Carlos and Arturo Reflect on Their Time at KUVO

For decades, Carlos Lando and Arturo Gómez have been the heartbeat of KUVO JAZZ. Their voices, passion, and unwavering support for musicians have built one of the most vibrant and diverse jazz communities in the world.

KUVO JAZZ announced the retirement of two pillars of its organization, Carlos Lando and Arturo Gómez, this morning on The Morning Set, the show Lando has co-hosted since 2022. Lando as program director and station manager over 39 years, and Gómez as music director and community ambassador, have been instrumental in shaping the sound and soul of KUVO JAZZ and the broader Colorado music community for decades.

During the announcement, Lando reflected on the importance of KUVO’s long-running emphasis on broadcasting live performances from musicians in the community. “Recorded music is great. Live music is even better. It's in the moment. And if you stay in the moment with what's going on, then you're never going to be passé.”

Gómez recalled one of his first assignments upon arriving at KUVO in 2002. “Carlos told me, I want you to get out and get involved, get into it, like James Brown would have said, in the music community.’ And I took it to heart, being a member of the Five Points Jazz Festival Organizing Committee for 22 years until its demise. I’ll still be in the amazing musician community we have here along the Front Range as an individual representing myself.”

Carlos: I want to thank our community of listeners, the listeners, the volunteers, and the musicians who have been part of this amazing journey of KUVO in the past 40 years. If you talk to Flo, one of the founders and original president and CEO of KUVO, she will tell you that when I first got here, the first thing I said was, we got to have a performance studio. There's got to be a place where musicians can come in and be heard. And we have the power, a very powerful radio station here. They need to be brought in and invited in to play. And to me, that is really the core, and the essence of why this radio station is really so successful and so entrenched culturally in our community because so many people have gotten the opportunity to hear the performance. Recorded music is great. Live music is even better. It's in the moment. And if you stay in the moment with what's going on, then you're never going to be passé. And if you stay in the moment with what's going on, then you're never going to be passé. You're there when as the music evolves with the musicians.

Arturo: When I arrived here to Denver in April of 2003, James Van Buren was the first musician I met because he happened to be here the day I arrived. And a few days later, I met Purnell Steen, who has a tribute tonight at Dazzle, which is why I'm wearing my piano roll over here in honor of Purnell Steen, who was also a member of the first Five Points Jazz Festival that took place about a month after it arrived. And Carlos told me, I want you to get out and get involved, like, get into it, like James Brown would have said, in the music community. And I took it to heart. And I did do that, and I became a member of the Five Points Jazz Festival Organizing Committee for 22 years until its demise. And I've also have enjoyed being in the community of the amazing musician community we have here along the front range. And kind of that's what I will miss the most, the involvement of being with the musicians community as part of KUVO. Because I'll still be there, but I'll be there as an individual representing myself, which will be a little bit different than representing KUVO JAZZ.