Jason Bentley (born July 27, 1970) is an American radio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...

. On December 1, 2008, Bentley replaced

Nic Harcourt Nic Harcourt (born September 23, 1957) is an English-born American radio and television presenter, producer, and journalist best known as the former Music Director and on-air presenter for the Santa Monica, California-based radio station KCRW. Har ...

as the host of ''

Morning Becomes Eclectic ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' (MBE) is a three-hour adult album alternative radio program first aired in 1977 and broadcast live every weekday from KCRW in Santa Monica, California. The show's name is a play on the Eugene O'Neill trilogy of pl ...

'' and as Music Director for

KCRW KCRW (89.9 MHz FM) is a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programm ...

. Previously he had hosted two radio programs: ''Afterhours'' on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronou ...

, and ''Metropolis'' on

, the latter for 16 years until November 28, 2008. Bentley and KCRW revived Metropolis in 2013; the show currently airs Saturdays in the 8PM to 10 PM slot. Bentley's family moved from Boston's

Jamaica Plain Jamaica Plain is a neighborhood of in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Settled by Puritans seeking farmland to the south, it was originally part of the former Town of Roxbury, now also a part of the City of Boston. The commu ...

neighborhood to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

when he was 13. Jason began his career at

as a phone volunteer in July 1988. Jason later attended

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit and Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near P ...

and worked as a DJ at their college station KXLU. He was recruited by former KCRW Music Director Chris Douridas after a softball game between the two stations in 1991 and he began working at KCRW on-air starting in the summer of 1992. In 1995 Bentley co-founded the influential Los Angeles club night "bossa:nova" with Bruno Guez, and George Ghiz. The club began life as an extension of the record label

Quango Music Group Quango Music Group is a record label founded in 1995 by Bruno Guez. Island Records distributes their releases. Over the last decade, Quango has developed a tastemaker brand with a cult following. Quango's repertoire consists of artists and glob ...

, an imprint on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, an ...

, and hosted many well-known DJs from around the world, including

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles " At the River", " I See You Baby" and " Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of ...

Kruder & Dorfmeister Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after members Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, is an Austrian duo, known for their trip hop/downtempo remixes of pop, hip hop and drum and bass songs. Career In 1993, they released their first EP ''G-Stoned'' ...

, Lazy Dog, and

Gilles Peterson Gilles Jérôme Moehrle MBE (; born 28 September 1964), better known as Gilles Peterson (), is a French broadcaster, DJ, and record label owner. He founded the influential labels Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud, and started his current label Brown ...

. Bentley remained a part of the regular "bossa:nova" night until the end of its run in 2008. In 2004, Bentley was part of a group that successfully lobbied the

Recording Academy The Recording Academy (formally the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences; abbreviated NARAS) is an American learned academy of musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other musical professionals. It is famous for its Grammy Aw ...

to add a Best Electronic/Dance Album category to the

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

. Bentley collaborated with other artists on remixes, such as '' Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell'' by

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (ke ...

. He also coordinated music for all three

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** '' The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchi ...

films, as well as ''

The Animatrix is a 2003 adult animated science-fiction anthology film produced by the Wachowskis. The film details through nine animated short films the backstory of ''The Matrix'' film series, including the original war between humanity and machines which ...

'', Matrix

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

titles and the film '' Tron:Legacy''. Other films that include his music credits include '' City of Industry'', '' The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury'', '' Green Street Hooligans'', ''Shooting Gallery'', and '' DOA: Dead or Alive''. In the video game field, he has worked on ''

Full Spectrum Warrior ''Full Spectrum Warrior'' is a real-time tactics video game developed by Pandemic Studios and published by THQ for Xbox, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2. A sequel titled '' Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers'' was later released. Gameplay ...

'', '' Destroy All Humans!'', and '' The Matrix: Path of Neo''. Bentley appeared on

Season 5 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

of ''

Top Chef Masters ''Top Chef Masters'' is an American reality competition series that aired on the cable television network Bravo, and premiered June 10, 2009. It is a spinoff of Bravo's hit show ''Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition te ...

'' as a judge of the Quickfire competition held in

Episode 4 Episode IV, Episode Four or Episode 4 may refer to: * "Episode IV", a song from the album ''Static Prevails'' by Jimmy Eat World * ''Star Wars'' (film) also known as ''Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope'', a 1977 film * Episode 4 (Ashes to Ashes) ...

. On June 13, 2019, Bentley announced that he is relinquishing his duties as KCRW's Music Director and host of ''Morning Becomes Eclectic'' after 10 years on August 30 (2019), but will continue hosting the station's mix show ''Metropolis'' on Saturday nights."Jason Bentley To Step Down As KCRW MD/Morning Becomes Eclectic Host"
from Radio Insight (June 13, 2019)

References

* * * *

External links

Conversation with Jason Bentley and Danger Mouse – June 21, 2006
*
KCRW's ''Metropolis'' webpage

Early 1990s Jason Bentley Mixed Tapes

Jason Bentley at KCRW.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bentley, Jason 1970 births American radio DJs Living people Loyola Marymount University alumni