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Communicator finds global connections through music

November 1, 2005 By Barbara Wolff

Why is it that radio announcers always have two first names? “Alan’ is my middle name. I think ‘Paul Alan’ sounds much more cosmopolitan than ‘Paul Baker,’” says Paul Baker, aka Paul Alan.

Photo of Paul Baker working at WSUM, the student radio station.

Paul Baker, senior university relations specialist for the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, screens new CDs at WSUM, 91.7 FM, UW–Madison’s student radio station where he hosts the “Caravan” music program.

“Cosmopolitan” clearly needs to be an essential trait, since Baker is the host of WSUM’s “Caravan” program of Middle Eastern music. The show airs from 4-6 p.m. on Friday afternoons.

Far from a radio novice, Baker started in radio in the late 1970s. He was then an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky-Lexington and worked at the National Public Radio affiliate there as a jazz disc jockey, substitute host and producer. “But I never pursued it as a career,” he says. “I realized very few people could make a living playing jazz on the radio.”

Last year Baker substituted as a classical music host for WORT’s “Chamber Notes” program. While at WORT, word filtered in to him that WSUM (91.7 FM) was in search of DJs, so he signed up for the training program and proposed “Caravan.”

In addition to his hosting duties, Baker serves as genre leader for world music at WSUM.

“The title means I’m willing to handle routine correspondence and shuffle CDs from studio to library,” he says, noting that it’s difficult for station managers, most of whom are students with a full load of classes, to attend to such details. Although a few non-students participate regularly, most WSUM DJs and talk show hosts are indeed students, filling pivotal roles in management, programming, traffic directing, outreach and more.

Baker traces his love of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean music to India.

Paul Baker in the recording studio.

“In middle school I became aware of Ravi Shankar and Indian music by way of George Harrison and the Beatles. I love the sound of the sitar and sarod and tabla, and the complexity and moods of Indian music. I made a point of seeing Shankar perform here at the Wisconsin Union Theater in 1984,” Baker says.

Since 9-11, he has branched his interest out to Islamic music and musicians. “Classical, folk, pop and fusion — it’s rare to hear that music performed on the radio here, but there’s plenty of it produced and available,” he says. Particular Baker favorites include singers such as Khaled and the renowned oud player Anouar Brahem.

Although “Caravan” usually is described as a world music program, Baker says that’s something of a misnomer.

“The term is so broad that it’s almost meaningless,” he says. To broaden his considerable musical knowledge further, Baker attended the annual WOMEX (WOrld Music EXpo) held this year in Newcastle, Britain.

“I met the producers of the Afropop program, BBC staff, record company reps, print and broadcast journalists, booking agents, and music promoters. It was an exciting thing to experience and a great opportunity to make contact in the field,” he says. He returned to WSUM with a hefty cache of new CDs of all kinds to air.

“WSUM has DJs with expertise in reggae and ska, but we could use people who know Celtic music, South and Central American music, European music and Asian music. We have a great CD library but we need more warm bodies to use it,” he says.

CDs are, in fact, Baker’s on-air medium of choice, although he also could play LPs and mp3 files, as some DJ at WSUM do. “Some bring their entire show in on a removable memory drive and just plug it in. I still trust CDs more,” Baker says.

By now you may be wondering what Baker does when he isn’t in front of a microphone and why he is one of Wisconsin Week’s profiles. For the past 13 years he has been a senior university relations specialist for the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER). He says he finds a good deal of overlap between his avocation and his day job, especially where technology is concerned.

“When I began my WCER job my main communication tools were a printed newsletter and hard-copy press releases. Since then, the Web and e-mail have become de facto. This year I’ve begun recording podcasts and posting entries to a new blog (http://wcer.blogspot.com). Lots of educational podcasts are being produced and podcasting seems a logical extension of my radio work,” he says.

However, Baker emphasizes that both music and electronic innovations are ultimately about human communication and human connections.

“Some beautiful, complex and exotic music is being produced by people we don’t understand as well as we should and who live in parts of the world that we are taught to consider dangerous and threatening,” he says. “But these are human beings like ourselves. I consider it the mission of ‘Caravan’ to provide an opportunity for us to get to know each other through music.”

“Caravan,” and much of the other WSUM programming, streams live over the Web at http://www.wsum.org. Also visit the site for schedules and updates. For information about WCER, visit http://www.wcer.wisc.edu.