[JPL] More on Smooth Jazz

[Philip Booth]

R.I.P. smooth jazz (I'm crying on the inside)

re: Kenny G's comment: "Maybe they'll open up and
find an old Sonny Rollins or Charlie Parker record after that."

Has anyone on this list ever met someone who actually made that magical 
crossing over, from smooth-jazz pap to the real thing? Why does this myth 
persist?

Over the years, I've met people who had once been avid listeners of rock, 
blues, world music, funk, Americana and a variety of other styles, but later 
expanded their listening to include bebop and straightahead jazz.

But I've not once met someone who has told me that he or she used Kenny G or 
another smooth-jazz personality as a stepping stone to Rollins, Parker or 
the like.

I've always thought that the natural progression for fans of Kenny G and his 
ilk would be from that music to some sappy MOR ballad singer, or maybe to 
some sappy hard rock power-ballad singer.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jae Sinnett" <jaejazz at yahoo.com>
To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 5:52 PM
Subject: Re: [JPL] More on Smooth Jazz


> This week's sponsor: THE PIERS LAWRENCE QUARTET - 'STOLEN MOMENTS'
>
> Features the exceptional musicality of guitarist, Piers Lawrence, bassist 
> Jim Hankins, Sir Earl Grice on drums and Chuk Fowler on piano.
>
> A return to classic sound - ''a warm slice of straight ahead Jazz'' ejazz 
> online,
>
> The quality of emotion that first brought you into Jazz - ''Along with the 
> excellent soloing, this quartet captures the character of a late night 
> jazz scene.''
> - All about Jazz LA.
>
> Well chosen songs - ''great standards such as ''Pent-up House,'' ''Stolen 
> Moments,'' ''Donna Lee'' and the gem, ''Secret Love''
>
> ''Soulful, melodic guitar playing and prolific songwriting makes this CD a 
> masterful offering''
> - All About Jazz
>
> Thanks to Jim Eigo at Jazz Promo Services &amp;amp; Mike Hurzon at The 
> Tracking Station
>
> for interviews and additional info,  www.JazzNetMedia.com or Tionna 
> Smalls - 917-583-4164
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> I always find comments like... "it did well" or "it does well though," 
> interesting when talking about smooth jazz and its suspect artistic point. 
> This also has absolutely nothing to do with the folk deciding to accept a 
> broadcasting job programming it but everything to do with the vacant 
> quality of the music. "Disco Duck" sold a few million records so "it did 
> well." A National Enquirer news program on radio would do well. So does 
> that make it worth a dung?
>
>  Jae Sinnett
>
> "Dr. Jazz" <drjazz at drjazz.com> wrote:
>  This week's sponsor: THE PIERS LAWRENCE QUARTET - 'STOLEN MOMENTS'
>
> Features the exceptional musicality of guitarist, Piers Lawrence, bassist 
> Jim Hankins, Sir Earl Grice on drums and Chuk Fowler on piano.
>
> A return to classic sound - ''a warm slice of straight ahead Jazz'' ejazz 
> online,
>
> The quality of emotion that first brought you into Jazz - ''Along with the 
> excellent soloing, this quartet captures the character of a late night 
> jazz scene.''
> - All about Jazz LA.
>
> Well chosen songs - ''great standards such as ''Pent-up House,'' ''Stolen 
> Moments,'' ''Donna Lee'' and the gem, ''Secret Love''
>
> ''Soulful, melodic guitar playing and prolific songwriting makes this CD a 
> masterful offering''
> - All About Jazz
>
> Thanks to Jim Eigo at Jazz Promo Services &amp; Mike Hurzon at The 
> Tracking Station
>
> for interviews and additional info, www.JazzNetMedia.com or Tionna 
> Smalls - 917-583-4164
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> Smooth jazz sinks in rough airwaves
> Stations switch to new formats under pressure from advertisers
>
> Marc Fisher
> Washington Post
>
> WASHINGTON - Born in focus groups conducted in windowless conference
> rooms, named by a radio station consultant, derided by critics, smooth
> jazz vanished from the FM radio dial of the U.S. capital as the month
> began. It was 14 years old.
>
> Actually, it was a listener who uttered the phrase that a consultant
> used to sum up this fusion of instrumental music styles. At a focus
> group held in Chicago by Broadcast Architecture, the firm that first
> sold radio stations on the new format in the early 1990s, a woman who
> was asked to describe the songs being tested blurted out "smooth jazz."
>
> What she was describing was a jazzlike sound without the jazz essential
> of improvisation, a melody-driven, generally instrumental set of songs
> played primarily on instruments used in jazz. But even that fungible
> definition fell apart as smooth jazz spread to about 200 radio stations.
> In recent years, smooth jazz meant not only saxmen Kenny G and Dave Koz
> but even singers Norah Jones, India.Arie and Sting.
>
> Despite catcalls from fans of straight-ahead jazz and yawns from pop and
> rock lovers, smooth jazz was a rare success -- a genre created not so
> much by the artists and the record industry as by radio programmers who
> identified a style, found an audience and inspired musicians to make the
> product.
>
> As far back as the 1970s, the jazz fusion movement's lighter hits, from
> artists such as Bob James, George Benson and Spyro Gyra, won airplay not
> only on the United States' handful of jazz stations but on light rock
> and easy-listening stations. Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good from 1977
> was probably the first smooth jazz hit.
>
> It wasn't until 1987, when a Los Angeles station became the first major
> outlet to devote itself to the music of David Sanborn, the Rippingtons
> and Al Jarreau, that a financial incentive developed for
> instrumentalists to record music that would serve as this new format's
> aural wallpaper.
>
> Radio programmers looking for a way to serve office workers and
> stressed-out commuters built a recipe including ingredients from fusion
> jazz, light R&B, pop balladeers and a few straight-jazz artists who
> followed guitarist Benson's lead toward less intellectually challenging,
> more melodic numbers.
>
> Critics hated the stuff, dismissing it as the elevator music of the
> '90s. But smooth jazz stations generally did well, winning an audience
> unusual for radio: crossing boundaries of age, race, geography and
> income level.
>
> "I play songs people want to hear," saxophonist Kenny G told the Denver
> Post. "Critics don't bother me because I know I have integrity. ... The
> jazz purists should be looking at me and saying 'Thank you.' I've
> brought people into buying instrumental music. Maybe they'll open up and
> find an old Sonny Rollins or Charlie Parker record after that."
>
> Other artists tried a different tack, denying that they fit the label.
> "We're not smooth jazz," trumpeter Chris Botti told the Boston Globe,
> even as he acknowledged that his music was not about "playing in a
> little tiny club and it sounds like a math test," but rather "playing
> big venues and it's pleasing."
>
> The format was about pleasant melodies, whether Kenny G's songful
> instrumentals or Anita Baker's soft vocals. For much of the '90s, the
> major force propelling CD sales was the Weather Channel, which used
> smooth jazz as the background sound during local weathercasts.
>
> But smooth jazz has hit rough waters. New York City's CD101.9, for many
> years the most popular U.S. smooth jazz station, died last month,
> replaced by a rock format. Philadelphia's smooth jazz outlet switched to
> a rhythmic hits format featuring everything from Alicia Keys and Beyoncé
> to Frankie Valli and Bon Jovi. In cities where the format still thrives,
> such as Chicago, more adventuresome programmers are mixing some more
> traditional jazz into the playlist. Both satellite radio services, XM
> and Sirius, also have smooth jazz channels.
>
> In markets where smooth jazz was killed off, listeners have often
> demanded a return of the music. But in the radio industry, listeners'
> desire for relaxing background music is not a priority. With sales of
> advertising spots in sharp decline, programmers and advertisers are
> looking for listeners who will pay close attention, and that means music
> that's front and centre, not light and breezy.
>
> -- 
> Dr. Jazz
> Dr. Jazz Operations
> 24270 Eastwood
> Oak Park, MI 48237
> (248) 542-7888
> http://www.drjazz.com
> SKYPE: drjazz99
>
> --
>
> Jazz Programmers' Mailing List: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
> List information: http://lists.jazzweek.com/mailman/listinfo/jazzproglist
> List archive: http://lists.jazzweek.com/pipermail/jazzproglist/
> Sponsorship information: jplsponsor at jazzweek.com
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Never miss a thing.   Make Yahoo your homepage.
> --
>
> Jazz Programmers' Mailing List: jazzproglist at jazzweek.com
> List information: http://lists.jazzweek.com/mailman/listinfo/jazzproglist
> List archive: http://lists.jazzweek.com/pipermail/jazzproglist/
> Sponsorship information: jplsponsor at jazzweek.com