JJJeffries Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I am a semi-retired broadcast DJ/Sales/Journalist that owns two exceptional Klipsch Heresy IIs and also a beautiful pair of Rosewood Klipschorns. Along with the Klipsch I have twin 18" Velodyne upgraded subwoofers. I run all tube in my audio rig and my forte is jazz...big band and theatre pipe organ. I do voices as well: Art Prysock...Frank Sinatra...Miss Ella and others. When I was a Navy Journalist assigned to Armed Forces Radio I used to cover the annual Antibes Jazz Fest that was a blast. Met many of the best in Jazz. Including Miles Davis... Erroll Garner...Duke Ellington...Count Basie...Thad Jones and Mel Lewis and their Jazz Orchestra...(Central Park North is a real pleaser) and many, many more Jazz giants including Stan Kenton. In the classical vein or semi-popular arena I knew the late Dr. Virgil Fox and maestro Arthur Feidler of the Boston Pops and the popular theatre organist George Wright. Please share your broadcasting experience. I am all ears. As you know radio is the theatre of the mind. Best, JJ Jeffries Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Do live sound or recording engineers count? We've got lots of them types on the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJJeffries Posted July 21, 2007 Author Share Posted July 21, 2007 YES! Best, JJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Did a stint for 6 months as a DJ/news guy for WVHG in Labelle, Fla. after college before getting hired... Carted in a pair of Heresy's for the booth because the owner was too cheap to spend any money for anything than an old pair of headphones. Made my day!!!![H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEC Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Well I was once (a very long time ago) a DJ. When I joined the Air Force, I was supposed to go to Armed Forces Radio, but, when I was in Air Force basic training, they found out I already had a 1st Class FCC License. So, they decided they could send me right out to fix radios without even having to send me to school. Never did get back to the DJ business. I have lots of Klipsch speakers. Bob Crites Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I was chief engineer at the college carrier current station. Manhattan College. The biggest question, always, was whether anyone was listening. Some years later the TV program "WKRP" came out. How did they know? Uncanny. It may be that all peanut roasters are the same. The WKPR writers must have written from experience. Or there were hidden cameras? Despite our humble situation at WRCM: The air crew did a creditable job; most of which I can't claim any credit for. The policy was that just about any student, with some training, could have a slot which was up to three hours. Everyone gets to play. There were boyfriend - girlfriend teams, and some Mutt and Jeff (my term) teams. We had remote broadcasts of the college sports teams even out of state (color and play by play) , a news program at 5 p.m., and some theater of the mind in the form of A Christmas Carol. Advertising was found and fellow students wrote up some very clever ads. There were also radio marathons for charity. One marathon is memorable. It was actually a remote at a well trafficed dorm building. I was back at the studio listening on the air monitor to the Mutt and Jeff marathon team, and a young lady was there with me. The DJ's said they'd give a prize to the first girl that came to the remote site wearing a bikini. I commented to her, "A poor choice of terms; they should have added "and nothing else."" She ran off and showed up at the remote location wearing a bikini over street clothes. She got the prize. (Maybe this was a sign I'd become a lawyer.) There were several adventures which were spontaneously created learning grounds. In some areas of study, professors set up case studies from text books. For us, they just happened all on their own. - - - - A big dispute arose between my buddy the General Manager and the personable, popular, and hip, Program Director. It was probably about who had "say" about what. There was some sort of general strike. Anyway, there were long negotiations. Boy, did I learn about politics. Essentially, I was the second to the GM and a worked with the Assistant Program Director to work a deal behind the scenes while the principals butted heads. Later I realized this is very typical in the world. - - - - There was bad blood between the radio station and Student Governent, one year. Student Govenment President and ministers imagined themselves as kings of the campus and didn't like dissent. (I suppose this is inevitable but it is a little surpising that it was played out on a small campus.) I was in the air studio one day while the ultra cool Black DJ was on the air. The President of Student Governent and some cronnies burst in, fairly drunk. The President ranted at the the DJ and called him an N. It was getting ugly. I picked up the phone and called the campus cops. (The campus cops liked the radio station because the GM would fix their pagers. No walkie talkies in those days, much less cell phones.) The officer said that if they had to come to the radio station, they'd shut down the place. (This must be like what cops tell bar owners in similar situations.) I insisted that they send someone to the station. The campus cops arrived. The Student Government people got escorted out. The campus cops shut down the station for three days. The college had an unused and untested forum for dispute resolution. The GM of the radio station, much to his credit, pressed forth a suit against the student government claiming lost revenue for advertising. The case was a formal trial before three professors, one an ex-assistant DA, as judges. The radio station won. The system worked. - - - - Maybe no one was listening. We all learned a lot. It will never show up on transcripts. Best, Gil Anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 A Miles fan myself......what was your impression of him? Heard from some he was a real jerk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Miles was Miles, ask him a stupid question and he would skewer them. Kenton on the other hand was a jerk. He s-canned all the innovators of the day (like Chick Corea) saying it wasn't jazz. I was there, and never respected the b-turd again. Still don't. Never will. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJJeffries Posted July 22, 2007 Author Share Posted July 22, 2007 Hello All Again: Miles was a delight to be with as was Erroll Garner. I didn't know France too well and Erroll took me to Paris and there were two outstanding Jazz Clubs on the Left Bank. As far as Stan Kenton I got him a gig at Dartmouth College and that opened all kind of doors. I interviewed him for the old WJAZ FM in Boston and when the cast was over he got my New Hampshire mailing address and about two weeks later UPS left four big wooden crates at the house. I opened them and he had sent all of his Creative World label LP.s. Over 110 albums. Stan invented the Mellophonium Horn which is one romantic sound. I have one that he gave me. I play trombone so it was rather easy to adapt to the Mellophonium. His orchestra in the 1950s recored Romantic Approach and one of the cuts is Moonlight In Vermont which is absolutely stunning and a very haunting sound. The horn is a cross between an English and French Horn. I had a friend who wanted to buy it for $10k and I said no way. I have every record that Errol recorded and that collection is valued at $55k. All My Best, JJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tarheel Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 Those are some wonderful memories JJ. Must have been an interesting time. Think I will go listen to some Miles. Will it be ******* Brew or Friday Night at the Blackhawk....can't go wrong either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Spinner Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 well ..... klipsch ..?? we know it ain't Paul Harvey ... [*-)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 One of my first jobs as a young adult was installing sound and lighting systems in clubs and bars for Calliope Sound, now Indy Pro Audio. We also rented sound systems and owned the Klipsch MCM1900 system for our main stack, had Little Bastards for side fill monitors, and HSM Heresy slant monitors. The second system, which I was caretaker for, was a double stack of LSI split cabinets, biamped with Crown DC300's. In my 30's I ran sound and lights for a few local bands. Never got to 'road' status, just weekend warriors, but at one point I had about 30,000 watts of lighting and a van of special effects that I'd blow away audiences with at some of Speedway's rock clubs. I own most of those systems today. Eternal quest to reclaim Youth, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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