Looking for a way to relax on Sunday evenings after a long weekend of Water Street and before facing a long week of classes and tests? Well, there might be a solution.

The university radio station, WUEC 89.7 FM, will broadcast the first program of a thirteen-week series called “Jazz and Beyond” from 6 to 8 p.m. April 6. It will air every Sunday.

The program will highlight the history of jazz and blues and emphasize the development of the music and its genres. It will focus on the history of black music in the upper Midwest. It also will compare the upper Midwestern style to other styles around the nation, stated in the program description.

The idea for the program came from assistant English professor David Jones, who wrote the original proposal to acquire the grant for the blues program. But before the grant was approved, Jones received a lot of help from many different people. Three of those people included two student researchers, who have since graduated, and assistant English professor, Stacy Thompson.

It wasn’t exactly hard to get the grant, it was the format that was the problem, Jones said.

In addition to the jazz and blues format in place now, a show on hip hop and other music that has been influenced by jazz and blues was also going to be introduced to the station, Jones said.

The research for the program was done by students. One student researcher, Guillermo Mendez-Gorski said that it wasn’t hard to find material to use since it is a well documented American art form. The problem was breaking the piles of information down and finding the right stuff to use, he said.

The show will feature recordings of some of the great bluesman like Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Freddy King, Robert Johnson and great blues women like Billie Holiday, the program description stated.

Besides featuring the well-established artists, the organizers want to focus the spotlight on some local acts, too.

“We are hoping to build a bigger audience for local artists,” Jones said.

“We should take pride in our local music scene and musicians because there is nothing better than a good local music community,” he said.

The local part of the program will feature acts such as Howard Luedtke and the Blue and Jones Tones. Groups are invited to submit their recordings in hopes of adding to the program, Jones said.

The jazz program is directed more toward people who know nothing or little about jazz, Jones said.

Even if you don’t care about the facts it’s still really cool music to listen to, he said.

Another goal of the program is to dispel some of the common myths about jazz – that it is to difficult and that the best days of jazz are over, Thompson, producer of the jazz segment said.

“We’re hoping the show will excite listeners about the range and possibilities of jazz,” Thompson said.

Some pleasures take time and the music is kind of an acquired taste, he said.

One of the main reasons Mendez-Gorski said he became involved in the project was because most of the radio stations in Eau Claire play nothing except top 40 music.

The radio station will give the Eau Claire area an alternative to the mediocre music that consumes the air waves, he said.

If this program is supported then there could be other programs showcasing whatever music students want from Yanni to Deftones, Mendez-Gorski said. Student support is a must in the success of this program, he said.

Jones said he invites everyone to take some time to tune in, relax, learn and enjoy while doing your homework.