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Photo courtesy of Katie Malloch
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Katie Malloch's warm, urbane voice envelopes you like the low, confident notes of a sophisticated saxophone solo; after 25 years as the public airwave patroness of jazz, she and the music have become one. These days, however, after a quarter century behind CBC Radio's "Jazz Beat," she's in those same Montreal studios preparing and presenting "Tonic," an eclectic concoction of music old and new to be taken nightly from 6 to 8 pm. With this interesting new show, the Westmount-raised Malloch comes full circle.
Montréal Magazine: Was jazz a big part of your home life growing up?
Katie Malloch: We had all types of music in the house, largely thanks to my father. My parents had an appreciation for jazz but it was the jazz of their era that they liked - Duke Ellington, Lester Young, Billie Holiday?. In the 1950s, they attended a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert that was presented in Montreal, just a few blocks from my house. Sadly, I was too young to go. But as time went on, my dad also brought home R&B artists like Aretha Franklin and Junior Walker, so we listened to all kinds of things.
MM: How did you first get involved in radio?
KM: I have an honors degree in anthropology from McGill but I started doing things on radio there. In no time, I couldn't see myself as an anthropologist anymore.
MM: How did you land at the CBC?
KM: I started out doing short-term freelance stuff there. Then I did the Montreal afternoon show from 4 to 6. That was in 1975. Some time later, CBC started looking for a staff announcer to do a once-a-week jazz show for the network, because the regular host had just died. I casually mentioned that I had a bit of an interest in jazz, and they took me! They didn't even care whether or not I'd do a good job. They were just thrilled to have somebody! The show was called "That Midnight Jazz," and I learned so much about jazz doing it. Back then, the music library was not organized by label but by type of music, and I spent hours going through the jazz section. I'd just pull something out and think, 'Hmm, this looks interesting,' then put it on the air. I learned so much about jazz playing in that sandbox.
We play 25 different cuts a day on "Tonic." And it's a real mix
because it's the first time I've ever worked with a producer who's younger than I am.
MM: How did your flagship show, "Jazz Beat," evolve?
KM: I had begun to present some jazz for (producer) Alain de Grosbois on other shows. From there, we developed a formula for a new program: the first hour would be a Canadian group, recorded in studio, and the second would be a concert from an international artist. Those were the early days of the Montreal Jazz Festival, and we were of significant help to them, our economic contribution in helping to pay performers' fees, for instance. And the Canadian artists we had on benefited, too, because so many of those Canadian sessions we recorded turned out to be first CDs.
MM: "Jazz Beat" went off the air last year after a quarter century run. That left a lot of people disgruntled, musicians included.
KM: Whenever a show ends, there are people who aren't happy. But that's true of so many things in life. But a lot of musicians like the new show, too, because they don't only listen to jazz. We play 25 different cuts a day on "Tonic." And it's a real mix because it's the first time I've ever worked with a producer who's younger than I am. We choose the music together. He'll pull out "Mambo Number 5" and I'll suggest the old Perez Prado piece it's based on.
MM: Sounds like it's a return to the music you grew up listening to.
KM: I've come full circle. I'm back to a daily show, which is where I started, I'm back to an all-disc show, and I'm back to the music that I first heard in my home.
| Tonic with Katie Malloch can be heard weeknights from 6 to 8 pm on CBC Radio 2. |
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