KCME Jazz On-Air Hosts & Staff
Jeff Peckham | KCME Jazz Station Manager and On-Air Host
Jeff was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1961. His family moved to Colorado Springs when he was two months old, so he is as close to a native as he could get. He went through school in District 11, graduating from Palmer High School in 1979.
Jeff has his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education and his Masters Degree in Voice Performance (with a secondary emphasis in Choral Conducting and Literature) from the University of Northern Colorado (Go Bears!!). He conducted choirs in the public schools for almost 34 years. Jeff retired from his long standing role of Director of Choirs and Performing Arts Department Chair at William J Palmer High School in the heart of Colorado Springs.
Jeff has been fortunate enough to receive the Rotary Diamond Award, and the Colorado Springs Chorale Society Peak Educator of the Year award. His award-winning choirs have performed in Elitch’s, California (Disneyland), New Orleans, and at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He sings and plays keyboard, guitar and bass. Jeff is also a published composer/arranger. He is currently chair of the Colorado High School All-State Jazz Choirs, and has worked with members of The Manhattan Transfer, New York Voices, True North, Kate Reid, and other nationally and internationally known vocal jazz singers/educators/clinicians.
Jeff is also on the board of the Colorado High School All-State Choirs, and the Colorado Music Educator’s Association.
Programs:
Morning Jazz
Weekdays | 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
The Vocal Lounge
Sundays | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Weekend Jazz Party
Weekdays | 4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Jomar Cruz | KCME Classical Host & Station Traffic Coordinator
Jomar Cruz was born in Puerto Rico but spent most of his life in Orlando where he received a Master of Performing Arts from the University of Central Florida, studying cello. He moved from Florida to Colorado Springs hoping to find new and different musical opportunities.
While pursuing his music degree, Jomar enjoyed writing program notes about the music he or his professors would perform because he enjoyed learning about the composer’s history and discussing it. Now as a KCME Host, Jomar is overjoyed to be able to talk about music and reach a wider audience on a weekly basis.
Tony Exum, Jr. | KCME Jazz On-Air Host
Tony Exum Jr hails from Colorado Springs but was raised in Germany, Biloxi, Mississippi, New Orleans and Phoenix due to his military upbringing. Tony is a national recording artist in contemporary jazz, R&B & funk saxophone. He began playing the saxophone at the age of 11 and now has traveled all over the country playing with names such as Gerald Albright and Marcus Anderson.
Influenced by the likes of Grover Washington, Jr., Sanborn, Najee, Bird, Dexter Gordon among others, Tony began his professional career at 18 while attending Denver University’s Lamont School of Music.
He has several singles including his 2016 single Dance Close which is #36 on the listener chart and his collaboration with David P Stevens was #1 on the most added song of the week on Oct 3rd.
Radio began for Tony with occasional co-hosting on Denver’s KDKOradio.com, and KUHS radio jazz shows now a beloved Jazz 93.5 host every day of the week for the past 3 years!
Programs:
Organic Vibes
Mondays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
New Generations
Mondays | 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Lagniappe
Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays | 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Centennial State of Jazz
Thursdays | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Smooth Quiet Storm
Thursdays | 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Night at the Club
Fridays | 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Four O Clock Fusion
Saturdays | 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Sunday Funk
Sundays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
BJ Estares | KCME Jazz On-Air Host
BJ Estares, Singer /Song Writer, is a blues guitarist residing in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Born in San Diego, California on February 1st, 1954, BJ grew up influenced by his father’s love of big band jazz and his mother’s love for country music.
BJ began studying jazz guitar on his own at the age of 12 until his elder brother introduced him to the blues via “Janis Joplin and The Holding Company”. So, it only made sense that when you put jazz and country together you get the blues.
BJ met Kimberly Grant in his junior year of high school and they married in June of 1972.
They celebrated 50 years of marriage in 2022.
After a tour in the US Army, two years of college, raising two sons and a 28-year career in the construction trades (from a total of 37 years), Beej finally sold a song to friend and mentor, “Big Jim Adam”. “No Man At All” was first recorded by Jim on “Live at Jimbo’s” in 2005. Later, in that same year, Beej formed his band, “BJ Estares and Route 61”. Since then, they have experienced steady growth in popularity in the Pikes Peak Region’s burgeoning music scene.
In 2015 BJ Estares and Route 61 earned honors for “Best Self-Produced CD” and “Best Blues Band” from the Pikes Peak Blues Community. They have performed openers for The Ronnie Baker Brooks Band, American Blues Music Award winner Tommy Castro and The Pain Killers, two-time IBC winner Lionel Young Band and award-winning Texas blues man, Mike Zito.
BJ and Route 61 performed original tunes from their first CD release “Full Time Student of the Blues” at the Pikes Peak Center’s Studio B Showcase in 2012 and were invited back in 2013 to perform the all-original award-winning release, “Easy Street”. BJ and Route 61 also performed regularly as a house band at Bronco Billy’s in Cripple Creek from 2015 to 2018.
Programs:
Community Blues Hour
Weekdays | 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
JJ Sechan | KCME Jazz and Classical On-Air Host
Born and raised in the northern suburbs of Chicago, JJ Sechan began his musical studies with jazz saxophone at the age of ten. After switching to bassoon in high school, he went on to receive a Bachelor of Music from The Juilliard School and an Artist Diploma from Oberlin Conservatory, studying with Judith LeClair and George Sakakeeny. JJ moved to Colorado in 2016 to perform with the Colorado Springs Philharmonic, Boulder Philharmonic, and Opera Colorado orchestras.
Through his faculty positions at UCCS and CSU-Pueblo, JJ premiered pianist Reggie Berg’s jazz-inspired Bassoon Sonata in 2019, which lead to his wonderfully unlikely position as a radio host at Jazz 93.5. Later that year he also began hosting KCME’s ‘Strike Up the Band’, now known as ‘Incase You Missed It’ (Wednesdays at 6pm).
When not playing bassoon, teaching, or making radio shows, JJ likes to run, bike, and cook. He has tried making the perfect Jewish brisket for the holidays four times previously and is pretty darn confident that THIS time he will get it right.
Programs:
Afternoon Jazz
Weekdays | 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Night at the Club
Tuesdays | 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Evening Avante Garde
Fridays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday Afternoon
Sundays | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Bebop Joint
Sundays | 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Duane Johnson | KCME Jazz On-Air Host
A star struck teenager wanted to be Eric Clapton and subsequently developed a fascination with the blues. One day while watching a TV special on the blues, he saw a brief segment with guitarist Kenny Burrell playing a very soulful but different interpretation of the blues.
What’s this jazz stuff all about? One thing led to another: Coltrane, Miles, Mingus, Duke Ellington. The die was cast. A year on the road playing disco. Then a composition degree from Berklee in Boston, a Master’s in Jazz Studies from New England Conservatory, an NEA Commission to write a jazz suite, other grants including a recording with Sam Rivers and Jon Medeski, An inveterate collector of music of many styles, especially, Jazz, Blues, Classical, 60s English Pop, New Wave, early Reggae and Rock Steady, and Soukous from the Congo. Music is a celebration of life. Always keep the flame burning.
Programs:
Hard Bop Morning Drop
Weekdays | 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Coltrane Matric
Fridays | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Saturday Afternoon
Saturdays | 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Saturday Night Fish Fry
Saturdays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Katie Hale | KCME Jazz On-Air Host
Born and raised in New Jersey, Katie grew up playing horn in school, at church, in youth orchestra, singing in choirs, and falling in love with theatre and movie musicals (while her schoolmates were teasing their big hair and destroying the ozone with Aqua-Net, she was scouring thrift stores for a dress like Debbie Reynolds’s in Singin’ in the Rain). Her Dad helped cultivate a love of swing and Big Band music as he spun his records on the little hi-fi at home and shared stories of his favorite artists, like Benny Goodman, the Dorsey brothers, Bix Beiderbecke, and Louis Armstrong.
Katie graduated from the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD with degrees in performance and education, did some teaching, and while raising her three boys with her uber-supportive musician husband, Philip, also built an acting, singing, and voiceover career. She’s performed regionally and Off-Broadway, in film, and her voiceover client list includes Hachette Audio, the Washington Post, the Discovery Channel, NASA, and Pandora Radio (and she has lots of funny stories about performing crazy accents, like when she played multiple characters in a Carmen Sandiego video game!). When she’s not in the studio at Jazz 93.5, she enjoys attending her son’s musical and dance performances, going to book club, playing with her grandkids, and fronting her jazz and swing band, Katie Hale and the P-47s. You can look for her at venues around town, and be sure to come say hi!
Programs:
Wake Up With Jazz
Weekdays | 7:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Jump ‘n’ Jive Drive at Five
Mondays | 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Night at the Club
Wednesdays | 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Michael Skattebo| KCME Jazz On-Air Host
Michael Skattebo is a native to Colorado Springs where music has always been at the center of his life. He grew up in a highly musical family and some his earliest memories are of sitting at the electric keyboard, completely transfixed by pre-loaded demos of Chopin, Schubert, and Mozart—fascinated by the different moods a single piece of music could evoke. Those moments sparked a love of sound and emotion that has shaped his musical wandering ever since.
Over the years, that early curiosity turned into a lifelong habit of musical exploration. Michael has always been most drawn to artists who take risks, blur genres, and push music into new territories—so naturally, he fell in love with jazz. While he didn’t come to jazz through formal training, he’s spent years following his ears—listening deeply, collecting records, and chasing that feeling of discovery. His taste has taken him all over the map, but he keeps coming back to jazz for its expressive energy, emotional depth, and endless variety. While he loves all expressions and eras of jazz, he’s got a soft spot for out-there, progressive jazz and the avant-garde.
Joining the team at Jazz 93.5 felt like a natural extension of that passion. Michael believes independent radio plays a vital role in keeping music personal and community-driven—connecting listeners through human curation, passionate voices, and a commitment to keeping jazz relevant. As someone who found his way into jazz through exploration, he hopes to make space for the next generation of jazz listeners and build a sense of connection through shared discovery.
Outside of the station, Michael runs a vintage-focused business centered on furniture, vinyl, and hi-fi audio gear. He also loves playing volleyball, digging through dusty record bins, and spending lazy afternoons with his wife Brenna (his high school sweetheart) and their son Morris.
Programs:
Afternoon Jazz
Weekdays | 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Night at the Club
Wednesdays| 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
A World of Jazz
Thursdays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Evening Avante Garde
Fridays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Reyna Marie | KCME Jazz On-Air Host
Originally hailing from Texas, Reyna has called Colorado home for almost 10 years. She graduated in 2016 with a degree in photography and mass communication. Her introduction to public radio came during college, and she been passionate about it ever since.
What drew me in to radio and keeps me inspired is the connection independent stations foster within the community.
Outside of work, I enjoy hiking, crafting, traveling, and going to live shows. I’m excited to be part of Jazz 93.5 with a team that’s keeping the love of independent radio alive.
Programs:
The Vocal Lounge
Mondays | 9:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Big Band Bash
Tuesdays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Jazz Queens
Wednesdays | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.