About Jazz24
Station Contact Information
Who We Are
Welcome to Jazz24 from Seattle & Tacoma, Washington. We feature the greatest jazz artists of all time, like Miles Davis, Billie Holiday and Dave Brubeck; as well as today’s top talents, like Branford Marsalis, Diana Krall and Pat Metheny. We also like to throw in some surprises from time to time, seasoning our jazz gumbo with blues, funk and Latin jazz. Thanks for listening!
Jazz24 is produced by Pacific Public Media, who also operates KPLU-FM. Pacific Public Media is owned and operated by Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington, USA.
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Joey Cohn
Assistant General Manager / Director of Content
In 1987 Joey Cohn joined the KPLU team as
the Morning Jazz Host and Music Director. Over the years, he has grown
KPLU's programming and audience to award winning heights. Under Joey's
leadership, KPLU has won numerous national awards including the Edward
R. Murrow, for news, and the Marconi, for Jazz Station of the Year.
Joey's passion for radio often reveals itself in his secondary position
as the station ham. We think he's funny... most of the time.
jcohn@kplu.org
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Nick Francis
Music Director
A native of Los Angeles and graduate of
UCLA, Francis began his radio career in 1983 at KLSK-FM, an
eclectic-based jazz station in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Since then, he has
programmed jazz radio at stations all around the country, including
KKSF/San Francisco and WJZZ/Atlanta. During his seven years as Program
Director at KYOT/Phoenix, he helped it become the first jazz station in
America to achieve number-one status in the ratings. He joined the KPLU
team in November 2005.
His most memorable KPLU radio moment was meeting and interviewing Mose
Allison. He lives in North Tacoma, and is married to photographer Sharon
Styer.
nfrancis@kplu.org
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Dick Stein
Jazz Host
Dick Stein has
been with KPLU since January, 1992. His duties include hosting the
morning jazz show and co-hosting and producing the Food for Thought
feature with the Seattle Times’ Nancy Leson. He was writer and director
of the three Jimmy Jazzoid live radio musical comedies and 100 episodes
of Jazz Kitchen. Previous occupations include the USAF, radio call-in
show host, country, classical and top-40 DJ, chimney sweep, window
washer and advertising copywriter.
His most memorable KPLU moment: Peeling Alien life form from Erin
Hennessey’s face after it leapt at her from the biohazard refrigerator
he picked up cheap for the station at an FDA garage sale. Dick is
married to nationally noted metalsmith, jewelry designer and cowgirl
“Calamity” Cheryl DeGroot.
dstein@kplu.org
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Abe Beeson
Jazz Host
Abe grew up in Western Washington, a 3rd
generation Seattle/Tacoma kid. It was as a student at Pacific Lutheran
University that Abe landed his first job at KPLU, editing and producing
audio for news stories. It was a Christmas Day shift no one else wanted
that gave Abe his first on-air experience which led to overnights, then
Saturday afternoons, and he's been hosting Evening Jazz since 1998.
His most memorable KPLU radio moments include introducing Dave Brubeck,
Ray Charles, Oscar Peterson and other greats; attending the San
Sebastian Jazz Festival in Spain with a group of KPLU jazz fans; and
locking himself out of the station on a particularly cold winter night.
abeeson@kplu.org
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Mary McCann
Jazz Host
Mary
McCann is a poet and performer and madly in love with music. She’s
written three one woman shows and had her poetry published by Arizona
State University. Broadcast radio was her life from age 17 on. In 1999
she had a pioneering role in Internet radio during the dot com boom in
Silicon Valley. Mary is currently the World Music Director at AOL
Internet radio and one of the narrators for BirdNote. She started at
KPLU in June of 2008 as the host of the Saturday Jazz Matinee.
Her most memorable KPLU moment was my first fund drive. She says, “It
was a thrill to talk to people about shared values through music. It
still is, every time I take the mic.”
mmccann@kplu.org
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