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10 Questions with ... Jason Crane
April 17, 2023
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1. What was your favorite station to listen to when you were a kid?
I moved around a lot, but one of the stations I remember as a little kid was WHAM in Rochester, NY. They used to play old-time radio shows late at night in the early 80s. Things like The Shadow and Jack Benny. I'd put the radio on long after I was supposed to be asleep and get transported to another time.
2. I see you moved over forty times growing up, living in Japan twice. Tell us how that influenced you as a person.
I certainly got used to being the new kid. I went to kindergarten in four different states in one year, for example. As an adult I have kept up that nomadic lifestyle. I've lived all over the US and had a chance to see many different ways of life. I spent a lot of the past two years traveling the country in a van, which was an amazing adventure, at least some of the time. And in Japan, I learned to speak Japanese and to make my way in a culture very different from my own. I would like to think it's made me more broad-minded and open-hearted.
3. You have also been a professional musician. Tell us about your band.
I started out playing saxophone and clave in a Latin dance band. I've also played in funk and reggae bands and jazz combos. And I've spent a lot of time playing saxophone and cajon with various singer-songwriters. I've done it both as a full-time job and as a sort of paid hobby when I've had another job.
4. What got you interested in the radio business?
The two main things that made me fall in love with radio as a medium were the old-time radio shows I mentioned above and the original 1970s radio version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which I discovered as a teenager. I went to college for about 10 minutes, but while I was there, I had a show on the college's radio station. I really loved that and so when I started playing music full-time in Tucson, AZ, I also auditioned for an on-air job at the local NPR affiliate, announcing jazz and classical music. That was my first paid radio gig.
5. You worked as a Newscaster for Bloomberg Radio in Tokyo. What was the most interesting part of that job?
Bloomberg is a global, 24-hour news service, so they have divisions all over the world and each is the headquarters for a certain part of the broadcast day. I was working in Tokyo when there was a hostage situation at the Japanese embassy in Peru. I was the only news person awake when it happened, so I ended up doing radio broadcasts and writing TV scripts for the entire Bloomberg network until they could wake up a real reporter, who then started filing stories … from bed. Obviously, the hostage situation was awful, but from a news point of view it was thrilling.
6. You have worked in several formats, including jazz, AAA, classic hits, news/talk, and country. Which one gives you the most pleasure?
When I listen to music for pleasure it is probably a 60/40 split between the kind of music we play in AAA and then jazz. As a broadcaster I really enjoy both formats, but AAA definitely contains more music that I love to sing along to. If you're in the studio with me during my show, there will definitely be a lot of singing and dancing.
7. Tell us about your podcasting adventures.
In 2007 I started a jazz interview show called The Jazz Session. It's still running, 16 years later. It was the first jazz interview podcast, and it is the longest running one, too. I also host a show called A Brief Chat, which has gone through some format changes but is now a general-interest interview show. I've had some other podcasts, too, including one called First Laughs that followed my days starting out as a stand-up comedian, and another called 3 Minutes Of Buddhism that was made for British schools to use.
8. Besides music and radio, you had another career as a union organizer. What got you interested in activism?
When I was a full-time musician, I joined the American Federation of Musicians. I started going to picket lines and other activities through them. Eventually I went to a union organizer training school and got involved helping a variety of service industry and health care workers form unions. I've done a lot of community activism as well. I think part of being alive is trying to make the world better for other people.
9. If you were to leave the music business today and you could choose any other occupation, what would it be?
Well, I've already had a couple other careers, including as a professional organizer. These days I'm not sure. Monk? Wandering poet? Vagabond?
10. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without ...
Music. It sounds trite but it's true. Music has been the central animating force of my entire life. It's the soundtrack of joyful times and a balm in bad times. I can't imagine life without it.
Bonus Questions
Last non-industry job:
I helped administer federal funds at the municipal government level in western Massachusetts.
First record ever purchased:
An Evening Of Magic: Live At The Hollywood Bowl by Chuck Mangione, on double-cassette, purchased at a record shop in Eastview Mall in Victor, NY
First concert:
New Orleans musicians Pete Fountain and Al Hirt. I went with my grandpa, who introduced me to a lot of the music I listened to as a kid.
Favorite band of all-time:
I can't pick a favorite band, but the album I go back to more than any other when I need a pure shot of joy is Level 42's Running in The Family.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time away from work?
I'm a published poet with a book out and another on the way, so I really enjoy reading and writing poetry. I love reading in general. I'm also a giant nerd, so I like Star Wars and Doctor Who and that kind of thing. I love hanging out with my sons when they have space in their busy lives. And although I'm an introvert I like spending time with my close circle of friends.
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