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Former MPR jazz host moves to KBEM

On Jan. 6, Maryann Sullivan was let go from Minnesota Public Radio, signaling the end of jazz programming on MPR.

Sullivan had hosted "The Jazz Connection" on Saturday nights in the time slot formerly occupied by Leigh Kamman’s "Jazz Image."

On Jan. 31, Sullivan returns to the air — same time, different station: KBEM (88.5 FM). Her new program, "Corner Jazz," will replace two syndicated programs, "Jazz Set with Dee Dee Bridgewater" and "Jazz on the Side," both of which likely will move elsewhere on KBEM’s schedule.

Sullivan will be a part-time employee at KBEM, with which she is already familiar: She worked there for several years before "The Jazz Connection," filling in for regulars taking time off.

"It feels like going home," Sullivan told MinnPost. "The nice thing for me is I think I’m going to be a little more relaxed on a jazz station presenting my jazz show. It’s a natural fit."

Her new show will be "fairly close to what I was doing with ‘The Jazz Connection.’ I’ll do my own programming — play my own music choices. The interviews will come back more slowly.

"My big hope is that I can get some of the outstate listeners to listen online. ... I got a lot of emails from people who live outstate when I left MPR — people up in northern Minnesota, Rochester — and many would end with, 'Now we have no jazz.' "

Call it "The Jazz Correction."

Comments (1)

Very glad to hear this! Looking forward to your show.