Sarasota jazz crusader and filmmaker Carlos Pagán dies at age 78

In the world of radio, it's an open secret that people with beautiful voices don't always have pretty faces. But WSLR disc jockey Carlos Pagán was blessed with both, noted fellow deejay Louise Coogan during a June 11 radio tribute to the Jazz Club of Sarasota board member. Pagán, a Bronx native who moved to Sarasota with his wife, Wendy, in 2015, died June 7. He was 78.

"He was tall, handsome and sophisticated with a beautiful voice. But he was just a radio geek like the rest of us," Coogan said. "He understood the responsibility that comes when someone puts a microphone in front of you." 

Since Pagán wasn't available to host his weekly Metropics jazz and world music radio show on June 11, his colleagues took over and turned the show into a tribute. During the decade he lived in Sarasota, Pagán was major force in bringing jazz to local audiences. 

Pagán was also known for directing the documentary, "All There Is — A Circus Story," which had its world premiere at the 2019 Sarasota Film Festival and continues to screen periodically on the Tampa/Sarasota PBS TV station WEDU. The film featured local circus performers reflecting on the legacy of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. 

Pagán's multimedia career spanned radio, TV and film and included on-air host and producing jobs in LaCrosse and Madison, Wisconsin, as well as Miami. He won nine regional Emmy awards. A graduate of DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx and the University of Wisconsin, he founded the Sarasota-based internet radio station Metropics in 2016 and served as its programmer and host. 

He met his wife in 2002 at a Halloween party in the Cocoanut Grove neighborhood of Miami. After being introduced by friends, they learned they had both lived in New York City and had attended the University of Wisconsin. They married in 2004 and honeymooned in China, Hong Kong and Thailand. 

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In an email, Wendy said, "Many readers may have never heard of Carlos Pagán. What was unique and one man’s legacy is that he consciously strived to think, act and live higher than his solitary life circumstances of growing up a kid in the turbulent South Bronx.  He believed strongly in deep and open conversation that provided critical listening to one’s opponent — or adversary — to find common ground and solutions for a better planet."

During the WSLR 96.5 community-radio tribute, Coogan and other past and present colleagues praised Pagán for his professionalism and his generosity in sharing his encyclopedic knowledge of music and radio with others. 

When Jesse Coleman became station manager of WSLR and its affiliated listening room, Fogartyville, in April 2024, Pagán was the first programmer that he sat in with. "He was precise, planned and methodical about the way he approached every track," Coleman said. 

When trumpet player Mark Gruder retired to Sarasota in 2018, he was looking for a part-time volunteer job and heard about the opportunity to host a radio show on WSLR. "Even though Carlos' parents were Puerto Rican and my grandparents were Jewish emigres, we bonded over our Bronx origins," Gruder said. 

With Pagán's help, Gruder developed his radio show, "The Blue Groove," a world music/jazz show on WSLR. 

Among his fellow programmers, Pagán was known for his ability to quietly arrive at the last minute and deliver a perfect radio show. "He set the standard for being a professional on a public radio station," Coleman said. 

A playlist of Pagán's favorite songs put together by Wendy kicked off with Jackson Browne's "Alive in the World." Its lyrics, "I want to live in the world/I want to stand and be counted/With the hopeful and the willing/With the open and the strong" epitomized Pagán's approach to life.

Leveraging Miami jazz contacts to help Sarasota

When he arrived in Sarasota, Pagán brought his contacts that he had built as part of the city's Latin jazz scene. Those ties helped bring top performers like percussionist Sammy Figueroa to the Sarasota Jazz Festival, presented annually by the Jazz Club of Sarasota.

Asked to comment on Pagán's legacy, Jazz Club President Ed Linehan said, "When I met Carlos, I saw instantly that he had an encyclopedic knowledge of jazz artists and recording. He had lived in Miami, where he and Wendy were involved in the jazz community and had relationships with some of the bigger names. Beyond that, he was a gentle, kind, thoughtful person and a good friend."

He added: "It's hard to be a jazz fan right now because so many are leaving us." When Linehan was caring for his wife, jazz vocalist Synia Carroll, Pagán took the reins of the March 2025 Sarasota Jazz Festival. (Carroll died later that year.)

At the time, Pagán quipped to a reporter, "Don't leave the accent mark off my name because I don't want people to think I'm a pagan." Family and friends say he was deeply spiritual, but found his sustenance in the teachings of several religions. 

Pagán was proud of his Puerto Rican heritage and was dedicated to reaching out to underserved audiences and protecting the earth. But underpinning it all was the belief in the power of the arts. "He believed in the healing power of music and the visual arts and their ability to connect us globally when everything else is in chaos," Gruder said. 

In addition to Wendy, Pagán is survived by his mother-in-law, Martha Nwaobia, brothers-in-law Tracy Anderson (Mary), Bethel Nwaobia (Justine), sister-in-law Lori Christianson, and many nieces, nephews and other family members.

A memorial will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 15, at Kadampa Meditation Center, where Pagán was a member. Another celebration of life will be held at Fogartyville in the future, according to the WSLR website.