On Monday nights from 10 to 11 p.m. you’ll find Cole Emhoff in the SOCC studio DJ-ing his radio show “Jazz n’ Shit.” The name is pretty self-explanatory; Emhoff plays his favorite jazz music, and the ‘shit’ is basically an excuse to play whatever else he wants at any point.
He came up with the name long before he actually had a radio show, or even thought he would have one. “I remember fantasizing in my car one time while I was driving and pretending I was a DJ, putting on songs and announcing them,” said Emhoff. “I was thinking of things I could call a show, and ‘Jazz n’ Shit’ came to my head. I knew that’s exactly what I wanted to call it.”
Emhoff always intended to have his show focus on jazz music. His taste for jazz developed when he was young and involved in musical theater. He performed in a surprising amount of productions, but his favorite musical was “Anything Goes” by Cole Porter, a notable jazz standard composer.
The score for “Anything Goes” has been called Porter’s best composition, and many jazz musicians continue to play and interpret these songs. The songs from the musical resonated with Emhoff from an early age, before he knew exactly how influential they were to more popular jazz musicians of the time.
Emhoff’s interest in popular jazz music comes with a notable story. The fascination started in 10th grade after he’d gotten his driver’s license. His mom enforced a strict curfew at the time, and one night Emhoff spent a little too much time at his girlfriend’s house and was going to be late.
“I was freaking out and bolted out the door,” said Emhoff. “I was driving back on the freeway pretty fast, and I knew I needed to relax.”
His friend had recently told him he was listening to “Kind of Blue,” a classic penultimate jazz album.
“I put it on, specifically the song ‘Blue in Green,’ and it really mellowed me out,” said Emhoff. “I was a different person after hearing that song. It’s still my favorite jazz song. I remember listening to it and being amazed at how it affected me emotionally. I’d enjoyed other good music objectively, but I hadn’t really heard anything that had that kind of physical affect on me.”
After his initial exposure, Emhoff began researching other jazz artists, spending hours on Wikipedia and music blogs. He sought out information on jazz artists he’d heard of and then went further to see who they played with and who they were associated with.
In the process he discovered not only the music, but the stories surrounding the musicians, as well. “I mean, Charlie Parker lit himself on fire and jumped out a window,” said Emhoff. “They’re all crazy, but it was the epitome of cool. They were cool when being cool meant something different than it means now.”
“Jazz n’ Shit” is Emhoff’s attempt to bring awareness to the music he loves and to share his love with others. He affirms that jazz is underappreciated, and wants people to recognize the historical elements and the skill that surrounds the music.
“There’s talent behind the music they’re playing,” said Emhoff. “The way they use their instruments is amazing, and I feel like there’s not that many parallels now in terms of just pure skill. You gotta be crazy and the best, and these musicians are.”
His radio show also serves his own sanity, and offers him a time during his busy day to forgo what weighs on his mind and simply relax. “I love jazz and I love sitting and listening to it,” he explains. “The show gives me an excuse to drop whatever I’m doing and whatever is stressing me out and just chill. That’s why I started listening to it originally. It mellows me out.”
Emhoff says he will definitely continue Jazz n’ Shit for the rest of the semester, and hopefully into his remaining time at Colorado College. He has developed an incredible taste for jazz over the years through diligent research and a natural ear for good music. His show is perfect for Monday nights, and listeners who are looking to expand their jazz repertoire or, as Emhoff says, mellow out, should tune in.
Tune into the the SOCC.org Mondays from 10 until 11 p.m. to listen to Cole’s show.