Arnold is the host of WBACH's popular Saturday evening "Classic Jazz" program. His interest in Jazz began at age nine, after buying a Buddy DeFranco 45rpm record and attending a George Shearing performance. (Since then, he has met both legends and thanked them for their influence.)
Arnold's introduction to radio began at Pratt Institute in New York City, when he conceived of and built an unauthorized carrier current radio station. After a year of great success, Pratt funded the station and applied for and received an FCC license. (Today, that license is worth millions!)
Years later, as chief engineer of a small radio station in Castle Rock, Colorado, Arnold persuaded the owner to switch the station's format to Classic Jazz. The new format was a hit, and he eventually went on air, transitioning from being a substitute DJ to having his own show.
During Arnold’s career, he has interviewed many “greats,” including Count Basie, George Shearing, Louie Bellson, Ralph Sutton, Dave McKenna, Clark Terry, Frank Foster, Jimmy Heath, Kris Kristofferson, Don Doane, and former President & sax player Bill Clinton.
Maine listeners first heard Arnold on the University of Southern Maine station, then on the Portland area station which later became a part of WBACH. Now listeners catch his “Classic Jazz” broadcasts throughout Southern, Central, Midcoast and Downeast Maine on WBACH.
On the personal side, Arnold lives in a house which he built himself in the Maine woods. Inside it accommodates a huge jazz record collection, an amateur radio set up to send Morse Code around the world from Berwick to Bulgaria, a black and white darkroom, an oil painting studio, and a guest room for visits by his daughter. (Arnold reports that she likes to dance to Count Basie’s music.)
During the week, Arnold works full time in the electronics industry. As you might guess, his weekends center around his Classic Jazz show every Saturday, 6 to 10pm.
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