with her engaging personality and improvisational savvy, hosts a variety of performers in her radio living room.

Matt Seres has been on the air at KUVO for over 15 years. Starting as a late, late night host on the 2am-5am friday night shift and then taking moving to Jazz On The Edge, Matt finally found his home as a Jazz Odyssey host on Monday nights.

Mike is a Denver native: he received a Bachelor’s of Music Performance degree from the University of Denver, Lamont School of Music, where he played flute, piccolo, and saxophones. Mike has performed in small and large jazz combos and bands, as well as Classical, Baroque, and Renaissance chamber ensembles; solo recitals and other gigs, including large bands and orchestras. He has taught flute, sax and basic music theory in private lessons since 1984. Mike is a long time member of KUVO and is, in general, a music enthusiast and audiophile. In addition to his time spent behind the mic at KUVO, he donates his time very generously during pledge drives, festivals and other station-related events. Mike received his law degree from University of Denver School of Law in 1994, and is currently practicing in the areas of criminal, juvenile, and family law.

Mona Lisa, a recipient of a scholarship award from the Broadcasters Association while studying radio and television broadcasting, came to KUVO as an Intern. She interned with Carlos Lando and The Morning Beat in 2008. After graduating in 2009, she was hired as a development assistant and worked in the offices of KUVO for 1 ½ years, when the opportunity to co-host Canción Mexicana became available. 
“I am extremely honored to be given the opportunity to co-host Canción Mexicana. Mexican Music runs through my veins, being 3rd generation Mexican/Spanish American. I grew up with my older brother on guitar, my younger brother on drums, Dad would play the accordion and my mother, sister and I would sing Corridos, Rancheras and Cumbias. What memories I have of those days. I get to re-live those times every Sunday from 10:00am -1:00pm when I host Canción Mexicana. I enjoy every minute of it”.

"Mama Kat" was born in Denver and raised in Trinidad and Valdez, Colorado. She graduated in 1946 from Pueblo Central High and from Pueblo Junior College in 1948. She has accomplished many great things, including raising twin sons, graduating from Metropolitan State College of Denver in 1975 and working for the Federal Office of Health and Human Services in the Department for Civil Rights for 33 years. She has been a dedicated volunteer at jazz89 KUVO for over 21 years and has had her Rockin' In Rhythm show since 1992. Mama Kat currently serves as a senior volunteer for the Regional Transportation District (RTD) at community events such as Juneteenth and the Denver Black Arts Festival. She is currently the oldest female on-air radio host in the U.S. In 2012, Mayor Michael Hancock of Denver declared "Mama Kat Week" in Denver in honor of her many achievements and contributions to the Denver community.

Email Pete at quiljazz@nilenet.com

Beginning about 1957, I recall the Pop, R&B, and jazz radio from Philadelphia and Wilmington. Aside from absorbing that richness, a "side trip" to the Caribbean, Africa, and India while serving in the Navy rounded out my musical world. For the last thirty years I have worked in non-commercial radio in Philadelphia, at the University of Delaware, and across Colorado. Since November 1998, I have been a musical host on KUVO and have enjoyed every minute on the air, save for the occasional angst felt by having to choose between which great songs to play.

Music lover and KUVO/KVJZ host Ricky O has been active in Denver radio for over 32 years. In the mid 1980’s he met Danny Valenzuela, one of the best radio engineers in Denver, and Carlos Lando, then Program Director at KDKO. During his time at KDKO, Ricky co-hosted a mix show called The House Party, M-F from 10pm till midnight. This was the original mix show in Denver, rocking 4 turntables and rated #1! Since KDKO, he’s worked in various capacities at KBIG Sports Talk Radio, Big Dogg 92.5, Lite 92.1, 92X, Hot Talk 92.1, KS104, KS107.5 and KYGO, moving along with the various mergers and acquisitions in the radio business. All the while, Ricky has been running a mobile DJ service at clubs and private parties and for the past 5 years, has been co-host of Latin Soul Party. Although he’s partial to Latin, R & B and jazz music, Ricky says, “I love everything that’s good!”
Married to “my beautiful wife, Tamika”, Ricky O is the proud father of an honor student daughter and two sons who have their own rock and dubstep band called “Goodbye Serenity”. He has also played drums and percussion since he was 2 years old. You can contact Ricky here. 

A native of Milwaukee, Rodney Franks inherited his passion for jazz from his father, who kept music alive in the house. He made his way to Denver via KCUR in Kansas City in 1991 and began to volunteer at KUVO, starting late night Sundays. Rodney worked for a sports talk station with KUVO’s Ricky O and also at KOOL105, where he met Danny Valenzuela. In 1995, Rodney became a staff member at KUVO; he hosts Drive Time Jazz weekdays from 4 till 6pm, programming per the Ellington dictum: “There are two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” Rodney plays the good music.

Rolando Garcia says he was bitten by the radio bug at the age of sixteen when he began broadcasting bilingual headline news for the small country-western AM station in his hometown of Douglas, AZ. He hosted a live daily 4-hour rock and roll show while in the service in Clovis, NM and later a 2-hour weekly show on a free-form station in Tucson. Rolando has been a KUVO volunteer since 1996. He was the originator and host of the R&B Jukebox from 1997 to 2003, when, because of his travel schedule, he handed the mic to Easy Bill. Currently, Rolando fills in for Mama Kat on Rockin’ and Rhythm and also still hosts several of the R&B Jukebox “specials” during the year, including the Christmas, New Orleans and Gospel programs. If you listen closely, you’ll also hear his voice on many KUVO recordings.

Sam Mayfield has been hosting All Blues on KUVO for almost eight years. He is a master blues guitarist, singer and composer who gigs all over the world. Sam performed with soul / r&b legend Solomon Burke and has his own band, the Sam Mayfield Blues Review.

Skip Brown believes that, “True jazz is rhythm of the soul with innovation from the heart that is felt in song and in music.” He started as jazz host in Atlanta with WCLK, and evolved in radio, as news anchor with WHUR in Washington, D.C. After graduating from Howard University Law School, Skip migrated to Cleveland and practiced law, and became a Sports Talk Show Host on WERE and WJMO for over 18 years. Skip is reunited with his first love, Jazz, and is proud to make Jazz89 KUVO his home. From old school to contemporary jazz, he finds that jazz music is the common denominator of good sound to be enjoyed by all generations, all cultures and all people.

Stan Astrovsky has been a valuable member of the KUVO on-air staff for many years. In 2001 he got involved with JazzTales and started volunteering in on-air programming.  He was a substitute host for Jazz on the Edge, starting in 2002 and took over as host of the show in 2005. He has hosted Jazz Odyssey, and is now a substitute host for that program.  Stan loves avant-garde and Nu-Jazz, and outside of KUVO he is a poet, collage artist and works in the hospitality field. Stan is one of the MC's  of the longest running poetry open mic in Denver, Friday Night Open Mic at The Mercury Cafe.

It was the summer of 1967. An old high school friend I ran into one night said “C’mon, let’s go to the city (NYC) and hear some music.” The joint was the Half Note; the player was some guy I had never heard of (because I has no idea what jazz was) named John Coltrane. I was blown away that night and am again when, after twenty plus years listening to KUVO and several years of volunteering on KUVO pledge drives, a chance to be a substitute on-air host emerged, leading to a regular spot in KUVO’s 2010 line-up hosting “Afternoon Jazz” two days a week. Looking back at the years and sounds since that first exposure to jazz, life’s rear view mirror shows a lifelong interest and involvement in politics, social justice, and the community, reflected by one career as a union representative for the AFL-CIO and another with the American Diabetes Association. When not listening to jazz or riding my bike, you can find Jan and me listening to live jazz at Dazzle or one of the other venues or festivals around Denver and Colorado. We enjoy not only the “big” names that come through but the excellent array of locally based jazz musicians who on any given night could be playing anywhere in the country but who have the good sense to live in Colorado, as have we since 1978.

Steve Chavis acts as co-host for KUVO/KVJZ's morning program, First Take with Lando and Chavis, as well as being Public Affairs Manager for the award-winning Jazz format radio station in Denver. Steve began in public radio as an intern in Detroit. He served in the early days of KGNU in Boulder, too. Along the way he was news director for KBCO, KHOW and KHIH, and spent a dozen years directing communications for an international non-profit organization in Denver. 
In addition to rising early to get First Take started at 6:00 a.m., Steve is currently producing a documentary film in Detroit.
Steve and his bride Theonita have been married for 31 years. They are the parents of two sons, two daughters, a son-in-law and grand-humans to their German shepherd mix “Sparky.”

I am a Denver native. I have loved broadcasting since I was a kid, so being on-air at KUVO has let me live my dream of being on the radio. I started in April of 1989, typing the logs and doing whatever else Carlos needed help with. A few months later, I was trained as an on-air host and I got my first shift, 2-5 a.m. Thursday night / Friday mornings. I have done every shift on-air as a substitute host except the Sunday shows.  Being associated with KUVO has helped me meet great musicians and hear wonderful music live in concert, and I have been so fortunate to have been a part of this musical family. I love KUVO, public radio and jazz, and I hope we can always keep the music alive! Thanks to all the wonderful listeners for supporting Jazz89.

email Suzanne at producer@alternativevoices.org

Susanne is Eastern Band Cherokee and Scot who has has been involved in the Native community, locally and nationally, for many decades. Susanne is a Colorado certified Master Traditional Beadworker and has authored books and articles on the subject. 

alterNative Voices first aired on January 2, 1992. The music on the program is all Native artists, ranging from traditional vocals to high opera and every genre in between. It was a charter program on the first all American Indian radio network, American Indian Radio on Satellite, and was syndicated for 10 years on 54 stations. The alterNative Voices website, www.alterNativeVoices.org, is one of the oldest (since 1995), non-commercial Indian websites on line. 

Victor graduated from Denver's East High School and attended CU before serving in the Air Force.  He has a long history in broadcast journalism, including Channel 7 television and radio stations KOSI, KADX, KRKS and KHIH - to name a few. He started as a volunteer substitute on-air host and is now our Production Manager.  Victor handles the "voice" of KUVO, creating the recorded spots, recording interviews and shows and a whole lot more! 

Wynton Marsalis is among the most prominent jazz musicians of the modern era and is also a well-known instrumentalist in classical music. He is also the Musical Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. A compilation of his series of inspirational letters to a young jazz musical student, named Anthony, has been published as To a Young Jazz Musician.

Marsalis has made his reputation with a combination of skill in jazz performance and composition, a sophisticated yet earthy and hip personal style, an impressive knowledge of jazz and jazz history, and skill as a virtuoso classical trumpeter. As of 2006, he has made sixteen classical and more than thirty jazz recordings, has been awarded nine Grammys between the genres, and has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music, the first time it has been awarded for a jazz recording.