Interview with Satchel Peterson

by Georgia Dillane

Can you introduce yourself and your involvement at WKCR?

My name is Satchel Peterson. I am the co-Head of the jazz department at WKCR. I’ve been here for about three years now. Besides being the co-Head, my goal is to preserve, as best as possible, the jazz legacy that we have here. [It’s] easier said than done: I think we have a very rich legacy, which is a good thing, but that can be hard to fill the shoes of Phil Schaap and others who have contributed so much to the music and the culture, especially in New York. My goal isn’t to be Phil Schapp by any means, but to hopefully do something similar with the music.

Can you speak to your experience with jazz on a personal level?

I play guitar. I started playing when I was about five. Mainly doing Blues and Rock until I heard this Cannonball Adderly record with Miles Davis [Something Else]. They play “Autumn Leaves,” and once I heard that track I said, “I want to learn how to do this. I want to make music that sounds like this.” There was something about it I could tell I didn’t understand but that I wanted to understand. And I guess I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. I was about 12 when I started listening to jazz.

What does performance look like for you now?

It took me a while to realize that I wanted to do music professionally. I think I always knew inside that that’s what I wanted to do but I had doubts—reasonable doubts. But now I’m performing with a group that has violin, guitar, bass, and drums and really trying to focus as much as possible on listening to music, writing music, making music.

What was it like then and how is it now different?

Being here three years ago compared to now, I definitely understand a lot more about the music and the station and what I want to do here—and, I guess, what my role is among all of that. [What is ] the same [is the] feeling of being excited to come here and program music and discover new music and go into MC and not know exactly what’s going to happen during my show, who’s gonna call in. If they have something to say about who I’m playing with, if they know them, how [the music] is contributing to their day, if they’re going through a tough time or something.

You host Out to Lunch weekly on Fridays. What do you enjoy most about that slot? What kinds of things can listeners expect you to play? It’s always surprising to get someone calling in and saying that they listen to my show, because sometimes I can feel like I tune out and not realize that there’s anyone else listening to the music. In terms of what’s most exciting to me, just sort of not knowing who’s listening and not knowing what’s going on in their life. It’s sort of fun for me to imagine what people on the other side are experiencing, while I’m just sitting in a chair listening to music that I’ve been listening to for the past, you know, however long.

You do a lot of stuff with shows in the station, particularly with jazz. I’m trying to do more. Speaks more to how

I’m trying to represent more what’s going on currently in the New York Jazz scene. I try to use live shows as a way to introduce artists who are doing interesting stuff that I think more people should be aware of.

What are you most proud of either from your time at Columbia or at WKCR?

WKCR, for sure! This has been my favorite part of Columbia. I went to a music high school with 50 people in our graduating class. It was definitely a life changing experience and not necessarily in a positive sense all the time when I came to Columbia. I just felt like “what is going on” “there’s so much happening” and I’ve never really experienced this. I don’t really know how to engage with this community. And then I found WKCR. I remember my freshman year I was just always here, maybe four nights a week. Going into the library, listening to records in CA and that was really great for me because it sort of gave me a sense of like, 'OK I have something at Columbia that I’m really passionate about.' When I hadn’t found that yet, WKCR was that place. So yeah, joining WKCR was definitely my proudest moment.

Jazz ‘til Dawn (cont’d)

Field Trip

Amazing Grace

Monday Morningside

The Moonshine Show

The Tennessee Border Show

Sunday Profiles

Afternoon New Music

Raag Aur Taal

SoundStage

Live Constructions

Back in the USSR

The Celtic Show

Coordinated Universal Time

Phil Lives

Free Samples

Caribe Latino Honky Tonkin’

Urbano Latinx

Tuesday’s Just as Bad

Transfigured Night Night Train

Transfigured Night

Notes From Underground