Curators of Jazz

smoothjazz(an article)
Smooth jazz expires in three more markets – “The Truth” dawns on Fresno – Smooth Jazz 105.5 fades to black.

Jeff Wilks sees revenue potential in talk that didn’t come his way with jazz. T-R-I told you last Wednesday that the “Truth” stunting on Wilks Broadcasting-owned KJZN was the real thing, and that the three-year-old jazz station would go talk on Friday. It all came to pass, and the lineup is something out of TRN exec Phil Boyce’s dream – he’s got players in almost every position.

Here’s the rundown – Mancow, 6-9am. Laura Ingraham, 9am-noon. Jerry Doyle, noon-3, Michael Savage, joining for 3-6pm (more about that in a second). Rusty Humphries, 6-9pm. Curtis Sliwa, 9pm-midnight – he’s the only non-TRN personality, from the station Boyce used to program, WABC. Then TRN’s Phil Hendrie, midnight-3am. And the new Washington Times show once it debuts in June, 3-6am.

The only situation that was a little hairy was Michael Savage, who’s been getting a delayed clearance from Peak’s KMJ-FM, 7-10pm. Now his syndicator TRN can clear him live on The Truth, when he’s contractually available in mid-June. One consultant predicted last year that smooth jazz would be the first format casualty of the Arbitron PPM, because of its reliance on Time Spent Listening. But in the past three days it’s lost three outposts in several non-PPM markets, starting with Fresno and then New Mexico and Ohio –

(dr. wu comments)

With apologies, i won’t be attending this “smooth jazz” funeral but allow me a moment to reflect and rant. i’ve always disliked the “smooth jazz” term. it’s not because of the artists or the music itself. moving into this arena has allowed many fine musicians to be heard by the masses and thus launch their careers by touring and selling cd’s. i have many in my collection.

i realise it is standard operating procedure for product marketers, but what bugs me is the insidious marketing tactic of using a legitimate term such as jazz to simply lure consumers. “smooth jazz” ain’t the real thing, baby. some, if not much of the material that makes up the “smooth jazz” sound would not get even get close to the doors of jazz haunts like the blue note or the vanguard. that doesn’t mean the artists don’t have the chops to enter those hallowed grounds. I respect them. they are legit and would cut it in those rooms. to make matters worse, “smooth jazz” radio stations often throw in some R&B (there’s that label thing again) tracks into the mix that make no sense even to their “smooth jazz” commitment. marvin gaye is “smooth jazz”?

jazz is a valuable treasure that requires musical curators. the players that have made the commitment to be curators of jazz do it for the love and conservation of the genre, and it is their funerals i would sadly attend.