Jason Crane

Jason Crane
Crane in 2012
Crane in 2012
Born1973
Occupation
  • Poet
  • podcaster
  • radio broadcaster
  • activist
  • writer
  • musician
Notable works
  • The Jazz Session
  • Unexpected Sunlight
Website
jasoncrane.org

Jason Crane is an American podcaster, writer, radio broadcaster, poet, activist, and musician.

Career[edit]

Before 2001, Crane was Tokyo business correspondent for National Public Radio's Morning Edition,[1] a newscaster for Bloomberg Radio Tokyo, and an on-air host for KUAT and KUAZ in Tucson, Arizona.[2] He worked professionally as a soprano saxophonist in Arizona; Hilton Head, South Carolina; and Japan[2][3][4][5] and as a union organizer.[6]

In 2001, Crane served as operations producer of WXXI, the AM public radio affiliate serving the Rochester, New York area. Shortly afterwards, he joined the staff at WGMC Jazz 90.1 in Greece, New York, a suburb of Rochester. His first position at WGMC was development director and then, at 28, he stepped into the role of station manager until 2004. There, while also hosting an afternoon show, Traffic Jam, and running for city council (see Politics and Activism below), he oversaw the fundraising and installation of a new $120,000, 15,000-watt transmission tower, replacing the station's 2,000-watt tower. In Crane's last year there, JazzWeek bestowed a national award to WGMC as the best station among medium-sized radio markets.[1][7][8][9][10][11]

While at WGMC, Crane interviewed over 200 jazz musicians including Claudia Acuna, Ben Allison, Karrin Allyson, Billy Bang, David Berkman, Gene Bertoncini, Bill Bruford, Jack DeJohnette, Kahil El'Zabar, Marty Erlich, Wycliffe Gordon, Benny Green, Fred Hersch, Bill Holman, Charlie Hunter, Norah Jones, Don Lanphere, Joe Locke, Les McCann, Bobby McFerrin, Ben Monder, Jane Monheit, David “Fathead" Newman, Houston Person, Bobby Previte, David Sanborn, John Scofield, Curtis Steigers, Tierney Sutton, Cuong Vu, Bobby Watson, Fred Wesley, Matt Wilson, and Nancy Wilson.[12]

Crane says he left Jazz 90.1 to take a break from public life and work as a stay-at-home dad to his newborn son.[7] In 2005 he took on a weekly gig hosting his own political show, The Jason Crane Show, on NewsTalk 950 WROC-AM in Rochester. The show, which featured an interview with Richard Dawkins, among others, eventually became a podcast.[3][13][14][12]

In 2007 while living in Rochester, Crane created The Jazz Session, which was to become a long-running podcast featuring new interviews with jazz musicians. During that time, he contributed articles to the website All That Jazz and worked as union organizer for Unite Here in which capacity he was transferred to Albany, New York.[4][12]

In 2010, Foothills Publishing published his first collection of poems titled Unexpected Sunlight.[15] The publications Blue Collar Review, Poets for Living Waters, qarrtsiluni, State of Emergency: Chicago Poets Address The Gulf Crisis, and Meat For Tea have featured Crane's poetry.[16]

In 2011, crane published a poetry zine called Daylight Robbery[17] and had his Twitter account recommended in Culture Monster, then the arts-and-culture blog of the Los Angeles Times. By that time he had relocated to New York City.[18][19][20]

In 2012, facing homelessness in New York, Crane executed a crowdfunding campaign and struck out on an interview tour for The Jazz Session during which he also presented local readings of his poetry at tour stops in the US and Canada.[16][19][5] Later that year, he relocated to one of those stops, Auburn, Alabama.[21] In Auburn, he was an on-air personality for Auburn University's WEGL 91.1[13][22] and helped found and organize the Third Thursday Poetry Series at the Gnu's Room, a bookstore where he held a management position.[4][23][24]

In 2013, his second crowdfunding effort for The Jazz Session allowed him to relocate to State College, Pennsylvania to be closer to family. There he was manager of Webster's Book Store and Cafe where he founded and organized Open Mike Poetry, a weekly poetry-reading series.[4]

In 2015 he was on-air host for WKPS The Lion in State College. While living there, he produced First Laughs with Jason Crane, a podcast that chronicled his own efforts entering the field of stand-up comedy.[25] He later worked as a DJ in State College for indie-rock station WFEQ The Freq, continuing through that station's switch to the country-music-format Big Froggy WFGE in 2019 and leaving soon after.[26] In 2019, he launched the podcast A Brief Chat.[27][28] In State College, he performed with the group Mantz, Chaplin & Crane with Jud Mantz and Lynn Chaplin.[29]

In 2020, after having moved to Tucson, his romantic partnership ended resulting in his decision to begin a nomadic period of van life for which he created an Instagram series called Vanarchism.[30]

In 2023 Crane began working as program director and afternoon host for WCNR in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Crane advertises as a professional promotional writer, focusing his craft on artists and musicians.[31]

Politics and Activism[edit]

Crane is a stated atheist, Buddhist, anti-capitalist, and anarchist.[30] He has been an advocate for veganism[32] and cycling.[33] Aside from his union work, he has participated in party politics,[6] organized protest events,[34] and written publicly about his views.[35]

In 2000, he worked as a volunteer for the Green Party in Monroe County, New York, as volunteer coordinator in 2001,[6] and in 2002 as chairman.[36] In 2003, he ran as the party's candidate in Rochester's city council election for the city's East District in the council's first contested election in 16 years. He won the endorsement of the Rochester Labor Council[37] and brought in 17% of the vote, but ultimately lost to Democratic candidate Lois J. Giess.[38][39]

In 2006, he was the leader of the 24th Legislative District (New York) Committee of the Monroe County Democratic Party.[3][40]

In 2015, he informally organized a write-in campaign for the seat of Constable of the Borough of State College. He won the most write-in votes from the combined State College precincts with no other official candidate on the ballot.[41][42][43]

In 2020, Crane published a series of short podcast episodes called 3 Minutes of Buddhism which is used as an online educational tool for Northeast Religious Resources in the United Kingdom.[44][45][46]

In 2024 in the wake of the Israel–Hamas War, he organized a daily protest in Charlottesville in support of the Palestinian people.[34]

Education[edit]

Crane graduated high school in 1991 from Canandaigua Academy, then traveled to Japan as an exchange student sponsored by Rotary International. He later attended SUNY Potsdam.[47]

Personal Life[edit]

Crane was born in Lenox, Massachusetts in 1973. His parents are Dave and Sally Gustavson. Crane married Jennifer in 1996. They raised two sons. His grandfather, whom he says inspired his love for jazz, was Bernie Flanders.[47]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Netsky, Ron (21 August 2002). "Smokin' signal, WGMC comes of age". Rochester City Magazine. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b "The Jazz Session #35: Avishai Cohen (Trumpet)". All About Jazz. 10 February 2008. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b c Johnston, Anne (29 April 2007). "Music, activism and all that jazz (jump page)" (PDF). Daily Messenger. Rochester, New York. pp. 4E. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Jones, Marilyn (February 2015). "Voices Profile: Interview with Jason Crane". Voices of Central Pennsylvania. pp. 22–23. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  5. ^ a b Jarenwattananon, Patrick (21 May 2012). "Crashing On Couches To Talk To Musicians". National Public Radio. Retrieved 23 June 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Rayam, Sheila (19 September 2001). "New Life Of The Parties, Vounteers in their teens and 20s make presence felt in politics". The Democrat & Chronicle.
  7. ^ a b "WGMC@50 Podcast Series: Episode 6 – Jason Crane". Jazz 90.1. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  8. ^ Stanforth, Lauren (7 January 2004). "Jazz Radio Station Seeks Greater Groove, WGMC expanding broadcast power to reach more than 430,000 listeners". Democrat & Chronicle. Rochester, New York.
  9. ^ Netsky, Ron (7 January 2004). "Power Surge". City Newspaper. Rochester, New York.
  10. ^ Loudon, Bennett (28 July 2004). "Greece Jazz Station Hitting the High Notes". The Democrat & Chronicle. Rochester, New York.
  11. ^ Netsky, Ron (24 November 2004). "New Jazz Lineup". City Newspaper. Rochester, New York.
  12. ^ a b c "New Jazz Interview Podcast: The Jazz Session". 27 February 2007. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Jason Crane Joins WCNR as Program Director". RadioInsight. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  14. ^ Oliveri, Chad (16 March 2005). "On the Air". City Newspaper. Rochester, New York.
  15. ^ Staples, Heidi (18 August 2010). "Two Poems by Jason Crane". Poets for Living Waters. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b Wynn, Ron (14 June 2012). "Jason Crane, popular Jazz Session host, makes his first Nashville stop Sunday". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  17. ^ Haymes, Greg (14 January 2011). "New Poetry Zine: Daylight Robbery". Nippertown. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  18. ^ Adair, Marcia (12 July 2011). "Whom to follow on Twitter? Start with 25 of Culture Monster's favorites". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  19. ^ a b Thrasher, Steven (30 May 2012). "Q&A;: Jason Crane Takes The Jazz Session On the Road With The 'Jazz Or Bust' Tour". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  20. ^ Jarenwattananon, Patrick (21 May 2012). "Crashing On Couches To Talk To Musicians". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 10 November 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  21. ^ Turrentine, Zeke (17 October 2012). "Jason Crane, self-described 'hobo poet', returns to Auburn for Gnu's Room poetry reading and to work on new book". The Auburn Plainsman. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Poets". Hudson Valley Writers Guild. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  23. ^ Dickson, Foster (16 January 2019). "Poetry on The Plains: Third Thursdays in Auburn". Foster Dickson. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  24. ^ Miller, Kailey (5 November 2012). "Interviewer Jason Crane hired to be part of Gnu's Room team". The Auburn Plainsman. Retrieved 2 July 2024.
  25. ^ Hershon, Marc (6 December 2017). "Podcast Review: First Laughs With Jason Crane". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  26. ^ "Meet Crane on the Corner". RAMP. 6 March 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  27. ^ Miller, Andrew. "Interview on A Brief Chat". Andrew Miller. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Balagoon, Bourdain, and Boo on A Brief Chat". PM Press. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  29. ^ "5 Weekender questions with Mantz, Chaplin & Crane". Centre Daily Times. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
  30. ^ a b Rovics, David (24 February 2021). "Discussion with Jason Crane, Vanarchist". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  31. ^ Fripp, Matt (2 June 2023). "Interview with The Jazz Session's Jason Crane". Jazzfuel. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  32. ^ Crane, Jason (4 October 2010). "Why I became a vegan". Jason Crane. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  33. ^ Crane, Jason (1 June 2011). "Biking in Brooklyn". RocBike. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  34. ^ a b Dillhon, Matt (3 January 2024). "Locals act on Gaza conflict". C-VILLE Weekly. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  35. ^ Crane, Jason (29 March 2013). "Letter to the editor: Ain't gonna play Slum City". The Auburn Plainsman. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  36. ^ Sherwood, Julie (15 October 2002). "Greens Protest War". The Daily Messenger. Canandaigua, NY.
  37. ^ "Labor Council Endorses Crane". The Democrat & Chronicle. Rochester, New York. 15 October 2003.
  38. ^ "Green Party Makes Small Inroads for Progressives in Rochester Elections". indymedia. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  39. ^ "Monroe County Board of Elections Board of Canvassers General Election Certification" (PDF). Monroe County, NY. 4 November 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2024.
  40. ^ Crane, Jason (5 October 2006). "East Side Democrats". Jason Crane. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  41. ^ "2015 Municipal Election Official Write-In Results". Centre County, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  42. ^ Crane, Jason (3 November 2015). "Vote Jason Crane for Constable". YouTube. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  43. ^ "Official Municipal Election Ballot, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania - Centre County" (PDF). Centre County, Pennsylvania. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  44. ^ Crane, Jason (2020). "3 Minutes of Buddhism". Northeast Religious Resources. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  45. ^ Crane, Jason. "3 Minutes of Buddhism". 3 Minutes of Buddhism. Archived from the original on 18 April 2024. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  46. ^ Crane, Jason (5 May 2020). "ABC #119: 3 Minutes Of Buddhism". A Brief Chat. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  47. ^ a b Johnston, Anne (29 April 2007). "Music, activism and all that jazz (initial page)" (PDF). Daily Messenger. Rochester, New York. pp. 1E. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2024.

External Links[edit]

Jason Crane's website

A Brief Chat podcast website

The Jazz Session podcast website

First Laughs with Jason Crane podcast website

The Jason Crane Show podcast website

Crane's music and audio poetry on Bandcamp

A Spotify link to Crane's podcast 3 Minutes of Buddhism

Crane's website vanarchism.com

Unexpected Sunlight on the FootHills Publishing website

Crane's professional writing website

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