When you tune into KWVH’s Jazz Connection on Sundays from 8 to10 p.m., you’re in for a whole lot of smooth. Host Bruce Cloud sets a super chill tone and nothing is more conducive to climbing into the evening’s groove than two hours of jazz from the “Cloud.” He will check in from time to time to let you know he’s still steering the ship, playing finely curated jazz from the ‘60s to the ‘90s.
He grew up listening to his mom’s classical jazz on hefty 78 rpm records in his home town of San Antonio. In 1969, he migrated to Austin and came of age in the Woodstock and Armadillo World Headquarters cultures of his generation. He learned to keep the music rolling as a DJ and then went on to work for KEXL, KITE, the independent KRTU, KITY, and KQXT radio stations. He earned a Radio, Television and Film degree from Trinity University and became involved in community television. His varied work experience includes stints on the Alaskan Pipeline and corporate communications at HOLT CAT heavy equipment services.
When you meet Bruce and tune into his vibe, you’ll experience a person with a well of quiet at his core. While he isn’t a musician or a jazz “expert,” he told me, he is a super appreciator who approaches each show as a concert. He perfects the program’s flow which accounts for the super chill tone he achieves. On his Jazz Connection Facebook page he’ll post his playlist which includes the likes of Louis Jordan, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Sarah Vaughan, Gato Barbieri, Ella Fitzgerald and others. It’s a great way to learn the genre.
In 2015, he attended a meeting with DuAnne Redus and Susan Raybuck about establishing a radio station in Wimberley. It didn’t take much to convince him to join the effort. His first show, “The Jazz Collection,” was co-hosted by KWVH’s program director, the late John Brown. Today his program is a solo effort, beautifully produced and researched for everyone interested in experiencing the jazz genre.
