Ed Beach
Edward Alexander Beach was born on January 16, 1923 in Winnipeg, Canada, the son of Peter Beach (Bitsch) and Matilda Steinhauer who married in 1920.
Peter Beach was born on June 21, 1897 in the Volga German colony of Neu-Hussenbach. Matilda was born in the province of Saratov, Russia. In Neu-Hussenbach, the Beach family lived next to the Henry Starkel family. Henry was an accordionist who also migrated to Portland. Henry's son, Billy, made it big in the music business. Peter, along with his parents, immigrated to Canada in 1912. He later found work in California before moving to Portland in 1925. Peter worked at the Doernbecher and B.P. John furniture factories. He became a well known labor activist in Portland and received the AFL-CIO Kelley Loe Memorial Award for distinguished service. Peter was one of the earliest members of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, serving as Vice President of the Oregon Chapter.
Edward (Ed) grew up in Portland and attended Grant and Lincoln High Schools. He had a talent for performing and his parents gave him singing, dancing and piano lessons. He later attended Lewis & Clark College before moving on to Cornell University where he studied theater. As an aspiring actor, Ed moved to New York and worked five seasons in off-Broadway productions and six seasons of summer stock. After taking a crash course in radio broadcasting he was hired by WNYC, New York's municipal radio station, as a classical music announcer in 1957. According to Susan Mannheimer, "Ed used his voice as an instrument. In deep, mellifluous tones he improvised - phrasing his delivery to complement the music, stretching his notes to tease his audience."
Peter Beach was born on June 21, 1897 in the Volga German colony of Neu-Hussenbach. Matilda was born in the province of Saratov, Russia. In Neu-Hussenbach, the Beach family lived next to the Henry Starkel family. Henry was an accordionist who also migrated to Portland. Henry's son, Billy, made it big in the music business. Peter, along with his parents, immigrated to Canada in 1912. He later found work in California before moving to Portland in 1925. Peter worked at the Doernbecher and B.P. John furniture factories. He became a well known labor activist in Portland and received the AFL-CIO Kelley Loe Memorial Award for distinguished service. Peter was one of the earliest members of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, serving as Vice President of the Oregon Chapter.
Edward (Ed) grew up in Portland and attended Grant and Lincoln High Schools. He had a talent for performing and his parents gave him singing, dancing and piano lessons. He later attended Lewis & Clark College before moving on to Cornell University where he studied theater. As an aspiring actor, Ed moved to New York and worked five seasons in off-Broadway productions and six seasons of summer stock. After taking a crash course in radio broadcasting he was hired by WNYC, New York's municipal radio station, as a classical music announcer in 1957. According to Susan Mannheimer, "Ed used his voice as an instrument. In deep, mellifluous tones he improvised - phrasing his delivery to complement the music, stretching his notes to tease his audience."
Beginning in 1961, Ed spent the next 15 years sharing his love of jazz with radio listeners as the producer and host of a program called "Just Jazz" on New York's WRVR (106.7 FM). The program was broadcast from the Riverside Church on the upper west side of Manhattan. Because of his single-minded concern for quality, Beach came to represent the definition of musical tast and perceptive commentary to many in New York's large and influential jazz community. According to Gary Giddins, the knowledgeable music reporter for the Village Voice, Beach's program "set a precedent for intelligent jazz broadcasting yet to be equalled". Ed retired and returned to the Portland area in 1977. He passed away on December 25, 2009 in Eugene, Oregon.
Today, the Edward Beach Collection of jazz photographs (and related musical iconography) is housed in the Library of Congress, along with the original master recordings of “Just Jazz.” Closer to home, thanks to the late drummer and historian Jack Hasbrouck, the music department of Clackamas Community College has the cassettes that were created from those masters, cataloged chronologically from the first show in 1965 through 1972.
Sources
Fox, Margalit. "Ed Beach, Host of ‘Just Jazz’ Radio Show, Dies at 86". The New York Times, January 13, 201o.
Mannheimer, Susan. "Jazz radio legend deserves our fond remembrance". The Eugene Register Guard. January 13, 2010.
Mitchell, Rick. "Ed Beach: Most admired d.j. in jazz' comes home". Oregon Journal, April 24, 1979.
Beach, Peter "Autobiography of Peter Beach, Born June 21, 1897". Written in 1972-1973.
Mannheimer, Susan. "Jazz radio legend deserves our fond remembrance". The Eugene Register Guard. January 13, 2010.
Mitchell, Rick. "Ed Beach: Most admired d.j. in jazz' comes home". Oregon Journal, April 24, 1979.
Beach, Peter "Autobiography of Peter Beach, Born June 21, 1897". Written in 1972-1973.
Last updated June 21, 2022