Is "Smooth Jazz" dead and gone?

[notes_norton]

Is "Smooth Jazz" dead and gone?

There have been no Smooth Jazz radio stations on the dial in my locality for years. So I wonder if it has gone 'belly up' or have they changed the name or has it been absorbed into regular jazz stations or what?

Just curious. I never disliked it but on the other hand it wasn't my favorite listening music either.

[Buck Laughlin]

We had a smooth jazz radio station that recently changed its format from "smooth jazz" to "whatever's cool." They actually play a very eclectic mix of some pretty good music. But I've noticed that they no longer include any smooth jazz in their lineup. I guess it doesn't fit into the "whatever's cool" parameter.

[SaxMI]

Well notes, there is something about Florida. There is one Jazz station down here in Miami area and it's probably a 1000W station 'cause one can hardly hear it and that goes for the only classical station. 2.5 million people live down here. That is so sad. Jazz scene down here is very small.

My home is Chicago where Jazz and Blues could be had at anytime of the day. Jazz Clubs, Blues Clubs, Blues Fest, Art, Theater, Culture and of course the dreaded cold winters.

It took me about 6 months to realize that South Florida is the land that time forgot.

[Woody Reed]

There have been no Smooth Jazz radio stations on the dial in my locality for years. So I wonder if it has gone 'belly up' or have they changed the name or has it been absorbed into regular jazz stations or what?

It depends on the question your asking. Is smooth jazz "fm radio" dead? In my opinion, it is on life support. While there are some 60 + stations still going, they are mostly smaller markets. Or weak signals in the larger markets. If your asking if the format is dead, I'd say no. Evidence to that would be events like the Seabreeze Jazz festival in Fort Walton beach FL going on this weekend. First show is tonight. They will do some 15K people for the event. Also 2 sold out sailings of the smooth jazz cruise last january. 10 packed days in Reading PA 2 weeks ago for the Berks jazz fest. etc. So, the fans are still there and the artists are still cranking out new product. While the sales for CDs are down, it's in line with the decline in all genres.

The real issue here is FM radio. It is barely hanging on. Like my 20 and 21 year olds said to me recently, "we haven't listened to radio since we were 12". There are simply too many commercial free alternatives for them to be bothered. same goes with Smooth. XM and internet radio, also HD, is quite strong. Pandora, SKYfm, etc, all come to the smart phones, blue ray players, as well as the computer.

[bandmommy]

Out here in the sticks the only Jazz I can get on the radio is from a station at MSU. And that is only one night a week and very late at night....

[spike421]

Go here for lots and lots of Jazz.


http://www.windowsmedia.com/radioui/...&culture=en-us

[AmandasDad]

If we're talking dead on the radio, not in So Cal..........

http://947thewave.radio.com/

Ummmm......snippet from an article in the LA Times, "....Onetime smooth-jazz station KTWV-FM (94.7) saw a huge jump, from 2.9% and 16th place in January to a tie for sixth at 3.5%, equaling adult-contemporary station KBIG-FM (104.3)."

Onetime smooth-jazz station?? I listen to it every day, and I'd say most is smooth "fill in genre".
Smooth Jazz, Easy Listening, Smooth Adult Contemporary......a rose by any other color....

[jazzbeau75]

I am in Australia and where I live all types of jazz is no more. However I am 84 and an ex sax player and the family have bought me a little I pod touch to try and keep my mind active and prevent me getting the big "A".
Now I can get the most fantastic smooth and mainstream jazz from the U.S Canada and all over the world from dozens of stations and I'm having the time of my life searching through all of the the different radio stations which are coming through as clear as a bell.
Recently had the American "In the mood" swing band here playing all the most fantastic Glenn Miller, Ellington. Basie, Woody Herman etc standards. Boy! what a night it was. The enterrtainment centre was packed and mostly with people 60 and over so there is still a great desire for this music to be heard out here at least by we oldies.
But you may be right and it could be that its slowly on the way out but I hope it never dies.

[Starsax A2]

We get it mixed in with other genres on a couple of radio stations, and the Suddenlink Cable tv has a smooth jazz channel in with the other music channels. My favorite sax player, Tom Braxton, out of Lubbock, sells out his shows and cruises.
Smooth jazz is as alive and well as any other non-pop/country genre.

[LampLight]

Out here in the sticks the only Jazz I can get on the radio is from a station at MSU. And that is only one night a week and very late at night....

I don't know whether smooth jazz is dead and gone, but if you are radio-jazz poor and have enough bandwidth, check out "Radio" Swiss Jazz. This is an incredible online Jazz station (not smooth) and the best I've found online.



http://www.radioswissjazz.ch/en/

[dexdex]

On this side of the Pond, we never had anything called smooth jazz... Ma, chè cosa ?

[chinux79]

I know my favorite smooth jazz station in Orlando, WLOQ, died. But I think it's been resurrected from what I hear. They used to sponsor a lot of festivals and shows.
Here in South Florida I have no clue if there is a smooth jazz station at all.

[JL]

Well notes, there is something about Florida. There is one Jazz station down here in Miami area and it's probably a 1000W station 'cause one can hardly hear it and that goes for the only classical station. 2.5 million people live down here. That is so sad. Jazz scene down here is very small.

My home is Chicago where Jazz and Blues could be had at anytime of the day. Jazz Clubs, Blues Clubs, Blues Fest, Art, Theater, Culture and of course the dreaded cold winters..

I think the OP is asking about 'smooth jazz' (pop music). Not jazz and blues...

[Frank D]

Every time I go to Atlanta I hear smooth jazz coming out of speakers in every hallway, sidewalk, elevator and restaurant. There's no escaping the sound of a nasal soprano sax coming out of 4" speakers. As far as SJ radio it's probably on its way out.

[jrvinson45]

The Phoenix SJ station KYOT went alternate smooth about a year ago and mixed a smattering of SJ with some fairly inoffensive hip-hop and then morphed it into an urban format.... I don't go there anymore. The worst part is I no longer have easy access to timetables and notifications as to when visiting artists might be coming to town. Phoenix is big on outdoor concerts with multiple headliners, but marathon sessions in the sun don't bode well with us geriatric folks fighting the basal cell carcinoma battles, and organizers can't seem to maintain schedules well enough to tell you when the act you want to see will be on.

I have to rely on Tune-In Radio on line and iTunes.

[Woody Reed]

The Phoenix SJ station KYOT went alternate smooth about a year ago and mixed a smattering of SJ with some fairly inoffensive hip-hop and then morphed it into an urban format.... I don't go there anymore. The worst part is I no longer have easy access to timetables and notifications as to when visiting artists might be coming to town.

subscribe to this page. http://www.facebook.com/AZJazzFestival
They do festivals twice a year and some shows in between.

[notes_norton]

Well notes, there is something about Florida. There is one Jazz station down here in Miami area and it's probably a 1000W station 'cause one can hardly hear it and that goes for the only classical station.<...>

I grew up in Ft. Lauderdale and I've moved north to Ft. Pierce to get away from the crowds. I remember when we had a decent jazz station (WBUS), and later WLRN used to play a lot of jazz and the old now-gone classical station for decades WTMI used to have jazz all night.

But live jazz has always been difficult to find in Florida. That's why I play commercial music for a living. More gigs, and more money.

BTW, I used to have a Fiat Spyder that looked just like the one in your avatar!!!

<...>
The real issue here is FM radio. It is barely hanging on. Like my 20 and 21 year olds said to me recently, "we haven't listened to radio since we were 12".<...>

I have to admit, I don't listen to as much radio as I used to. I listen to get turned on to new things, but I find myself going to the Internet more and more. Very little jazz, and it's limited in genre, and the classical music is easy listening classical (zzzzzzzzzz) where the DJ said upon playing Beethoven's Symphony #2, "Here is a symphony by Beethoven, written before he got too wild." You can bet there will be no Prokofiev there.

Every time I go to Atlanta I hear smooth jazz coming out of speakers in every hallway, sidewalk, elevator and restaurant. There's no escaping the sound of a nasal soprano sax coming out of 4" speakers. As far as SJ radio it's probably on its way out.

Yes, SJ was never far from Muzak/Elevator Music, and that's about the only place I hear it as well.

Not that I miss it that much, I actually prefer 'real jazz' (whatever that is). I got tired of hearing rock songs done to either a hip-hop or 16th note rhythm with endless, mindless solos recorded with too much compression so the dynamics and therefore whatever expression was played got sucked out of the recording.

I really believe the biggest problem with SJ was the excessive compression in the recording studio. I know that makes it radio friendly, ESPECIALLY at elevator music volume levels, but I don't like it. Dynamics are a very important part of musical expression, and overly compressed even Getz, Turrentine, Bird, and Desmond can sound boring.

So it seems that SJ on the radio is dying over most parts of the USA. 'Tis a shame I guess, because a lot of sax players got gigs in that genre.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[jrvinson45]

subscribe to this page. http://www.facebook.com/AZJazzFestival
They do festivals twice a year and some shows in between.

Awwwww man, I live 12 miles from Wigwam and you hook me up a week late... Thanks in advance for next time, though. Sorry I missed you, Steve.

[Bloo Dog]

In my home town in the U.S., smooth jazz has been replaced by talk radio. One station has been dedicated to classical music and "real" jazz for at least 25 years. Yet another station just across the state line plays "real" jazz for almost all of its programing except for the usual NPR programs, local news, and national news, and weather. That station has been on the air for about fifteen years. Both are entirely public-supported.

Both stations serve a population of about a half-million people.

[Jorns Bergenson]

The Houston area lost FM95.7 The Wave but they are still around via HD and on the web at www.khjz.com. As it always seems to go, they've got too much "smooth" and not enough jazz. It seems to me that stations play more "smooth alternative" or "easy listening" music.

The label "smooth jazz" has always bothered me and does bring to mind elevator music. But I do enjoy artists like Kirk Whalum, Everette Harp, Nelson Rangell and Steve Grove (aka Euge, aka Woody Reed) whose music bring in elements of jazz, pop, R&B and funk. When the FM smooth jazz station was active in Houston, it seems like they hardly played any of the above artists in favor of old Anita Baker songs.

Is smooth jazz dead and gone? I can't say, but I sure wish the label "smooth jazz" would die.