Thirty-six years of jazz programming on Minnesota Public Radio came to an end this afternoon, when Maryann Sullivan was let go as budget cutbacks at MPR continue.

Sullivan had served as host and music programmer of “The Jazz Connection,” heard Saturdays from 9 p.m.-midnight, for the past 15 months. She spent close to 12 years at MPR in a variety of roles including news, voice work and preparing the jazz calendar for Leigh Kamman’s show “The Jazz Image.” When Kamman signed off in late 2007 after 34 years, Sullivan was tapped for “The Jazz Connection.”

“It was a blast for me — hardly like work,” Sullivan told MinnPost. “It was a thing of love, a thing of joy for me to be there every Saturday night.”

Not only is it a bad time to be out of a job, it is also, Sullivan says, “sad for me as a jazz fan because jazz is no longer on the air at MPR. There was a small if devoted audience to the music. ... I got a lot of email every week. I would often get one saying, ‘I was not a jazz fan until I heard your show. Thank you for playing this music.’

“I appreciate that MPR gave me the opportunity to do this for 15 months, but I will miss it, personally and professionally.”

Sullivan was given the option to do a farewell show but turned it down. “I wasn’t sure I could get through it, to be quite honest. I thought, ‘What would I say?’ ”

“The Jazz Connection” will be replaced by Dale Connelly’s “Radio Heartland,” which features acoustic, Americana and roots music.