Steve Quirk

One of the nicest most knowlagable guys in the industry, Steve Quirk is not just a radio presenter ... he is a brand with over 30 years in radio who’s successfully navigated changing radio landscapes, formats and tastes.

Steve Quirk who first introduced his concept on Manchester’s Sunset FM in 1990. He had started out there as the stations staff librarian but within a year had been promoted to Musical Director. Because it was Easter many of the regular DJ’s were having time off so his boss and long time mentor Mike Shaft gave Steve the chance to go on air. Fusion Flavours was born, the first ever record played on the show being Bob James ‘Westchester Lady’.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that it was in Manchester where this all became possible. The city was and is synonymous with the phenomena of northern soul, that special brand of rare and atmospheric grooves much adored by a following always on the look out for something different. For them the journey from soul, through fusion to smooth jazz seemed a natural progression and Steve Quirk, who proudly names the Isley Brothers ‘That Lady’ as the first single he ever bought, was there to cultivate their musical taste buds.

With the demise of Sunset, Steve transitioned Fusion Flavours to Jazz FM for eight years, a golden age that found smooth jazz really connecting with its growing United Kingdom audience. The culmination of this was Steve’s appointment as the stations Musical Director in 1999. His brief was to make Jazz FM into a genuine smooth jazz station. Putting on 10 instrumentals from day one, including Fourplay’s ‘101 Eastbound’, he began to create the template for what was to follow, a strategy that led to a significant increase in the listener-ship and Jazz FM’s promotion of live smooth jazz events. These concerts brought top-notch artists to England for the first time and regularly sold out venues such as the 3000 seat Hammersmith Apollo. On one memorable occasion, the first visit of the Guitars and Saxes show to London, demand to see Dave Koz, Steve Cole, Marc Antoine and Peter White proved to be so great that a second, midnight, show was scheduled which in turn sold out all over again.

During this time Steve Quirk was also actively compiling a series of smooth jazz sampler compilation CD’s that were released on the Jazz FM label. These were much more than the usual eight to ten track US radio station samplers, they were expansive musical showcases, double CD thirty track projects, that each sold between 10 and 20,000 copies. These collections stand as testimony to the high quality of Steve’s taste in music, a flare that he has demonstrated not only with his radio shows but also when putting together perhaps the best smooth jazz compilation of all time, the 1996 ‘Jazz Fusions 4’ on Beechwood.

Steve’s passion for the music took his Fusion Flavours across the pond to host a weekly syndicated show in the USA on WNUA 95.5 Chicago and on LOVE 94 in Miami. Steve currently hosts shows for Wave FM (Canada) and Colourful Radio (UK).

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