Paul Cavalconte
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Paul Cavalconte (b 1961) is an American radio broadcaster, based in the New York City area, with numerous terrestrial radio credits there, and heard nationally through programs on Sirius Satellite Radio.
A music-oriented broadcast host, Cavalconte is noted for a broad range of genres including Rock, Jazz and Classical music formats. These have included DJ stints at legendary New York City radio stations WNEW-AM, WLIR, WNCN and WAXQ. A longtime host at WQCD New York, Paul hosted morning and afternoon drive time shows there from 2003-2008, and is the sole music host to join the station's recent transition from Smooth Jazz CD101.9 to Adult Rock WRXP.
Nationally, Paul Cavalconte was heard on SW Networks' syndicated live 24 hour music formats "Smooth FM" (Smooth Jazz) and "Classic FM" (based on the successful UK entity) from 1995-1998. Cavalconte was morning drive time host on Classic FM in 1996. In 2001, Cavalconte joined Sirius Satellite Radio where he has remained hosting various rock, jazz, talk and interview programs.
On the web Cavalconte created podcasts spotlighting new releases for Sony Classical (sonyclassical.com), and interviews with Broadway, TV and music stars originally recorded for broadcast on CD101.9 radio were podcast at the station's website.
Early life
Paul Cavalconte was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York, the only child of Grace and Dominick Cavalconte (deceased) and moved to The Bronx, New York in early childhood. Paul attended grade school PS76 and Mount Saint Michael Academy for secondary and High School, both in The Bronx. Paul attended Fordham University, graduating with a BA in Communications in 1983. At Fordham, Paul was introduced to radio broadcasting through WFUV.
WFUV
Paul Cavalconte was a volunteer broadcaster for Fordham's WFUV as a student (1979-83) and as an alumnus until 1989. Paul was WFUV's Music Director during his student tenure, and hosted rock and specialty programming which laid the foundation for the eclectic commercial broadcasting career that would follow.
1071
Cavalconte's first broadcasting job out of college was on the Westchester frequency that launched many New York radio careers, 107.1 FM. Although the station that Paul joined, WZFM, was a few years beyond what was depicted in Howard Stern's "Private Parts" (as WRNW), it was a similar small scale operation, but with room for new broadcasters to grow. Paul did that in his decade at the station, becoming the afternoon drive time host and Program Director, and returning it to an adult rock format (similar to RNW) called WXPS, before departing in 1993. After subsequent changes to modern rock, country and Spanish formats, 107.1 has returned to the adult rock framework of RNW/XPS in its present incarnation as WXPK, 1071 The Peak.
Dare To be Different
During his 107.1 tenure, Paul Cavalconte was able to branch out into other part-time jobs of higher profile. Paul joined the pioneering Alternative Rock station WLIR (FM 92.7), Long Island, for weekends and production, in 1985 and 1986. In 1987, Cavalconte was hired by GAF's classical flagship WNCN (FM 104.3), New York, when the station was positioning itself as "New York's Younger Classical Music Station", and seeking youthful hosts from pop and rock backgrounds. Fitting this profile, Cavalconte entered Manhattan based New York broadcasting as a WNCN weekend host, remaining until the early nineties.
Make Believe Ballroom Time
In 1988, Metromedia hired Paul Cavalconte for weekends at WNEW (AM 1130), where he would host legendary programs "The Make Believe Ballroom", "Milkman's Matinee" , and fill in for WNEW's tenured performers such as Ted Brown, Jonathan Schwartz and Al "Jazzbeaux" Collins. Cavalconte remained with the station until its final broadcast day in December 1992, hosting what would be the very last Milkman's Matinee show. This broadcast is archived in The Museum of Television and Radio in New York.
Second helpings
In the 1990's, the fast-changing New York Radio landscape found Cavalconte returning to two frequencies in different incarnations. In 1994, he joined Modern Rock WDRE (FM 92.7), which was the recasting of WLIR's original Alternative format. WDRE's Long Island based radio station also fed affiliates in Philadelphia, Memphis, Nashville, Albany and Cape Cod. In 1996, Paul left DRE to join Classic Rock WAXQ (Q104.3), returning to the WNCN frequency, 104.3, and remaining until 1998.
Coast to Coast
Cavalconte's first foray into Nationally syndicated broadcasting was for SW Networks, from 1995-1998, hosting programs on the live 24-hour networks Smooth FM (Smooth Jazz)and Classic FM (based on Classic FM UK) for affiliate stations in Boston, Houston, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, Albany and Monterey. He was morning drive time host of Classic FM in 1996.
But Siriusly Folks....
In 2001, Cavalconte joined Sirius Satellite Radio, hosting programs on a variety of commercial free music channels. He has been full time evening host for Planet Jazz (fusion), afternoon host for The Jazz Cafe (contemporary jazz), midday host for Folktown (singer/songwriter), overnight host for The Spectrum (Adult Rock) and morning host for Siriusly Sinatra (popular standards). Since 2006, Cavalconte hosts on assignment for Sirius Disorder (ecelctic rock), Classic Rewind (Classic Rock) and The Vault (deep album rock). He has conducted numerous interview specials for the various Sirius channels, especially with jazz performers such as Pat Metheney, Stanley Clarke, Larry Coryell, Marcus Miller, Paul Anka, Donald Fagen, Nellie McKay, Al Jarreau, Spyrogyra and others. He has also hosted talk programs on Stars 102 (Sirius Starcast) and Road Dog 147.
101.9
Paul Cavalconte's New York radio base has been 101.9 FM for a decade. Joining WQCD (CD101.9) in 1998, he became full time morning drive time host in 2003, and afternoon drive time host in 2005. As with Sirius, Cavalconte played contemporary jazz and conducted many interviews with Broadway, TV and music performers. A special long-form segment "Sunday At Seven" was created to showcase the casual conversations, with artists like Stevie Wonder, Natalie Cole, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Botti, Hank Jones, and Broadway legends like Robert Goulet, Bernadette Peters, Tony Roberts, Chaz Palmenteri, and others. Paul's last show on CD101.9 was February 4, 2008, on the eve of WQCD's dramatic transformation to rock WRXP.
The New York Rock Experience
On February 5, 2008, CD101.9 suddenly and dramatically flipped formats to a new Adult Rock station, 1019 RXP, The Rock Experience. All of WQCD's on air hosts were let go, but on March 1, 2008, Paul Cavalconte returned to host Saturday and Sunday morning, where he remains, drawing on his own rock experiences in New York radio at WLIR, WDRE, Q104.3, 107.1 and WFUV.
External Links
http://pipl.com/directory/people/Paul/Cavalconte
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WQCD http://www.cd1019.com/feature/herb_alpert.aspx http://www.siriusbackstage.com/forum/archive/index.php/s50-reviews-and-comments-t70246/t-76793.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WLIR/message/8176 http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2008/02/11/2008-02-11_why_rock_replaced_wqcds_smooth_jazz.html?print=1&page=all
audio/video links'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzMScsM4Ynk http://www.feedage.com/feeds/927920/sundays-at-7-with-paul-cavalconte-pt4 http://www.daphnerubin-vega.com/links.html http://www.frankensteinthemusical.com/presskit/index.html http://www.bayou104.com/airchecks/NY.html
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