June 1, 2003 - This month our destination for "Behind the Mic" is Cool FM in Winnipeg. Music Director and Mid Morning Host Walle Larsson is well versed in matters of Jazz having been a saxophonist in Winnipeg for many years. His on air style is conversational and friendly and he's very excited about the possibilities this new format will bring to the city he loves. We talked to Walle about his new career and what Cool FM is all about.

John Beaudin - Hi Walle. It's great to have you for our third "Behind the Mic" profile. We appreciate the work that you do in Winnipeg at Cool FM and it looks like things are finally starting to take off with Jazz in Canada.

Walle Larsson - Well, yeah it's catching on in Canada and it's taken a while but it's catching on because of people like you.

John - Thanks. It really helps having three commercial radio stations in the country doing Jazz and Smooth Jazz even though all three are very different. So how's the reaction been in Winnipeg to Cool FM now that you've been on for three months now?

Walle - The reaction has really been positive. I think it's partly due to the music and partly due to a vacuum and a lack of music.

John - And you'd know since your also a musician who lives in Winnipeg. At what point did you join the team for Cool FM?

Walle - I was involved in January about two months before we went on the air.

John - When you first knew this station was going to fly and actually be on the air you must have known tons of musicians that were going to be helped by this? Playing Jazz in Canada can be somewhat of a thankless job.

Walle - It can be. You can feel like you're a bit of an island. Musicians sometimes don't get a lot of support so now they get a little more.

John - Did you get a lot of Jazz purists phoning you and complaining that you were short on bebop or big band?

Walle - Yeah, we got a lot of that. We're just as polite to them as we can be. We have to cover a broad spectrum and we do the best we can. I'm sure you know what that's like?

John - Oh yeah! I programmed for years and it's a juggling act and you can never please everyone. Do you know what Cool FM's distinct factor is off hand? How many distinct songs do you play in a week?

Walle - Off hand I can't give you the numbers on it but it's up there and I can get back to you on that.

John - The three stations in Canada are so different. The Wave in Hamilton sounds like a U.S. Smooth Jazz station, The Breeze in Calgary has a more commercial twist to the formula and Cool FM is more traditional Jazz.

Walle - Yeah, we are for now.

John - Oh, could that change?

Walle - Well, if I have anything to do with it, it will change. (Laughing)

John - With Ross Porter now on board he's a real traditional (Jazz) guy.

Walle - Yeah, he really is but you know what? I've known Ross for a long time so I'm going to be bugging him a little bit on that.

John - So he's open is what you're saying.

Walle - Well, I think so. Ross has done his CBC show but I think Ross is going to find now that doing a 24 hour show brings a little bit of pressure from the different communities and they appreciate different styles.

John - Also Izzy (I.H Asper, CanWest's Chairman of the Board) is a traditional Jazz fan.

Walle - Well, very much so. He's a traditional Jazz fan and in particular he appreciates the popular music of the 40's and 50's and that sort of thing.

John - And he really knows his stuff. Every time I talk to someone about Izzy that comes out. Is it true that he has a Jazz shrine in his basement?

Walle - I'll tell you one thing he's phoned me from his vacation home and he'd send me Cd's and I'd say, "Izzy, I've got this such and such CD in my hand" and he's say, "You know what take cut three off of that one and cut's four and five are junk and make sure the trumpet solo is so and so on cut seven because I've got another version."

John - (laughing) Wow, you're not kidding!

Walle - No, I'm not kidding.

John - In Calgary at the Breeze we have a small staff of a little over twenty and we find that it gives us a family oriented feel. Do you find that at Cool FM since you have about the same number in staff?

Walle - Well, it is. We kind of know what each other is doing but we're going strong because we have to cover different shows and weekend shifts and that sort of thing. We are trying to work in some part time people but that's difficult.

John - I hear what you're saying. Tell me about project Cool?

Walle - Well, Project Cool is really an interesting contest for the community. It's really a broad based Jazz contest for anyone from any genre of Jazz. Right from Smooth, to fusion, to bebop, to traditional, to cool or anything they want to experimental and avant garde. Anyone can apply and it's for a ten thousand dollar prize and the prize is very open too. It's to record ten thousand dollars worth of studio time at any studio that they choose and we'll pay the studio directly. Initially, we just got a couple of entries but it quickly grew to forty and fifty entries and some really promising stuff. I don't know where these guys are coming from.

John - That's cool and promising.

Walle - Yeah, it really is. Even for the people who don't win it helps them get their stuff organized so they have demo material ready to go so they can apply for Factor grants or Canada council grants what have you.

John - Tonight you're heading to a gig. You have to be really busy, you host the mid-morning show and you're the Music Director at Cool FM. So, Walle Larsson the sax player still lives?

Walle - You know what John I really have not been playing. I've really felt strongly in getting involved in radio. I have to admit my specialty is Smooth Jazz. I have been playing it and doing CD's and I've been involved in that for over twenty years but I'm really only playing for maybe three or four times a month. I'm keeping my hand in because it's all related.

John - I used to play you when I was doing "Night-Lite' in Vancouver.

Walle - Is that right?

John - Yeah, I played two of your tracks.

Walle - Well, I've been out of the scene a little bit and especially with trying to promote any of my things but I'd be honored to send you any of my CD's. I do have current things it's just that I'm just not as up front as I used to be.

John - As a broadcaster I listen to other announcers differently than the usual listener does and I have to say that on opening day besides the fact of being really surprised that you were quite traditional Jazz sounding I was impressed with how relaxed you sounded on air.

Walle - Well, we had the advantage of having gone through and worked with the gear a little bit so there was no real anxiety about that. We have amazing technical staff so we were confident with that. The system and the Selector system that we're working with is very user friendly so there really wasn't any surprises there. If anything it was just about walking through it. That's what I felt like.

John - I notice that your on air style is very conversational and very low key and I think with this kind of music it helps if you sound like a human being.

Walle - Absolutely. Its companion radio and we want to give people some information about the music but we don't want to be too technical. We want to speak of the lyrical and emotional content or something interesting about the tune you know?

John - Does the station play your music?

Walle - You know what they do play it a little bit but I really haven't pushed it too much but there s a few of my tunes in there. They come up once in a while and it's great to be able to announce the odd gig that you're doing or this and that but that's not really why I'm there. (laughing) I do take advantage of it from time to time.

John - What grabs you right now musically?

Walle - I think really what's happened is I've had a chance to really check out Izzy's library and some of the stuff that I really would not have given the time that it deserves in the past. Some of the classic stuff is sneaking up on me a little bit. I've always been more into the fusion end and the Smooth Jazz. All I can say is I'm getting more into the classics and it take s a little bit of patience to develop a taste for this.

John - I hear you! When I first started playing this type of music on radio I too started discovering more traditional things in spite of myself and learned an appreciation for Miles Davis or Keith Jarrett. This stuff is infectious that's why they are the classics.

Walle - It's true. With Smooth Jazz we're talkin' more rhythmic and more groove oriented and more emotional things going on like R&B, funk or even rap flavored things going on. With traditional Jazz its more song based and it's just more melody and chords to get the song out.

John - Have you listened to The Wave in Hamilton or The Breeze here in Calgary?

Walle - Yeah, actually I have and you sent us some discs of stuff and I'm aware of your play list maybe not your current play list but I do check it out from time to time. All I can say is I'm excited about it.

John - When George (Raymond - Program Director Cool FM) and I talked before your station went on the air he mentioned something that everyone seems to agree with and that's if we stick together and stay strong it's good for everyone. Steve Kassay said the same thing at The Wave in Hamilton.

Walle - It really is and we'll get the scene going here and that will stimulate the recording scene and we'll get more of the core artists from the States and like you said we'll help each other. We have to get a little bit of a touring circuit up here.

John - I think that goes for Calgary but like you said that will change with airplay.

Walle - Even with Project Cool I'm realizing that we have the beginnings of a lot of different Jazz groups that are both smooth and traditional. Young people that are in their basements with their studios are ready to go so if there's an opportunity to get out there it's going to happen. I think you'll find that we'll start to spawn more groups like Montreal's UZEB that gets a chance to do some concerts and get a little airplay.

John - CanWest Global has invested a lot in this genre of Jazz. Cool TV is going to launch soon.

Walle - They just believe that this is just going to take off and it's just going to go! I think their right.

John - When is Cool TV going on the air?

Walle - No, they don't have a set date. The last thing I heard was in the next two or three months. I know they have been taping and getting material together. I know that CanWest has some other applications in but I'm not privy to the information but I do believe they may get a start on a couple of other stations.

John - Walle thanks so much for talking to me.

Walle - Well, bless you man and I think the communication with you has really been encouraging and I know how committed you are to this from checking out your site. I don't know where you get the time for this but its sure working for you.