James Reel is the weekday morning announcer for KUAT-FM. In print, he’s the music editor of Fanfare magazine and a contributing editor to Strings magazine. As a freelance writer, he appears in the online All Classical Guide, among other venues. He has also covered border issues for Salon.com, the National Catholic Reporter and Sojourners, and frequently gives pre-performance talks for such organizations as Chamber Music Plus and the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music (of which he is vice-president). He also serves as president of Winding Road Theater Ensemble.

He is the former theater critic and arts editor for the Tucson Weekly, where he had also served as general editor. At the Arizona Daily Star, he was the arts and entertainment editor from 1995 to 1999; before that, he was that newspaper's classical music critic. He previously toiled at KUAT radio from 1976 to 1988, ending up as music director. He is the author of The Timid Soul's Guide to Classical Music and the guidebook CitySmart: Tucson.