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| Jazz88. October, 2007 |
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| Jazz in Country country. |
Volunteers do a professional job at Jazz88, WPTC.
“WPTC, 88.1 FM, is the non-commercial radio station owned by the Pennsylvania College of Technology, Williamsport. WPTC broadcasts an effective radiated power of 494 watts, covering a radius of approximately 10-15 miles, from studios in the Lifelong Education Center on campus and streams on the Internet at www.pct.edu/wptc. WPTC broadcasts 24 hours a day year round. During the academic year the station broadcasts a modern rock format. On weekends and during semester and summer breaks, WPTC broadcasts a jazz format.
WPTC also broadcasts documentaries, radio drama, a variety of independent music shows and locally and nationally produced news and public affairs shows and features, including public radio’s Earth & Sky; Jazz Perspectives; The Hightower Report, Voices of Our World; A World of Possibilities, Jazz Inspired, War News Radio and Listen Here!”
Well, that just about sums it up. Right?
No, there is more to it. Williamsport has been listening to the cool sound of Jazz on the weekends during “Penn Tech’s” school year for almost 12 years. With the addition of automatic equipment the Jazz programming was expanded to fill the summer months, from May to Labor Day.
Incredibly, the Jazz format is entirely manned by knowledgeable volunteers. While there is a certain playfulness and camaraderie among the on-air personalities, each volunteer offers his listeners a dedicated professionalism that is second to none in the radio business.
 Brad Nason Assistant Professor, Department of Media Arts, WPTC Faculty Adviser, is the guy that’s in charge of the operation. He said, “The success of the Jazz format is really a testament to the guy’s dedication. They’re all volunteers and some have been doing this for 15 years!”
When asked about the noticeable lack of a female voice between the Jazz pieces, Nason said, “We’re trying to recruit women volunteers. We’ve been trying to persuade a young lady who always calls in and seems quite knowledgeable of the Jazz.”
Nason said, “I know it sounds like a cliché, but we are like a family here.”
Nason started out at Lycoming College’s radio station where he met such Jazz Aficionados as John Harris and Ray DeVaughn. When Nason switched to Penn College of Technology, a few of the guys followed him. Initially the Jazz footprint was much smaller. In the beginning, all kinds of music were being played on the weekends, but through attrition the Jazz format kept expanding. “It filled a void on the weekends”, Nason said.
The volunteers bring in the Jazz heard on WPTC. The college station’s library probably ranks as good as any commercial radio station. Listeners and other volunteers often donate or loan the music to the station. The unified purpose is to share the unique experience of Jazz.
There is a wide variety musical artistic expression within the genre. Jazz has a lot of diversity. From Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans Jazz to Dizzy Gillespie’s Bebop to John Coltrane’s avant-garde to Winton Marseilles’ modern sound, there is enough for everyone. However, there is a secular strife among the Jazz lovers. Some consider “smooth Jazz” to be a diluted, contrived sound while its defenders say it is an evolutionary step that is not accepted by the “fuddy-duddy” purists.
But despite the jocular “dissing”, it is evident that there is a love for the music at WPTC, 88.1 fm. The entire community of Williamsport owes Brad Nason, the staff at Pennsylvania College of Technology, the volunteers, the contributors and especially the underwriters a debt of gratitude.
Jazz 88, playing the best in straight-ahead jazz (and smooth jazz Saturdays 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Sundays 7-10 a.m.) can now be heard on weekends--from midnight Friday through 6:30 a.m. Monday.)
Can also be heard on the Internet. http://www.pct.edu/wptc/.
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