Joe Matyskella, WNMC's Program Director, a longtime host, and a friend to many of us down here at WNMC, died suddenly on Thursday morning.

Joe has been the host of Thursday Mid-day Jazz since his arrival in 1999, with a few short interruptions and has been host or co-host of our Sunday Jazz show, Further Along, since about that time, as well. Joe was also well-known for his work in front of the stove at Amical.

Joe's musical palette was very broad--on Sundays, he shared his passion for mainstream jazz--classic Blue Note recordings of the 50s and 60s, and the many paths that tradition has taken since then. On Thursdays, you might also hear some acid jazz, or dance music from our world rotation, or some funk, an obscure African jazz piece, or something from the Monday night crew down at Lil Bo's.

Joe loved a lot of different kinds of music and he had a real knack for putting together far-ranging yet seamlessly unified shows. He loved to mine the vaults at WNMC or the bins at record sales for forgotten treasures. Listeners and DJs (one of the calls he'd often get was another DJ asking, "What the heck is that!?" or "Where the heck did you find that!?") know how often he delivered the goods.

But what I'll remember most about Joe are his stories, which have been a regular part of my Thursdays here at WNMC. Joe had lived and worked and played in so many places: Mackinaw Island, the UP, Key West, South Philly, Columbus, tagging along on a Sun Ra Arkestra tour, being a regular at the Stone Balloon in Delaware. . . and seemingly he took something useful and interesting away from every place he lit.

Joe was also an avid biker--he had biked all over Northern Michigan. He biked to Blissfest one year (or attempted to bike--he got lost and I've never been clear on whether he actually got there). He generally biked to work and to the station, even in awful weather. But he wasn't righteous about it--he knew he looked pretty stylish in his 1960s Buick Electra with a snazzy jacket and hat.

Joe could be very serious about his work: about cooking, or about putting his show together just so. But he was also seriously fun-loving, as you know if you ever ran into him after his shift at Amical.

Joe's sudden loss came as a severe shock to everyone who knew him. He was recently married to fellow WNMC programmer Rachel Jones (seated next to Joe in the picture, right), and his son Alexander was born not two weeks before he died. We were all looking forward to years of amusment at Joe's rather belated discovery of the joys and trials of fatherhood. It's really hard for many of us to believe that that won't be happening, or that Joe won't be come rolling in next Thursday with some hot new vinyl he found for four bucks at a record show and a story about how he sold t-shirts for this band at a show downstate.

Family and friends are going to be gathering on Saturday, June 9th to remember Joe. First there will be a 2pm memorial service at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall on Center Road on the Peninsula (map here), then we'll gather for music and memories at the InsideOut Gallery (map here) at around 4pm. So if you knew Joe--even if you just knew him through the radio--come on out and help us celebrate the life and notorious exploits of someone who, among many other things, really put his stamp on WNMC.

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