This month, we talked to musician David Basse, host of the show Jazz with David Basse, about good times and feeling the rhythm!
Tell us a little about how your show came to be?
I became a professional musician when I was 14 years old. After living in Los Angeles for almost a decade, my wife and I returned to Kansas City, where I had really gotten my start.
There, I volunteered at KKFI-FM, the local community radio station, hosting my own weekly jazz show. Releasing my album, “Strike When Your Iron Is Hot,” I performed in Lawrence, KS. Kansas Public Radio invited me to be interviewed on-air, and during the interview, the Jazz Director encouraged me to apply for an open on-air slot.
I hosted a 3-hour jazz program at KPR for 23 years. During that time, I became a member of the cast of “12th Street Jump,” a syndicated weekly jazz, blues and comedy jam, and 4 years later, I created “Jazz with David Basse,” and began my own foray into syndicated radio.
What is one of your favorite memories that formed from being a show host?
KPR has an extensive jazz library. One of the first Christmas Seasons I was on-air there; I received a call from a listener. As I answered the call, I heard, “” Did you just play a song about Santa Claus smoking POT?” I responded quickly, “I need to put you on hold.” I collected myself, picked up the phone again, and said, “Yes, that was Louis Armstrong, and I do believe that I heard ‘Pops’ mention that St. Nick was indeed smoking pot.”
The listener screamed, “That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard!” I realized that ‘telling the truth’ Is always the best policy, especially when you are in broadcasting.
Where do you get the inspiration to play the songs that you do?
That came from another listener, Nan Hill. She sent me hand-written letters at KPR, every week for 7 years. She once said, “Your show is like a symphony. Each selection is a new movement that goes from one to the next.”
I have archived every one of those letters. I wrote the obituary for her funeral, and a friend of Nan’s brought me several boxes of classic jazz CDs a few weeks after her passing.
My good pal, jazz vocalist, Mark Winkler wrote the song “Stay Hip,” in Nan’s honor. It was her valediction at the close of every letter.
Is Jazz your favorite genre of music?
Absolutely, I never met jazz I didn’t like.
What is a random fact about you that you’d like to share?
I can’t sit still. My grandpa offered me a nickel, if I could stop moving for 5 minutes with I was 7 years old, I couldn’t do it then, and well, I still can’t do it today. I make radio standing up. That way, I can dance through every track!
Tune into Jazz With David Basse, Weeknights, 9pm-Midnight on WESM 91.3 or streaming on our website!