State of the Station

KSDS Fall Pledge Drives Celebrates Latin Jazz with One-of-a-Kind Membership Gifts 

By Matt Silver

Machito and His Afro-Cubans, Glen Island Casino, New York, N.Y., c. 1947. Photo by William Gottlieb. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15-Oct. 15), the 2023 KSDS Jazz 88.3 FM Fall Membership Drive (Fri., Sept. 22- Sun., Oct. 1) will celebrate Latin American music’s myriad indispensable contributions to jazz. Over the course of the drive, the station will, per member drive custom, be asking listeners to pledge support by purchasing or renewing memberships to sustain KSDS as a vital cultural resource here in San Diego and in every community around the world where the best in straight-ahead jazz can be streamed. And, per member drive custom, there will be Thank You gifts.

Pero este año con la ñapa. But this year, with a little something extra.

Celebrating One Year of “Jazz Latino” and 103 Years of Charlie Parker

By Matt Silver

Tito Puente played with Machito and his Afro-Cubans before joining his once-boss on the marquee as one of the Palladium Ballroom's 'Big Three' bandleaders.

Jazz will never die because its legends never do. We do our small part to make sure of that here at KSDS, which is why when there’s a birthday or anniversary to celebrate, we do it right.

Want proof?

Tune-in this Sunday afternoon (Aug. 27), from 3 to 5 p.m., when Raul Rico, Jr. celebrates the first anniversary of “Jazz Latino’s” KSDS debut by presenting a program devoted entirely and exclusively to “El Rey,” Tito Puente. That’s two hours of nothing but Tito: the percussionist, vibraphonist, and bandleader who, beginning in the 1940s, brought mambo to the masses at famed dance halls like New York City’s Palladium Ballroom and, over a career spanning six decades, earned a reputation for performing and recording tirelessly, doing so until his death in 2000.

Friedwald and Feinstein the Perfect Pairing to Celebrate Life and Work of Oscar Levant

By Matt Silver

Oscar Levant stars alongside Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron in An American in Paris (1951).

Calling all Great American Songbook devotees: I urge you in the strongest possible terms to tune-in to “Sing! Sing! Sing!” with Will Friedwald this Saturday at 10 a.m., when Michael Feinstein, renowned vocalist and the foremost living authority on the Songbook, joins the show to celebrate the life and work of Oscar Levant, a polymath of prodigious talents and profound psychological struggles, who at various times in his life was the highest paid classical pianist in the country, a classical music composer and conductor, a memorable popular songwriter who composed music for over 20 movies and acted in several more (including the pretty famous one pictured above), and a pioneering comedic personality in midcentury America.