He Was Playing ‘World Beat’ Before It Even Had a Name : Radio: KPFK’s Mario Casetta spins ethnic music that he’s collected throughout a lifetime of travels.

In person, Mario Casetta comes across much as he does on his radio show. The personable 74-year-old host of two weekly international music programs on KPFK-FM (90.7) conveys the becalmed spirit and folksy wisdom of a man who’s lived a rich and adventurous life.

Yet mention the possibility of retirement to Casetta and this usually laid-back soul with the raspy, languid voice turns momentarily feisty.

“I will be doing the radio show until I drop dead and they pull me out by the heels!” he exclaims with a bit of laughter and a healthy dose of conviction.

Casetta is clearly no pushover. Though he suffered a stroke 15 years ago and now finds himself severely hobbled by arthritis, the irrepressible septuagenarian hasn’t lost his deep affection for the public-radio program he’s hosted for 25 years and the eclectic music that has been its foundation. He must love his show because--like all KPFK on-air hosts--he does not receive a nickel for his efforts.

On Mondays, Casetta’s 10 a.m.-to-noon program is dubbed “Mario’s Many Worlds of Music.” Wednesday’s show is called “Independent Music.” Both feature sounds from around the world, with the Wednesday program geared strictly toward material released through independent record labels.

Casetta acknowledges that he’s not a fan of most contemporary rock ‘n’ roll records. “In most cases I can hardly hear what the vocalist is singing because the beat is so overwhelming,” he complains. But just about every other form of music is fair game for his show. Australian Aboriginal music, zydeco, flamenco, hoomie singing from the Republic of Tuva, Irish folk, New Orleans jazz and country blues are just a few of the musical styles that have found expression on his program.

In presenting music that is rarely, if ever, exposed on commercial radio, Casetta feels he is providing something of an educational service to his listeners.

He says, “Once or twice a month I say, ‘Open your ears, open your heart and listen. You might not think you’ll like yoich singing from Lapland, but listen--you might.’ To just expose yourself to one kind of music is like eating oatmeal for every meal. You want some variety. Relax and give it a try.”

Casetta’s love of international music has led him on many excursions to Europe and Asia. He’s traveled to Ireland, Hungary, Finland and other countries in order to sample the local sounds. He’s also been the guest of the Chinese government in Shanghai four times for various music festivals.

When on the road, Casetta always brings along his tape recorder so that he can interview musicians and make his own recordings of performances for airplay on his radio show.

“I was in Shanghai during the big struggle in Tian An Men Square in Beijing--the aborted revolution,” Casetta recalls. “It was completely different in Shanghai compared to Beijing. Instead of one big square where thousands gathered, there were demonstrations and parades all over the city. There was a lot of chanting. I just got out in the middle of this and recorded it all. I came back and did a special show called ‘Five Days in Shanghai,’ in which I edited the tapes down and did absolutely no commentary.”

*

Born in Los Angeles to an Italian immigrant father and a Swedish American mother, Casetta was exposed to music and dance very early in life. His parents ran a classical Italian ballet company that performed in vaudeville. As a result, his early childhood was spent largely on the road “living out of suitcases and bureau drawers in hotels.”

Casetta’s first experience working in radio occurred during World War II. While stationed on Saipan Island in the Pacific, the young soldier joined the Armed Forces Radio Service. A kind of Jack-of-all-trades, he did technical work, spun records, wrote radio shows and dramas and conducted interviews for the military radio network.

It wasn’t long before Casetta discovered the rich variety of music on Saipan. He then set out to record the traditional songs of the various ethnic groups located on the island, which included Pacific Islanders, Okinawans and Koreans. Casetta even managed to persuade a group of Japanese prisoners of war to perform on audiotape.

“They were very suspicious,” he recalls. “I had one or two Japanese American interpreters with me. The prisoners asked them if the tapes were going to be used as propaganda against the Japanese. I told them no, that I just liked to collect ethnic music and that they would never be used in any official government war sense. So they agreed to sing for me. One sergeant sang an ancient naniwabushi . It sounded like something out of a Kurosawa film. He was terrific! They sang all kinds of folk songs and lullabies. It was beautiful stuff.”

Casetta plans to release his Saipan tapes, portions of which have been aired on his radio show, later in the year through his own Belladonna record label.

After the war, Casetta worked as a graphic artist, eventually settling back in Los Angeles. In the late ‘60s he discovered international folk dancing and took to it “like a duck to water.” It was then that he noticed that even public radio was missing the boat on the vibrant sounds of world music. In 1970, KPFK accepted his offer to host a show featuring international folk and ethnic music.

*

Casetta also landed a salaried job doing off-the-air fund raising for KPFK, a position he held until he suffered his stroke in 1980. Last month, the severity of his arthritis forced him to step down from his beloved role as a folk dance instructor. Most recently he had been teaching a monthly class at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

Despite his health problems, Casetta remains optimistic and resilient. Though he’s been forced to hang up his dancing shoes, he now leads world music seminars for an elder-hostel program in Desert Hot Springs. “For a whole week, (participants) hear radio shows I’ve done over the years. Then we discuss it,” he says.

Still, it’s his radio show that remains his primary passion.

“For me, doing the show is to feel the joy that you experience when you share something good with someone,” Casetta says. “It’s like, ‘Hey, come here, look at this painting I’ve got.’ Or ‘Hey, come here, read this book.’ I say, ‘Come here, listen to this music.’ That’s what turns me on.”