In Conversation with Alisa Clancy, Host of KCSM’s “A Morning Cup of Jazz” & Honorary Chair of the 8th Annual Diamond Awards
Alisa Clancy, dynamic host of KCSM 91.1 FM’s “A Morning Cup of Jazz” sat down with the Peninsula Arts Council recently for a conversation about music, the upcoming Diamond Awards and the arts in San Mateo County.
 Originally from San Diego, Ms. Clancy studied Music and Drama at Western Kentucky University and earned a BA, double major in Speech Communication and Theatre in the early 1980's. She continued her education on a Fellowship to Wake Forest University in North Carolina for her Master's Degree before coming back to the Bay Area in 1986. She has been the Director of Program Operations and host of the morning show on KCSM for nearly 25 years and is one of only two women radio hosts here in the Bay Area who operate solo during drive time!
Alisa comes from a long line of music lovers on both sides of the family. Married to musician and educator Clint Baker, mother of twins, Alisa currently resides in San Bruno. She is also an educator, a frequent host for various fundraisers--one of her favorites is Project READ's Trivia Challenge presented by the Peninsula Library System--and she is the Honorary Chair of the Peninsula Art's Council's 8th Annual DiamondAwards. Let's listen in...
PAC: Your biography mentions that teaching took a back seat when you first had your twins. Have you gone back to teaching?
AC: Yes, I teach Jazz History through the Emeritus Institute, which is a program offered through San Mateo County Community College extension for almost 15 years now. I did lay off for a couple of months when the kids were born back in 2000. Before that, I taught Speech Communication at SF State, and film and theatre classes at Chabot College in Hayward.
PAC: What do you want people to know about Jazz?
AC: Jazz is just a conversation with instruments (or voice) between Musicians. It’s the embodiment of our individuality and our humancondition and, with hope, everyone is speaking the same language in the same key on the bandstand! Jazz is never about the end product--like pop music-- it's about the journey!
PAC: What other music genres do you listen to?
AC: Absolutely everything. My tastes (today, mind you) range from my kids favorite Japanese pop to classical; Brahms, Ralph Vaughn Williams, Copeland, and Stravinsky. I enjoy opera, chamber music, and a lot of pop music, hip hop, swing and dance music. I love anything that is an authentic voice; Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Leonard Cohen, Willie Nelson, you name it, it’s all good. I generally listen to music to have my spirit lifted and to have as a companion.
PAC: What CD are you currently listening in the car?
AC: Ha ha, my son's drum CD that his teacher made for him to study--what a great mix: Fats Waller, Jelly Roll Morton, Louie Jordan, Aretha Franklin, Gene Krupa, James Brown--now THAT's music! Music is life.
PAC: Where do you go to hear live music in San Mateo County?
AC: Pete Douglas has been running the Bach Dancing and Dynamite Society in Half Moon Bay for many, many years, I've had some lovely Sunday afternoon’s there listening to music and the ocean. Also Cafe Borrone in
Menlo Park, and Creola in San Carlos--do they still have music? There are quite a few little restaurants and bars that have live music...
PAC: Pledge season is coming up for KCSM. What is your pitch for why the public should support public radio and television? Public Radio and TV ARE the voice of our community, it gives us a sense of time, place, and home. You own it. Even in times of economic hardship, music, arts and culture MUST continue, and have access. What is that quote, and I can't remember who said it, "Music and no money is a hell of a lot better than no money AND no music ..."
PAC: Thank you so much for your time today. We look forward to having you as our Honorary Chair at the upcoming Diamond Awards on Thursday, January 28, 2010.
AC: My pleasure.
PAC Interviewers: Julie Fellers and Denise Delaney, January 12, 2010 |
