Ed Bell
Ed Bell produces and hosts South Florida Arts Beat, bringing over thirty years of experience and networking within the South Florida performing arts community to his exciting and informative show. There are few names in the media more supportive of South Florida's cultural arts organizations than Ed Bell.
He has been involved in the local music scene since getting his start on the air at the University of Miami's WVUM in 1971. In the years that followed, he co-produced Jazz legend "Symphony Sid" Torin's show on the all-jazz WBUS, Miami Beach. Bell hosted live broadcasts of Jazz concerts on WTMI from the Airliner Jazz Club and worked as a sound designer at the Coconut Grove Playhouse.
Since starting at WLRN 91.3 FM in 1977, Ed has spearheaded many initiatives in support of South Florida's jazz and blues artists, especially in his work as a promoter and concert series producer. One of Ed's most distinguished efforts as a jazz producer was his role as a principal co-founder of the Hollywood Jazz Festival. From 1983 to 1986, Ed turned the festival into a memorable weekend of television and live radio broadcasts of top locally, nationally and even internationally known jazz musicians.
In his first twenty years at the station, Ed was instrumental in making WLRN South Florida's premier jazz and blues station. Soon after coming to WLRN, he began his Lunchtime Miami program featuring a broad history of great American music, jazz, blues and R&B. Each Friday, he produced a half-hour segment called South Florida's Own that highlighted the work of the best local jazz, blues and R&B musicians. Interspersing his music presentations with intelligent interviews featuring international, national and local musicians and cultural arts leaders, the show became a unique presentation on the South Florida radio dial. In June, 1995, local news magazine New Times deemed Ed the Best Local Jazz Advocate in its best of South Florida issue.
He brought his broadcast production expertise in January, 1999, to a new program called Topical Currents broadening his radio presentations to include diverse cultural arts activities all over South Florida. That show is now called South Florida Arts Beat, broadcasting regionally to four counties in South Florida (from Jupiter to Key West) and worldwide on WLRN's Internet site every Friday at 1:00 pm, EST.
South Florida Arts Beat is a unique radio presentation on the South Florida airwaves featuring interviews, reviews and live musical performances. The show's executive producer is Adrienne Kennedy, special projects manager for WLRN. Contributors include humorist Buzz Fleischman (columnist for the Community Newspapers and The River Cities Gazette), Richard Pachter (book reviewer for The Miami Herald's Business Monday section), Leila Cobo (Miami/Latin American Desk for Billboard Magazine) and Chris DeAngelis (pop culture reviewer), Charles Greenfield and Judith Bishop among other fine producers. Each program wraps up with an entertainment calendar filled with arts events and features contributors associated with various arts councils from a four county region, Deborah Margol (Deputy Director of the Miami-Dade County Dept. of Cultural Affairs), Michael Aller (Chief of Protocol/Director of Tourism and Conventions for Miami Beach), Jody Horne-Leshinsky (Marketing Director for the Broward Cultural Division), Bill Nix (V.P./Chief Program Officer for the Palm Beach County Cultural Council) and Andy Newman (Fla. Keys and Key West Tourism Development Council).
The South Florida arts community is now being heard each week on a worldwide basis, and South Florida Arts Beat on WLRN is leading the way!
