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Meet DJ Jazz Man
[Times photos: Mike Pease]
Joel Kruger, 13, introduces a song on the Charles Vann Memorial Jazz Show, hosted by the entire Kruger family, who volunteer at community radio station WMNF. |
By LAURA KRANTZ
© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 3, 2001
This 13-year-old and his family take to the airwaves on radio station WMNF every Saturday night to share their love of the original cool music.
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TAMPA -- What is your favorite kind of music? Rap, pop, country, heavy metal? How about jazz? No?? Well, the Kruger family -- mom, dad and even the two sons -- would like you to consider a change of musical taste.
Every Saturday night from 6 to 9 p.m., dad Jon, mom Mary and sons Joel and Jordan co-host the Charles Vann Memorial Jazz Party on community radio station WMNF-FM 88.5 FM, where they volunteer.
WMNF is a listener-supported station that has been on the air in the Tampa Bay area for almost 22 years. The station plays a wide variety of music, including Latin, reggae, hip-hop, Indian, calypso, rock, jazz and much more. The show is named for the station's popular longtime jazz host Charles Vann, who died in 1996 after 17 years of bringing jazz to WMNF listeners.
For Jon and Mary Kruger and Joel, 13, and Jordan, 10, putting jazz on the air is not just about their love of jazz, it is about spending time together as a family.
On a recent stormy Saturday night they could be found at the station, in a tiny recording studio reached through a maze of narrow hallways, around boxes and chairs, amid walls and walls of CDs and records. They like to talk about jazz as well as listen to it, to tell what sets it apart from other music.
Joel Kruger not only plays songs for the Saturday night audience,he also presents “Joel’s Classic,” a segment with short biographies of jazz’s most important musicians.
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"Diversity" is what makes jazz unique, said Mr. Kruger. Jazz "is a true American creation; all Americans contributed to it."
Joel says it is the soloing that makes jazz different. "Each artist can take a certain song and treat it the way they like it. There are thousands of different versions of certain songs," he said.
"Soloing is 90 percent of what you already know, and each time you solo you get 10 percent new . . . it gives you a sense of challenge," said Joel, who plays the saxophone and likes soloing, which lets him improvise his own part to reflect the way he feels at the moment. He uses music he hears at home from his dad's jazz collection and music from the radio shows that stick with him. "I like the soloing; it's the best thing I do," he said. "I'm not the type of person that would want to work behind a desk when I get older; that would just bore me to death. I like to get out and interact."
On the radio show, Joel can interact with a wide audience by sharing jazz recordings on the air. "Getting to know the jazz and sharing it with other people" is what matters, said Joel.
Joel's time as a member of Sonny LaRosa's America's Youngest Jazz Band is part of the reason the Krugers ended up on the radio. One night when Mr. Kruger was working late at his job at Lykes Meat Group, a division of Smithfield Packing, he was listening to WMNF and heard one of the commentators mention that jazz was dying out. Mr. Kruger rushed home, got on the phone with the station and said he knew 23 kids in the band who absolutely loved jazz and loved playing it.
Even so, Mr. Kruger shared the concern that classic jazz wasn't getting enough exposure among young people and was fading fast from popularity. "Once (young people) get past the social stigma, they find out it really is cool music."
He asked WNMF to announce the next concert of Joel's band on the radio and asked if there was anything else he could possibly do to help promote jazz. Later, he stopped by station to see how he could help, ready even to clean or organize shelves, and the host of the jazz show, Nick Lagos, put him on the air the first day. The next week Mr. Kruger brought Joel with him to the radio show, and before they knew it, it had become a family event.
Jordan Kruger, 10, checks out a record jacket. The Kruger family hopes their enthusiasm for jazz will attract young fans who haven’t had a chance to hear much
of it.
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On that recent stormy Saturday night, all four Krugers huddled in the minuscule broadcast studio, each sitting at a counter behind a microphone. After another volunteer, Jimmy Lyon, opened the show, the Krugers introduced themselves as Jazz Man Joel, Bee Bop Jordan, Special K and the Jazz Mama.
Mr. Lyons played a song called Catch, pointing out that you should always start a radio program off with a long song so you have time to get yourself and your script together.
Not long into the evening the importance of long songs became clear. Mrs. Kruger and Mr. Lyons had to turn the place upside down, looking for a misplaced red binder in every cabinet, shelf and box. The binder contained pieces of the script they needed for the show, so they were desperate, but when the song ended, you would have thought they had been sitting still, enjoying the music the whole time.
With the next song cued up and playing, it was back to scrambling because, even though the red binder had been found, Joel and Mr. Lyons had discovered that an important CD had been scratched, meaning they couldn't feature it in that night's show.
Not too far into the show, Jordan got to do his part, introducing "Joel's Classic," a segment featuring Joel giving a short biography of a different jazz musician each week. That night's featured artist was Thelonius Monk, a jazz pianist first thought eccentric but later proclaimed a musical genius because of his creativity and ability to make music come alive.
The men in the family are quick to point out that for the first few shows, Mrs. Kruger said she would never talk on the radio, but now she has her own segment: "The Jazz Vann," which includes announcements about where jazz musicians will be playing locally that week.
Are you ready to give jazz a try? Tune in to WMNF-FM 88.5 next Saturday to catch some jazz -- and the Kruger family having fun.
- Laura Krantz, 13, is in the eighth grade in home school in Tampa and is a former member of the Times X-Team.
Here's the rest of today's Xpress
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