On the Air: Hat and Beard Jazz Radio

Garrett Owen is a fourth-year visual communications student who wants to spread his love of jazz music while proving he can excite a younger audience.

Listeners can expect older hits from Louis Armstrong and more modern twists of jazz-fusion with current rap and electronic artists. Catch DJ Goat Guy’s show, “Hat and Beard Jazz radio,” Wednesdays from 6 to 8 p.m.

How did you become interested in jazz music?

I probably started when I was in high school. Probably when I was about 15, I started listening to Miles Davis' “Kind of Blues” — that’s, like, the best-selling jazz album of all time — and it was on a Rolling Stone list of “Greatest Albums of All Time” — and I was listening to a lot of rock 'n' roll and classic rock, so I was reading Rolling Stone, and I came across this album and was like, “I know nothing about jazz,” so I just started listening to it.

A lot of people don’t know anything about jazz, so do you think here’s a wide audience of college students who are excited about jazz?

I think people would be more into jazz if they heard it more. It has sort of a stigma as being “old people’s music” or “high society, fancy stuff,” but you look at jazz history and it’s totally the opposite of that — it’s supposed to be vibrant, exciting music. And I think a lot of modern jazz is exciting and different, and I think its making sort of a comeback because you see groups like BadBadNotGood. They’ve recorded with rappers like Earl Sweatshirt and Ghost Face Killah.

Do you focus on one sub genre of jazz or do you try to play everything?

I try to play everything but smooth jazz — just personal preference. I don’t think it’s something people need to hear to get the full story of jazz. And I probably play mostly bebop, hard bop, post bop.

Do you prefer instrumental or vocal jazz?

I definitely prefer instrumental, just because it’s freer without lyrics — it’s not combined with any one meaning — I think you get more out of it sonically. It’s more open to interpretation.