Interview by Kory Cook, KRTU Music Director
San Antonio, TX resident, business entrepreneur, and avid music collector Jack DeWied recently donated his entire music library to Trinity University’s Jazz 91.7FM KRTU. Jack’s been a supporter of the radio station through monetary donations since the switch to full-time jazz in 2002. The addition of 500 78s, 800 LPs and 13, 500 CDs is the largest donation of recordings the station has received to date. But the quality of selections and time put into acquiring each recording ultimately makes this generous donation serve as an enormous benefit to KRTU’s jazz programming, spanning the history of recorded jazz from its earliest roots in New Orleans, swing, big band, bebop and beyond to current progressive and experimental recordings of the new era.
“I went to work at a shoe store and got 35 cents an hour. I saved half of it. I spent the other half on music,” said DeWied, who was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1928 and bought his first record at 14 years old. It was Tommy Dorsey’s There Are Such Things on 78 rpm. Prior to the advent of vinyl LPs in 1948, DeWied moved to Los Angeles, CA. He said, “It was still all 78s. I went to a record store and found Bix Biederbecke recordings on Parlophone. The guy put them on for me and I liked it a lot, and I don’t remember having any exposure before then to that kind of New Orleans and Chicago jazz.”
Following high school, DeWied entered the United States Army and tuned in to Armed Forces Radio. “There was a program that started with Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, but then it went right into jazz,’” DeWied remembers, “Soon there was a ban on buying and selling records. James Petrillo (then leader of the AFM) wanted musicians to get paid when their music was played on the radio. They weren’t getting royalties.” After the ban, DeWied was soon exposed to the bebop of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. “I had a good friend who was a trumpet player. I went to his house one day and he put on a Crown record. It was Slam, Slam Blues. Before then I’d say ‘c’mon man put on some Louis Armstrong, some real music.’” He laughs, “Parker’s solo came on and I said Jerry can you play that again? About the fourth time I finally asked him, who is that? Man, that’s Bird! All of the records these guys had made were on sale for a nickel a piece and I went down and bought every one of them I could find.”
That initial introduction of bebop to DeWied opened up a new journey of seeking out adventurous music. Among the many giants of jazz, DeWied often cites both artists Lennie Tristano and Ornette Coleman as major catalysts for the wide and diverse nature of his collecting habits after the 1950s. “From one change in jazz to another change in jazz. It got to the point where it became all inclusive. I had to have it,” said DeWied. While living in England from 1964-1975, DeWied subscribed to the Jazz Journal, opening up an even larger sonic playing field for his ever-growing collection. “Pressings in Europe were more expensive so I’d make a big list, then come back to Chicago on business and pick up 50 or 60 recordings at a time.” DeWied also maintains a fondness for classical/symphonic music and the opera, but believes it’s improvisation as the core and foundation that sets jazz apart from other styles of music.
When asked why he chose KRTU as the new home for his collection, DeWied didn’t hesitate to share his appreciation for the station. “I live in San Antonio. I listen to KRTU and support it. How many jazz stations are left in the whole United States? KRTU plays a wide and diverse range of jazz, like the collection. So there’s no better place to have given it to than Trinity University’s KRTU.”
You can hear selections from the Jack DeWied collection during KRTU’s programming and specifically on the DeWied Files, heard Saturdays at 9am with host Kory Cook and frequent co-host Jack DeWied.
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