I was a radio host (aka disc jockey or 'dee-jay') for 13 years (1990-2003) on WMBR-FM (88.1 mHz), the all-volunteer, student-run radio station of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge, MA. Drummer George Schuller and record promoter Al Julian, then both on-air hosts, got me interested, and Dave Palmater good-humoredly engineered for me for way-too-long until I finally passed the (by then much simplified) engineering test. Back then all producer-announcers, community members and students alike, aired a weekly 2-hour show. I regarded my program as a public service and an educational resource.

For 10 years I hosted "Changes", an eclectic all-jazz show. Then I decided to reinvent the show. My thinking was: "Since I've sung in choruses since I was 11, why not mix in a little classical music?" So "Crosscurrents" attempted an uneasy synthesis of jazz and classical, with occasional dashes of 'world', electronica, other genres, and ran one-offs like tributes to the birds, a Frank Zappa birthday bash, a Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, or string quartet marathon.

Around town, I got my kicks co-hosting a Saturday-night jazz show with Jack Lazare (of Milkman's Matinee fame) on WHDH-AM in the 80s, and making rare guest spots, as on Ron Della Chiesa's Music America (WGBH-FM). I also wrote articles on the dedicated work of fellow radio hosts:

Willis Conover (Voice of America), Steve Schwartz (WGBH-FM), Ray Smith (WGBH-FM), Downbeat Magazine

Eric Jackson (WGBH-FM), Michael Haggerty (WHRB-FM), Jeff Turton (WFNX-FM), New England Jazz Radio News

Tony Cennamo (WBUR-FM), Mae Cramer (WGBH-FM), Boston Herald.

WMBR Link: Please tune into MIT’s marvelously eclectic student-run station, WMBR-FM {audio link at www. wmbr.mit. org}. WMBR’s jazz programming concentrates on weekday afternoons, but genre-hopping takes place round the clock.

Radio Programming

Sample playlists illustrate my eclectic approach to presenting jazz (and lately also ‘contemporary classical’) music. My celebration of Bach’s 250th anniversary, for example, interwove performances of Well-tempered Clavier by Helmut Walcha and John Lewis, and Glenn Gould’s Goldberg Variations with Uri Caine’s. Annual specials included a Mass. Audubon Tribute to the Birds each May.

I’ve been diligent seeking out guests to interview (live and in-the-studio only), usually jazz artists visiting local clubs (Scullers, Regattabar, Ryle’s, etc.) and/or musicians in Boston’s top-notch resident musical community. See my guest list below.

Musicians Interviewed on WMBR 

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Fred Bouchard
78 Farnham Street
Belmont MA 02478 USA
617-484-6692
frederickbouchard@gmail.com