As KRTU music director and host of the station's daily "Lunch Feature," Aaron Prado has always seemed equal parts radio personality and jazz scholar: someone who could break down the contours of a masterful Ben Webster solo or the historical significance of a particular Sarah Vaughan vocal.
So it's fitting that the 30-year-old DJ/pianist is leaving San Antonio (his last show aired on Friday, July 17) to do graduate work in NYU's jazz-studies program. The move coincidentally comes at roughly the same time that popular afternoon host Matt Fleeger bolted for Portland, Oregon, to become the supervisor of Oregon Public Broadcasting's jazz station, KMHD. "He's going to turn that station into KRTU," Prado says with a laugh, adding that there's talk of an informal sister-station arrangement that might involve an occasional one-week
DJ-exchange.
Prado says he's confident that KRTU's commitment to authentic jazz will continue with Alfredo Cruz handling the programming and soul aficionado JJ Lopez filling Fleeger's slot in the afternoon.
"It became clear that if I stepped out and `Cruz` stepped in, we wouldn't miss a beat," Prado says. "We've been sitting down and talking and basically the idea is, ‘Don't change a thing.'"
