[JPL] Seattle IAJE ideas

[Bill Barton]

I'm looking forward to attending my first IAJE in Seattle.  I think that
participants from across  the country and around the world will find that
the Seattle area is a stimulating, exciting and often innovative one for
jazz, creative improvised music, free improv and just about any other niche
in the music world you can think of.

Ideas that have already been brought up that "jumped out" at me include:

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Subject: Re: [JPL] Topics for IAJE 2008/JPL - Interview

I think too often Peter we underestimate our audience. It's worked for me
because I know how to present it. I would bet not one person tuned out of
that Herbie interview because ...at times...he talked about the "music."
That's what we deal with. The music. Give them something to think about if
you as the programmer know a thing or two about the music. I do it all the
time and my jazz show raises more money than NPR news programs. Actually,
folk want to learn about the music. This argument about talking about the
music being a no no is a myth. The more they learn about how it works the
more they appreciate it. Think about it...that's the core number one problem
as to why jazz struggles. Folk don't understand it. We have to help
them...at times. The "technical" part of it is just one part of the
interview as it should be. Our audience is smart. They love the challenge so
lets not spoon feed them.

Jae Sinnett

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*Underestimation of the audience seems to me to be a major problem with
radio these days.  Who exactly are we programming for?  A few weeks ago I
initiated discussions on two popular online jazz bulletin boards
(Organissimo and Jazz Corner's Speakeasy) regarding the state of jazz
radio.  General consensus seemed to be that jazz radio is moribund.  People
who are already avid jazz fans find nothing of interest on radio.  There
doesn't seem to be any concerted effort on the part of most programmers to
introduce listeners to new, creative, "outside the box" music and artists.
Are we programming for the people who buy their "jazz" CDs at Starbucks?
Are we stuck in a middle-of-the-road, consultant-driven, "playing it safe"
cul-de-sac?  Do we really need to limit airplay to such a small number of
colors (dare I say primary colors?) in the jazz spectrum?  Give people
credit for some intelligence, curiosity and knowledge.  Jazz education in
the schools has progressed a thousandfold in the past few years and there
are plenty of hip young musicians and listeners out there.  Are they
listening to radio?  Probably not.  An endless diet of tepid vocalists and
head-solos-head retreads isn't likely to keep their interest. *

*Admittedly I speak from a perspective that is somewhat different than many
on this list.  These are my opinions and should not be taken as
representative of the station where I do a show nor the magazines to which I
contribute.  *

*On KBCS I am a volunteer, and do a show that I consciously aim at a niche
audience.  There's more "mainstream" jazz programming on the station during
morning drive and at other times, and I focus primarily on the "edgier" and
overtly adventurous parts of the spectrum.  There are certainly other
programmers doing similar things at community and college stations but I
don't see much evidence of anything even remotely similar on NPR stations.
Is community (and college in some cases) radio the last bastion of this type
of programming?  I think that the obvious answer is "yes."   *

*A bit on my background may be in order here.  I started doing radio in 1974
at WRUV, the student station at the University of Vermont, where I was
a disc jockey, then Production Supervisor, Jazz Music Director, Music
Director and finally Program Director.  *

*In 1977 two "start-up" stations hired me: WNCS-FM in Montpelier (a
commercial station) and Vermont Public Radio.  From 1977 to 1990 I hosted
"Jazz Spectrum," a weekly show on WNCS.  The program title was very
carefully chosen.  One of my commitments was to present as wide a swath as
possible, from the historical to the most current experimental.  It was a
unique situation for commercial radio as I had complete artistic control of
the program.  It remained so for nearly 13 years, and only toward the end of
my stint when the station was sold did any "you can play this but you can't
play that" feedback come from management: pretty rare even in those days of
"progressive" FM. *

*At VPR I was initially a Board Operator and later produced and hosted music
shows, primarily jazz but also including folk and world music.  I was
greatly privileged to work with Bill Cole on his innovative program that
included an in-depth history of jazz and explorations of world music in oral
traditions.  I was involved with VPR in various capacities until 1984.*

*In the mid-to-late '80s I also worked at other commercial stations doing
jazz, big band/nostalgia, folk, Celtic, AAA and world music programs.*

*From 1990 to 1996 I was Music Director at Mountain-Lake Public Radio,
WCFE-FM, in Plattsburgh, NY.  WCFE was a community licensee public station.
We carried something of an alternative to NPR: instead of ATC we had Monitor
Radio and carried BBC World Service overnights.  We did have some of the
mainstream NPR programming, including Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz.  And
we carried Jazz After Hours with Jim Wilke.  The first couple of years we
had an eclectic music format and after that switched to a jazz-based
format.  One of my projects there was an extended, in-depth jazz history
series that I produced and hosted.*

*Since moving to the Pacific Northwest I've volunteered at two community
stations, first KSER-FM in Everett and now KBCS-FM Bellevue-Seattle.*

*I mention this background because my perspective includes time "in the
trenches" of public and commercial radio as well as community and college
radio.    *

*It strikes me as a wholly different world now.  Some of you may remember
when "public broadcasting" was called "educational broadcasting."  Those
days appear to be long gone.  Lowest common denominator programming seems to
be the rule rather than the exception now.  Part of the problem is that
public broadcasting in the U.S. is forced to compete in the marketplace.
Unlike European and some other systems with government subsidies where a
radio station can have their own symphony or jazz band, here in the U.S.
we're left scrambling to make a buck to stay afloat.  That's not going to
change.  But is the way to haul in the $$$ to cater to the lowest common
denominator?  Are there alternatives?  Can creative, informed, dare I say
educational, innovative and wide-ranging programs exist successfully in the
marketplace?*

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Subject: RE: [JPL] topics for IAJE 2008
Hello Tom, here are some topic ideas.



One of the things I always find interesting for us to talk about on a panel
is what we look for in a cut.  Why does one trumpet player get in and not
another?  We address this somewhat in the jukebox but we can also talk about
it more in depth, as in how we choose from the many artists we receive each
week.

*This strikes me as an extremely valid subject for discussion.  I've
wondered on occasion since joining this listserv why the playlists from
across the country look so similar.  If people are making individual choices
based on their knowledge, taste and background why is there such a
"consensus"?  Does it have anything to do with which musicians get good
promotion and which musicians don't get good promotion?  Are programming
consultants making the decisions rather than individual programmers?*



How do you create a flow for a set of music?

How do you choose how you will lay things out for the listener.  This is
also somewhat dependent on the market.  Here in Phoenix we don't have a
highly educated jazz audience.  There are of course many jazz fans here who
are very hip, but a larger portion of the audience can still only name Miles
Davis and Ella when I ask for who they like to listen to.   I'm working on
building name awareness, but it's a journey.

*The flow of a set and different concepts to create that flow (peaks and
valleys, segues based on textures, thematic mixes, etc.) strike me as great
ideas to talk about.*



How do you stay entertaining and informative

As radio programmers we are entertainers and the good news is people WANT to
learn more but they don't want it to feel like work, so the information has
to be entertaining.Not American Idol mind you but not C-span.  Coming from
live performance as many of us do, I think helps to give us a sense of how
to keep the audience engaged.

*That's a very good analogy: not American Idol mind you but not C-Span.
Well said!  My comments above about the days of "educational" broadcasting
kind of tie in here.  Being informative without being pedantic is not easy.
It's certainly more of an art than it is a science.*



Different programming situations

When we talk about programming we can talk about the difference between
programming for a station for many hours a day and how that is different
than doing a two hour show once a week.

*Good idea.*



Repitition vs variety

Including repetition to get people aware of a tune can be a little tricky,
I've gotten complaints about it and I'm only playing that tune once a night.
The more recognizable the tune, the more people whine.  Song for My Father,
Take five, and any vocalist can set off this reaction.   So how do we
program for recognition to an audience that wants variety?  One way is to
play a couple of cuts from the same CD, to get artist awareness.  I did that
with the Bob deVos CD to get it out there, but really I bet not many people
in my audience would know who Bob deVos is even though I played him five
nights a week for over a month.



Promos/Contests

I'm contemplating more contests to get people to hear the name of the
artist.   Announce the tune going in and tell them afterward I'll have a
giveaway.  I don't know if that will work but jazz has so many talented
players and very few people know who they are. Have any of you been doing
this?  How has it worked



Just my 2 cents, thanks,

Blaise Lantana

Music Director

KJZZ Phoenix

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*To be continued...*

*Bill Barton*

*host: "Bright Moments" KBCS Bellevue-Seattle 91.3FM www.kbcs.fm*

*contributing writer:*

*CODA magazine*

*Signal to Noise: The Journal of Improvised and Experimental Music*

*All About Jazz (Seattle print version and online)*