Terry McElligott was walking down the hall of a radio station in Montreal many years ago when the operations manager stopped him and explained that the station was looking for an on-air jazz jockey.
"What do you know about jazz?" the manager asked.
"Everything," was the reply from the ambitious young McElligott, who was dying for a chance to get on-air any way he could.
In fact, McElligott knew nothing about the music. He spent the next couple of hours in the library, frantically preparing to fake it later that day.
"Sometimes you just have to sink or swim," laughed the 55-year-old this week as he recalled his start in radio. McElligott, has lived in the Cawthra Rd.-Bloor St. area since 1980 and has worked for a bunch of radio stations. He's only been fired from two jobs at CHFI and EZ Rock. That's something to be proud of in his business.
He was on air at The Edge in Brampton on its first day. He remembers Frank Zappa dropping in for an interview "with a 27-foot tall body guard."
If he'd ever wondered about the impact of the medium, the Montreal native found out that day. By the time the unannounced interview was over, there was a huge throng outside the station waiting for the Mother of Invention.
While he has fond memories of some of those he's worked with, David Pritchard, Reiner Schwarz and Jay Jackson in particular, McElligott says, "radio is a nasty business filled with narrow-minded people."
That's why he was out of the business for 13 years, teaching broadcasting at Humber College and Centennial and studying web design.
When he heard from friend Bryan Snelson that Canada's first full-time jazz station was being launched, he applied immediately.
"After the CEO looked at my resumé, he asked why he'd never heard of me. When I told him I hadn't worked in 13 years, I thought he was going to throw me out of his office."
"You must really want to do this," the CEO said.
"It's not every day you get a chance to rebuild a radio station or do anything as daring as doing a 24-hour jazz station," he says.
Five years later, McElligott is thoroughly ensconsed in the 10 a.m.-2 p.m. slot on JAZZ.FM91. He also runs the website and is having the time of his life.
As a jazz listener, McElligott hates the didactic slant of so many DJs who feel it's their duty to educate the listener on their take on the music.
"They think jazz is a minefield they have to guide you through," snorts McElligott.
He's quite willing to let the music speak for itself and let the listener be the judge. With his fascination for the Internet, McElligott frequently points listeners to artist's websites and other points of departure.
"Jazz is an art form that lives on the web now," he says. "It does that because radio hasn't supported it."
With some notable exceptions, thank goodness, like JAZZFM, Wally Dawson and Colin Smith on CKLN and Colin Bray on CIUT.
Some 35 years after he espoused total knowledge of the music, McElligott really is an expert jazz fan. He loves the search that jazz entails, the desire to push the limits and find new means of expression.
"Jazz fans never lose that curiosity," he says.
The Mississaugan is happy to be part of a radio station that depends on the community for ongoing support and stands for the music, not the bottom line.
"Ross (Porter, the new CEO and former host of CBC's Jazz After Hours) has a vision for the place," says McElligott. "He plans to make it a cornerstone of the jazz community."
With pillars like McElligott, construction is well underway.