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Radio's Clay Collins still cookin' and dishing out faves on WDSJ
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Clay "The Cooker" Collins isn't known for his work with the saxophone, bass or, in fact, any sort of musical instrument. Instead, his instrument is the radio sound booth, where he routinely brings jazz to Miami Valley airwaves, just as he has for nearly 40 years.
These days, Collins presents "Jazztistically Speaking" every Sunday from 2 to 7 p.m. on WDSJ-FM (106.5), Dayton's sole smooth jazz station. Collins' show highlights what has been called "classic" or "mainstream" jazz, featuring music from the likes of John Coltrane, Tony Bennett, Duke Ellington, Nancy Wilson and Jimmy Smith.
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Collins has served local jazz lovers since January of 1969, not long after he left his native Illinois to join the staff at the now-defunct WDAO-FM (107.7). He hosted a jazz program every Sunday then, too; and while it was the first time Daytonians got to hear from him, it certainly wasn't Collins' first experience as a jazz jockey.
That took place five years earlier, in Skokie, Ill. He had taken a job in radio after a broken neck saw that his original career plans — football player — were tossed out the window. Drawing on his years growing up in Chicago's Southside — where his family inundated him with jazz recordings and where he passed his childhood alongside Lou Rawls, Ramsey Lewis and Eddie Harris — it was a natural fit.
"I didn't know what in the world I was going to do with my life," Collins said. "Then I remembered, 'The only thing else that you know is music; you know music backwards, forwards, sideways, up and down.' "
Listeners would often tell him he was "cookin' " after hearing his play lists. The compliment stuck and formed his nickname.
By 1975, his passion for the music led to work as a weekly music writer for The Journal-Herald, where he reviewed jazz and soul recordings.
At the same time, he hosted cable television show — also titled "Jazztistically Speaking" — which gave him the chance to interview jazz artists visiting the area — and which made him something of a triple threat when factoring in his radio show and column.
Now, his exposure has fallen back to just radio, but his passion for music and presenting it to fans and newbies hasn't diminished. That's clearly evident in his radio play lists, which he plans meticulously.
"From the first song that you hear at 2 o'clock, it's tied to the last song you're going to hear at 7," Collins said. "Everything's tied together like that; I'm carrying you for the whole five hours.
"And these shows are always made with the idea in mind that the tunes they feature are ones that people can identify with," he continued. "Jazz can get you in a lot of trouble ... but not if you stay within the realms that people understand.
"Play what they know, understand and love and you'll be all right" — exactly why locals have been dialing in to the Cooker for the last four decades.
