DAVID La RUSSA

A RADIOGRAPHY


What followed were a few dead-end jobs, including one more stab at managing a record store, where among other things, I rekindled my interest in Jazz music. I hadn’t listened to much jazz in years, but when a co-worker gave me a CD of the “Monks Dream” album by Thelonious Monk; I fell in love with the music all over again.

After immersing myself in the music for a few months, which included much listening to KUAT-AM, I thought it just might be possible for me to actually do a jazz show on the radio. With the help of a few friends, including Bill Cashman, I was able to assemble a demo tape, and applied for a job with the station. This lead to a Saturday morning in mid-August 1990 and KUAT-AM where, as a very nervous David Close, I attempted my very first jazz show.

Well, somehow I managed to make my way through that first airshift, and when KUAZ-FM went on the air in April 1992, I was given the weekday morning jazz airshift. KWFM, 1995
KUAZ Studio Circa 1995
A position I held until the beginning of the Iraq war. In April 2003 the daytime jazz programming was discontinued in favor of more news & information programs. Asked by station manger John Kelley what I would like to do next, I replied that being the local host for NPR’s “Morning Edition” would be my first choice. He accepted that idea, and I’m still there, weekday mornings from 6 until 10am.

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