By Todd Matthews

Arguably, the most commercially notable Jack Straw production today is the weekly radio show Sonarchy -- a program heard live every Saturday night on 90.3 KEXP-FM, and produced by Doug Haire. Haire started at Jack Straw in 1988, and recorded a series of jazz artists for a national radio show entitled Jazz Journal. The show provided Haire the opportunity to continue his appreciation of jazz music. "I was a jazz program director in New Orleans for three years before coming out [to Seattle.]," recalls Haire. "I was dedicated to improvised music, and picked jazz artists who either wrote original material or were pure improvisers."

Sonarchy was launched in 1996 and focuses on the periphery of the music genre, particularly avant-garde jazz. Artists such as Crack Sabbath, David Haney, Adam Diller, Quasi Nada, Stan Keen, Wally Shoup, Gregg Keplinger, and Reuben Radding have performed in Sonarchy's studio over the years. This month, Sonarchy will showcase music from the Pulp Ensemble, producer/keyboardist Steve Fisk, and legendary trombonist Julian Priester.

"There is just a lot of talent here," Haire comments, referring to the Pacific Northwest music scene. "I thought that when I first came to town. I never get the impression that there is too much new music being made. What I discovered in Seattle was just a large number of musicians and artists. One of the beauties of Seattle is that it reconfigures itself. You have new players playing all the time. That makes for good radio. I don't have any trouble finding people [for the show]. The trouble is turning people away."

Haire's criteria for selecting musicians is simple.

"I just listen for work that sounds good," he says. "Even if I don't like it personally, if they sound good, it works for me."

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This article originally appeared in Earshot Jazz magazine