Most people don’t relate 6 a.m. and jazz.
Ed Danielson isn’t most people. Host of “Morning Beat” on KUVO 89.3-FM for four years, Danielson is up at 4 a.m., eager to play the music he’s loved since he was a 10-year-old.
Danielson’s 6-9 a.m., laidback wake-up call tilts toward bop, but, he says, “I like everything from Jelly Roll Morton to John Coltrane. There’s more bop-oriented music because that’s what the station tries to do.”
KUVO is a miracle among local stations, catering to a small but avid audience of jazz lovers for 20 years. Last month, it was named major-market jazz station of the year by Jazz Week magazine.
“Our audience is very diverse,” said Danielson, whose “real job” is as a network administrator. “It’s all over the spectrum in terms of age and ethnicity. It’s a personality that’s drawn to jazz.”
Danielson, 57, is one of those lucky people whose job overlaps his passion. “They’re paying me to get up in the morning. I’d work for free.”
New, and free
Technology marches on. KMGH-Channel 7 up and running with “My 24/7,” providing local news and weather on wireless devices.
In announcing the service, station GM Darrell Brown said, “With ‘My 24/7’ you connect to the Internet on your cellphone and have immediate access to the latest local news updates, current weather conditions, financial information and local listings of movie theaters.”
The free service is the first of its kind in the Denver market, according to Brown. It’s accessible at TheDenverChannel.com.
It’s about history
Authors David Halaas and Andrew Masich talk about “Halfbreed,” their biography of George Bent, today as KCFR 1340-AM launches a week of reprised interviews on Colorado history. Also scheduled this week – Tuesday: Sandra Dallas, “The Quilt That Walked to Golden”; Wednesday: Ken Reyher, “High Country Cowboys”; Thursday: Dick Kreck (that would be me), “Murder at the Brown Palace”; and Friday: Dean Saitta, “Ludlow Massacre.”
Interviews conducted by Dan Drayer (he’s since moved to Washington, D.C.) on “Colorado Matters” play at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. weekdays, 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays
Around the dial
KBCO 97.3-FM launches its fireworks show at dusk tonight at CU’s Folsom Field. A concert by Chris Daniels and the Kings precedes the big show. … KVOD 90.1-FM spins classics from Aaron Copland, Irving Berlin, Virgil Thomson and others from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. today. … KOA 850-AM celebrates the Fourth with readings of “Letters Home” from servicemen, starting at 3:20 p.m. … Quotable: “Playing bop is like Scrabble with all the vowels missing.” – Duke Ellington.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
