Jun 9, 200610:29 AMThe Life

Tom Schnabel on Café LA

Tom Schnabel is an eclectic son-of-a-gun. He also has the best taste in music of any human being in the galaxy.

Schnabel hosts KCRW's Café LA, available in our area at 89.3 on the FM radio dial (KCRI), every Sunday from noon to 2pm. He grew up in Southern California, surfed and worked summers as a lifeguard at Dockweiler Beach.

From 1979-90, he served as Music Director at KCRW, getting the reputation as a fringe-music aficionado with a notorious penchant for debuting obscure world-music artists. At the same time, he moonlighted as a lifeguard. Then he took an executive position at A&M Records, where he had his own label.

He attended USC, The Sorbonne, and UCLA (where he earned an MA in Comparative Literature). Currently, he's the program director of world music for the Hollywood Bowl, and also does music consulting and supervision.

Catch his show at noon on Sunday. You'll thank me later.