KSDS Jazz 88.3

KSDS is everything a music and jazz lover would ever want. The new format is not really a major change to my ears, but rather a turbo-​charging of their already successful on-​air personalities and music genres. The music is not «cookie cutter-​formula driven» as with most music station in the US … but delivers all types of jazz and blues to the listener. There is truly something for everyone. from the early pioneering jazz of the 1920s to the latest cutting edge jazz of the US, Europe, Japan, etc. I particularly love the «straight ahead» jazz of the last 30 – 40 years which is the predominate genre played, but also groove to Saturday night’s blues and zydeco sounds.
I’ve been a member for several years and urge everyone who listens to KSDS 88.3 to join … we’ve gotta keep this music alive and well! Check it out and you’ll see why it’s been selected as America’s #1 jazz station several years running.

We went to the KSDS Blues Brunch this am.
Service and food were outstanding at Proud Mary’s. Most impressive is their support of live music in San Diego and KSDS.
Blue Largo was presented by KSDS and J. Otis Williams and took short breaks, played some new stuff they wrote and played an extra set just for us. They sure can do Blues with some Jazz. I can’t wait for their new CD due out at the end of summer.

Way too much blues on the late night schedule. A little blues is fine, but who wants to listen to I-​IV-​V hour after hour? The recent schedule change has driven me to satellite radio.

The best radio station in San Diego. Jazz all the way! Love it. No annoying ads, no incessant talk, just pure music and so much variety. I learned a lot just by listening to this station. When I moved from Spain I did not listen too much radio here, as everything I hear was narco-​corridos in these horrible Mexican stations (sorry, cannot stand that music). Or those other stations with ugly to my ears mixes. This station is run as non-​profit, member based and is very educative. If you are into jazz you can always learn so much. Besides, they have live shows in the Saville Theater in City College… what a nice soundtrack to have if you are a student there!

Dear Jazz 88.3,
Thank you for providing me with a rich jazz soundtrack during my time at San Diego City College. You might not know that you are the most respected, and best radio station in all of San Diego.
Even if some people do not love jazz, they cannot front on what you do…
–Exposing San Diego to great jazz through recorded music over radio airwaves.
–Exposing San Diego to great jazz through the live shows at the famous Saville Theater, and always booking the best artists.
–Consistently changing up your playlist, and highlight a new artist almost every day.
–Providing an affordable venue to catch live monthly shows and jam sessions.
–Sharing the largest collection of jazz music on the West Coast.
–Mixing in all types of other music to your playlists. Salsa, blues, Hip-​Hop, etc…
Shame on all you other radio stations (90.3, 92.5, 93.3, 94.9, etc…) for repeatedly playing the same few songs from your shallow selection of no-​talent artists. And enough already with your annoying hosts and the endless commercials.
Jazz 88.3 is showing you clowns how a radio station should be run. The focus should not be on getting advertisers and making money. Jazz 88.3 keeps their listeners in mind at all times, and this is why they have such a loyal following.
This is why I will always support them during fundraising drives. Musically, they represent my interests. This is why I have them programmed in my car as #1 on the radio. Keep doing what you’ve always done 88.3
It’s time for you other radio stations to sit up and pay attention.
P. S. Thank you for introducing me to Gregory Porter. Please bring him to San Diego!

This radio station is a public broadcast ²⁴⁄₇ from City College. They sponsor local events, have zero commercials from corporate sponsors and the BEST part. they play a range of real beats you couldn’t possibly categorize as only ‘Jazz’. True musicians all know this station is keeping it real.
streams online too! From anywhere in the world! I have the iphone app just in case I’m listening to something super awesome in the car and must keep it playin when I’m done with a drive!
I especially like it when they play music heavy on the brass, blues and that morning «Latin» special they have on week-​ends.
I love this station. They also sponsor an annual music fest in OB every September. It’s really fun.
Note to station: I wish your new billboards used some kind of photography and not that awful graphic. As a loyal and supporting listener, it doesn’t resonate with my aesthetic at all.

Ever since 98.1 sold out, this station has been #1 on my radio. I love the older jazz, big band jazz, bebop, hard bop, and cool jazz they play at City College. Become a member of the jazz club. They still play records.

Probably the only station in San Diego that doesn’t drive me insane. I don’t even know much about jazz but I like to have it on as background music and thankfully this station plays a variety of it with limited commercial interruptions.
I like. That’s all that needs to be said.

I am loyal to this station and there are aspects of it that make it a 6-​star local and even national treasure. For example, Lou Curtis’s Sunday night Jazz Roots show where he plays old 78 rpm records from his vast personal collection; Miff Mole’s Free Time, where you can hear wild improvisational music; Honkin’ & Screamin’ w/​Raymond, a guy who plays great jukebox R&B from the 40s & 50s; Phil Dinsen’s Jazz West Coast, a program devoted to the classic cool jazz style created in our state in the 50s; Chris Springer’s Latin Grooves; Cynthia Hammond’s local music show; Ida Garcia’s swing show; Dave Barron’s soul jazz show; i could go on – it’s a station that respects the DJ. I really miss the ILLfonix show, which had live hip hop/​jazz performance on air — a very exciting program. i wish it would be brought back.
one complaint: some of the DJs, such as Claudia Russell, play music that is boring & soulless & really belongs more on KIFM. And now that 98.1 has taken «jazz» out of their name, can KSDS stop imagining that it is in competition with that station & stop playing elevator jazz once & for all?
don’t let my one complaint let you think i have anything but love for KSDS — most of the time, it’s the only station worth listening to in SD.

KSDS 88.3 = music = love = thank you
This is not a Jazz Station, this is a MUSIC station. A station for anyone who loves real music from genre of blues, swing, jazz, salsa, and SO much more.
I usually can sum up my thoughts well, but this review leaves me near speechless. I can’t even say with certainty what I LOVE best about Jazz88; but at the top of my mind tonight is Jazz Live at the Saville Theater at City College. It is the most amazing experience to listen to musicians from all over the US of amazing caliber. It is truly a gift they bring to us.
Thank you Jazz88 for all your efforts. So glad we support your efforts.

Thank you for not turning your backs on us jazz lovers like the other channel that purported to be «smooth jazz» and turned R&B instead. Thanks also for the commercial free format. Awesome!

real jazz.
free.
is this heaven???

It is number 1 on my car presets. Real straight ahead jazz and blues. If you want smooth jazz, this is not what you are looking for. This is public radio too, so there are no commercials. Enough said my favorite radio station.

When I was born at the age of 40, as the frozen embryo lovechild of Sammy Davis Jr. and Jackie-​O, I had a hunger in the marrow of my bones for jazz music. I would twinkle the black and white piano keys of our family Wurlitzer daily and only stop to get up off the piano stool to do a timestep. A little out of place in my adopted Mexican-​Filipino-​German-​Irish family, I found my best friend was my radio, and Jazz 88 my heartbeat.
I wake up every morning and have coffee with «the Chairman» while putting on my lipstick. My trusty radio stays on almost all the time when I’m home, almost like Kim Jong Il’s constant ²⁴⁄₇ radio North Korea program, but without the political propaganda and nationalism. Birdman’s late jazz on Tuesday incorporates some bossa nova beats sometimes that makes me feel like 1966 all over again. On Wednesday nights, Drew Miller’s zydeco sends my terrier into a frenzy and he picks up his accordion and plays along, much to the chagrin of our jazz-​hating neighbors!
Saturdays at our house we often have an impromptu afternoon salsa dance party, where it’s perfectly acceptable to cha-​cha and samba with a feather duster while cleaning the living room to Chris Springer’s Latin Grooves. And later in the day after coming home after lindy hopping, it’s delightful to eat leftover pizza and dance around the house to Ramond O’Donnell’s Honkin’ and Screamin’ after midnight. Sundays I read the paper, have my coffee and listen to Big Band Brunch with Ross Porter before scooting out someplace, merrily driving along to Ida Garcia’s Rugcutter Swing. Jazz Roots rounds out Sunday night with the very inspiration that started it all! I loved Lou Curtiss’ quirky program a few weeks ago with all early jazz chicken-​dinner songs.
Thank you Jazz 88 for being the soundtrack of my life!
xoxo,
Phungette

Really like their jazz at the park inn on the third thursday of each month. Great musicians, great food!
— Tamara Cross Attorney

I can’t think of a radio station that I listen to more often than KSDS Jazz 88.3.
Every day, while waiting for a half-​hour to get onto the 5-​south onramp from Genesee Ave, I manage to keep sane by ceasing to take incoming phone calls, putting my Bluetooth headset away, turning on KSDS, and getting lost in a world of horns and piano (and the occasional traffic updates, which I wish they would do away with entirely). Suddenly rush hour doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
As you probably already know, KSDS is nonprofit and member-​supported, so you don’t have to listen to commercials between songs. It’s true! Stick to KSDS, and you don’t have to listen to any more of those Baja California tourism promotions that come on every other radio station seemingly every 5 minutes. (You know the ones I’m talking about.)
The real reason that I’m a KSDS fan are the Jazz Live shows. Become a member by making a token donation, and then you can score free tix to live concerts at City College once a month. I’ve gone to 5 or 6 of these things before, and they’re always a great way to shake up an otherwise mundane Tuesday evening. The best part– since these shows are broadcast live, they’re always on time, from exactly 8 – 9:30pm. (I get antsy when I have to sit still for much longer than that.)
The summary: YAY for KSDS.
Anywho, I’m off to do some Saturday morning errands — and I’ll probably listen to KSDS the entire way. :)

This is by far my favorite radio station in San Diego. They play music while other stations are talking and commercials are kept to a minimum other then the traffic report.
They play Billie Holiday Duke Ellington, Dave McKenna, Nancy Wilson. Karrin Allyson is one of my new favorites along with Keren Ann.
Give them a listen to and you will not be disappointed. Sundays are a good time to tune in as well with the rug cutters swing.

Good, sophisticated music, and very easy to listen to without being the least bit bland. I will say that sometimes the station seems to jut into territory that I wouldn’t classify as jazz. This «One Of These Days» song seemed more country than anything. But I’ll say that I’m not that in tune with every single genre and subgenre there is. So maybe that’s my limitation.
If I need a jazz fix, and KSDS is not doing it for me, I tune into SF’s KCSM.
By far, this is the best station San Diego has ever had.

No question about it, the best station I have ever heard. If you love music and appreciate the complexities of it you will surely agree with me. Jazz 88.3 has so many different types of Jazz and caters to every listener. They have a large Blues segment as well.
It is member supported so it does not throw in 6 minutes of advertisements in between songs. The only things you here in between the songs are the artists involved in creating the tune, possibly the year and venue, and on a very rare basis who sponsored the music we just heard. The station does well without the advertisements and that alone should say something, that they have enough members to keep them playing the great music without the annoying ads.
I listen in the mornings on the way to work interspersed with NPR. My favorite show is Wednesday nights for DJ Sachamo (for Jazz and hip hop fusion as well as other world music, all descendant «from mother jazz») and before him is digging deep. Check it out, you will be impressed.

88.3 KSDS Jazz most of the time on a college radio station?
Real Jazz. No Kenny G., Michael Bolton, Spyral notebook and the Manhattan Bus Transfer. You get Hines, Brubeck, Armstrong, Ferguson, Hampton and on and on. I probably listen to this station less than 1 percent of my radio listening. I am never disappointed. But, I do get these violent mood swings almost like a schizophrenic episode but no blood or bruising happens… usually. Well… mood swings different music I change the channel and bang my head or put on my riding boots or dress up like a pirate and walk around with my bird chewing on my ear.
Listen to it. It’s good for your spirit. It’ll take you low and lift you high. Ain’t nothing more satisfying in a non sexual (sexual includes food for me) way than a Hammond organ laying out some chill vibes.