On the Wonderland of the Americas, the place 1000’s will collect this Friday, preparations are underway for the thirty second season of the Balcones Heights Jazz Pageant.
What started in 1994 as a six-show summer time collection continues to attract loyal jazz followers — with one fixed at all times current: longtime host and San Antonio native David “The Jazzman” Muñoz.
Muñoz’s path to radio started in childhood, with a transistor radio and a curiosity about how DJs made seamless transitions between songs.
“Again then we had document gamers, and also you needed to elevate the needle off the document after which cue up one other one,” he stated. “I used to be curious how DJs did their jobs on the air — after which I started to imitate them.”
Muñoz developed a stutter at age eight — a hurdle he would overcome with the assistance of a speech professor at San Antonio School, the place he enrolled in 1972 to review radio, tv and movie for 2 semesters.
Quickly after, he obtained his first on-air expertise at KTSA throughout late-night Sunday shifts.
“The coaching I obtained there helped me get my first radio job in 1974,” Muñoz stated. “Not too many individuals would hear all of the errors we made, late at evening.”
A yr later, at that first gig at KTFM 102.7, the place he was spinning album rock, a program director handed him a stack of albums that will mark the beginning of a decades-long relationship with clean jazz.
“I obtained my first style of clean jazz in 1975,” Muñoz stated. “This system director introduced me three or 4 document albums and stated, ‘I need you to play a tune from every of those albums throughout your present every day.’ And that was music that I grew to like. I by no means knew that it will take me to the place we’re as we speak, however right here we’re.”
Almost 20 years after his radio profession started, Muñoz teamed up with the final supervisor of what was then referred to as Crossroads Mall and a gross sales supervisor from KQXT radio to launch a brand new summer time live performance collection: the KQ102 Summer time Jazz Pageant. The multi-week run of free out of doors jazz exhibits shortly grew to become a staple in San Antonio.
A number of years later, the Metropolis of Balcones Heights got here on board as a sponsor, and the Balcones Heights Jazz Pageant was born.
Through the years, the format modified — from six weeks to 5, then 4 — shortening the season to usher in greater names. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the occasion was lowered to a single present every summer time, however San Antonio’s help stays sturdy.
“I feel the most individuals we’ve ever had has been round 3,000, but it surely’s typically across the 2,000 mark,” Muñoz stated. “Some individuals set their chairs up right here the Sunday earlier than the occasion.”
Muñoz has spent his complete life within the metropolis, rising with and observing the native jazz viewers because it evolves but stays deeply dedicated.
“It’s a distinct segment viewers,” he stated. “The audiences are smaller than those who help Prime 40 radio or nation radio, however they’re loyal to the format. The persons are nonetheless round, nonetheless supporting.”
That help extends to the musicians, too. Annually, the pageant’s headliners — usually solo artists — are backed by an area band.
“They play with our native backup bands which are very, very proficient,” Muñoz stated. “They’re very buttoned up. They get the music from the artists they usually study it.”
That blend of nationwide names and homegrown expertise feeds into the ambiance on the amphitheater garden.
This yr’s Balcones Heights Jazz Pageant is scheduled for Friday, July 18, on the Wonderland of the Americas’ out of doors amphitheater at 4522 Fredericksburg Rd. The general public occasion kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with saxophonist Jeff Kashiwa, adopted by guitarist Steve Oliver at 9 p.m. Garden seating is first-come, first-served. Parking is free, with foods and drinks distributors out there on website.
For Muñoz, even after 31 seasons, every present nonetheless feels particular.
“There are many favorites, particular moments,” he stated. “One of many issues that I make certain I do each time we’re right here is I stand at my DJ desk and look out on the viewers. The fountain is stuffed, and I attempt to soak every part in another time — since you by no means know if it is going to be again subsequent yr. You by no means know if I’ll be again subsequent yr.”
