Matt Fleeger: Confessions Of The Reluctant Jazz Guy
b'When Matt Fleeger agreed to be our guest curator this week, we knew we\'d struck gold.
He\'s one of our favorite guys around the building. As program director of our sister station, KMHD Jazz Radio, he oversees what goes on air and works with dozens of volunteer hosts to keep operations bouncing along. His sensibility brings together respect for straight-ahead jazz classics with huge enthusiasm for forward-thinking sounds \\u2014 especially those originating in the Portland scene.
Matt doesn\'t brag about it, but under his direction, KMHD has grown a lot. In 2012, "Jazz Times" magazine named it "Station of the Year." Matt\'s also written articles for NPR Music on various subjects, including Portland\'s progressive scene.
We asked him about how he tackles programming for a format that encompasses so many sounds, from trad jazz and ragtime to hard bop to big bands to fusion to free jazz to funk. The first thing he did was show us this clip, which had us on the floor.'