A new documentary captures the history and enduring influence of Peninsula jazz station KCSM.

The article below originally appeared on AlmanacNews.com and is being reprinted with permission.

KCSM host Sonny Buxton is shown in the documentary “KCSM 91.1: The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World.” Courtesy Brandon Roots.

Bay Area residents have many good reasons to take pride in their home, and at least one of those reasons still resides on the radio. The new documentary “KCSM 91.1: The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World” — premiering soon at SF Indiefest — pays warm tribute to a local institution and the musical form it curates: America’s only original art form, jazz.

Directors Wade Shields, Jasmine Wang and Danny Monico begin by attempting to define jazz through the expertise of KCSM staffers before settling into a portrait of the station, past and present. “Jazz in the Afternoon” host Dick Conte — one of the many on-air talents to also play jazz in the community — succinctly describes the station as “a full-time jazz, commercial-free format,” while former KCSM program director Alisa Clancy credibly claims that the station holds “the largest jazz-radio library in the world.”

The film takes us into that library and the studios of the nonprofit, listener-supported jazz destination for local jazz lovers and those around the world who can now hear the 24-7 commercial-free content via streaming. The station’s home at the College of San Mateo serves as a constant reminder to appeal to and educate the next generations of jazz listeners, some of whom serve as interns.

KCSM is located on the campus of the College of San Mateo. Courtesy Brandon Roots/”KCSM 91.1: The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World.”

In addition to extensive interviews with staffers, the film weaves in listener testimonials. Certainly, Shields sees the present and future value of the KCSM, as he recently told this publication. “(KCSM host) Rachelle Rabin put it in the film of we’re in this A.I. algorithm world where everything is being fed to us … there is a human element that’s always been there in taste-making and curation that should feed the culture. And I think that as everything pops up on our phone, day by day, people will get more and more frustrated with … the same song popping up every hour,” Shields said. “The station seems aware of these challenges and … they are uniquely positioned to be able to adapt to that.”

The film tells the history of the station, which “Mid Day Jazz” and “American Jazz Countdown” host Clifford Brown Jr. remembers well, as he was one of the prime movers of KCSM into its all-jazz format. “I was very fortunate to get to play that role. They brought me aboard the station in 1985, and there were two jazz shows and three jazz announcers. A gentleman named Rod Flores, who did a show called “Mid Day Jazz,” which I think aired from about 10 until 2, 10 to 3. And then there was “Jazz After Hours,” which was a late-night jazz program, and I did 3 days, and a gentleman named Big John Howard did the other 3 days. Then in 1986, I was named program director, and we began a very slow transition to becoming a fulltime jazz station. It wasn’t an overnight format change as you often see.”

For Brown, jazz is the family business, his father being a celebrated jazz trumpeter and his mother the founder of the Clifford Brown Jazz Foundation. “I was only 6 months old when my dad passed. So I did not get to know him in the traditional sense of you grow up with a parent,” Brown recalled. “There’s pictures of me with him when I was young, but I really got to know him more from a search through his music, through his friends, which were some of the greatest musicians in the world, and through my family members.”

The documentary includes a performance by jazz vocalist Tiffany Austin. Courtesy Danny Monico/”KCSM 91.1: The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World.”

Brown told me that his father’s recordings demonstrated to him “that he had a lot of integrity. I mean, you can hear that in his playing, whether he’s doing something that’s a little more ‘accessible’ to the general public, like the “Clifford Brown with Strings” album, or he’s playing some hard bop. You can just hear the integrity in his solos. I also think there was a lot of compassion and depth to my dad because of what I hear in his music — and a whole lot of joy.”

Brown continues to bring the joy through his work for the station and the community: “My mother particularly raised me to understand the importance of giving back. And the easiest way to give back is find the things that you’re most passionate about and then find an underserved audience, and then share that with them. So that’s what we’ve done, from the Clifford Brown Jazz Foundation, which had youth outreach programs and introduced itty bitty kids — 3, 4 year olds — to jazz and rhythm, all the way to having training classes for adults and an instrument loan program for elementary, junior high, and high school programs…

“The educational portion of jazz is something that both of my parents believed very strongly in. And I’ve carried it on now in serving on the board of directors of the California Jazz Conservatory, the Community Music Center, the Jazz School over in Berkeley … I also teach now over at Santa Clara University. So it’s a labor of love. Something I really, really enjoy.” Above all, the documentary captures the breathtaking knowledge brought to bear by its on-air talent, who share the stories of jazz artists along with deep cuts of their music.

Like the station the film profiles, which airs a diverse selection of historic and freshly minted music, Shields took care to include jazz of today, showcasing an exclusive jazz vocal performance by Tiffany Austin. “She just seemed to be a perfect encapsulation, as well as speaking into the African American experience,” Shields said, while pointing out that Austin is a graduate of UC Berkeley School of Law. “She knows the struggle (that) jazz is not necessarily enough to sustain everyone right now. So she just seemed to provide such a crucial viewpoint as well as … obviously, the film talks a lot about the history. We wanted to step into ‘Where’s the here and now?’ So I think that’s what Tiffany also represents, and, obviously, she’s an amazing singer.”

“KCSM 91.1: The Bay Area’s Jazz Station to the World” will be available for streaming via SF Indiefest beginning Feb. 6 at sfindie2025.eventive.org/welcome. Streaming admission is $10. The festival will also screen the film Feb. 8, 6:45 p.m., at the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., San Francisco, with filmmakers in attendance. Tickets are $17 per person. For more information, visit sfindie2025.eventive.org.