Radio: Where suck is replaced with suck.

Eh. That wasn't a real jazz station anyway. A better one in NYC is Jazz 88.3 FM, WBGO (from Newark, but close enough).

/listen to it as background noise at work

NYC hasn't had a good rock station since WNEW faded away in the early 90's.

K-Rock hasn't recovered from losing Howard Stern and the rap-rock crowd (although you can't tell by their playlist), while Q104 has been beating the Jethro Tull drum forever.

The Flaming Lips haven't been played regularly in NY for years, and I don't think the Arcade Fire has EVER been played on non-independent NY radio.

It's still not great (Nickelback?), but it's a good start.

Smooth, Jazz and Kenny G should never appear in the same sentence unless you're saying that Kenny G is neither smooth nor Jazz. For smooth Jazz, please see Grant Green.

So there's still hope for radio?

I agree with Pat Metheny.

/approves

Not meaning to threadjack but........Why is the showbiz tab showing the music links?

OK my bad. Most of the links are in both, thats all.

BFD. Radio stations dump formats all the time.

damageddude: Eh. That wasn't a real jazz station anyway. A better one in NYC is Jazz 88.3 FM, WBGO (from Newark, but close enough).

This.

Smooth jazz. For when you can't afford to put muzak in your elevator.

vikingfan: K-Rock hasn't recovered from losing Howard Stern and the rap-rock crowd all the "FREE-FM" talk-radio-with-music stupidity

FTFY

That, and the fact that the owners drove away Chris Booker, who was the main reason to listen to the station during that period. All they had to do was give him the morning slot after the disaster that was David Lee Roth, but instead, they decided it was better to play edited repeats of O&A.

inconsolable.

I've got plenty of java
And Chesterfield Kings

damageddude: Eh. That wasn't a real jazz station anyway. A better one in NYC is Jazz 88.3 FM, WBGO (from Newark, but close enough).

Best jazz station on earth, no question.

damageddude: Eh. That wasn't a real jazz station anyway. A better one in NYC is Jazz 88.3 FM, WBGO (from Newark, but close enough).

/listen to it as background noise at work

QFT. On my presets i only have that and 88.5 Seaton Halls radio station for those times when the ipod is dead. I got all excited when cbs fm relaunched only to be disapointed.

/Westcheter county doesnt have much the way of radio stations.

I don't care for smooth jazz instrumental pop. To be fair, most of the smooth "jazz" artist are very talented but relize that they would make more and get more notariaty playing a more commercial sound. I hate the music but understand.

If you live north of NYC listen to 107.1. It is my favorite "Rock" station now. They will actually play songs I've never heard. Shocking! Here is a link to what they have played recently. Link (new window)

They also stream over the web. Give it a listen.

Smooth Jazz: Music for when nobody's listening.

It reminds me of when Kenny G came out with a Christmas Album...

Merry Christmas Jesus, I hope you like crap!

boogerwolf: I don't care for smooth jazz instrumental pop. To be fair, most of the smooth "jazz" artist are very talented but relize that they would make more and get more notariaty playing a more commercial sound. I hate the music but understand.

George Benson, paging George Benson...

meh. philly just got back wjjz. also we have wrti.

The thing is, the Smooth Jazz/NAC format actually used to be "good" until it became so goddamn narrowcasted...and then they started to over-program non-format stuff a la Sarah Mac, Enya, etc. not that those couldn't be thrown in here or there for flavor, but as part of Selector rotations? Really?

Also, Smooth jazz stations didn't take advantage of the "chillout" movement, which sits happily with Down to the Bone, David Sandborn, George Benson (abused by Smooth jazz stations) etc....THIS is the stuff that you hear in swanky cocktail bars...not another Michael McDonald rendition of "i Heard it through the Grapevine"...


So now this station is going to be replaced with a GROUNDBREAKING ROCK STATION that plays...Nickelback? U2? The Killers? Regardless of your opinions about those bands, are they really breaking any new ground? And watch - playing Elvis Costello for "street cred" will be a thing of the past after the station gets fully staffed and the get some MD that came form an urban station or somesuch...

Not to mention that the current Rock stations in New York have been declining in ratings for years...it's no wonder that Terrestrial Radio is a dinosaur.

/accept no substitues

I have a "smooth jazz" station on my car radio preset, so when someone ignorant asks what the difference between "smooth jazz" and "real jazz" is, I can click between a classic Blue Note CD and the station. It's a great life lesson that everyone should learn.

boogerwolf: I don't care for smooth jazz instrumental pop. To be fair, most of the smooth "jazz" artist are very talented but relize that they would make more and get more notariaty playing a more commercial sound. I hate the music but understand.

this is true, but i dont understand why benson wont do something cool again. hes made his money and fame, why cant he release a real record now?

Are we really using a sad tag for less Kenny G?

Really?

"Smooth jazz" is jazz for people who don't like jazz. :-)

Lameface: QFT. On my presets i only have that and 88.5 89.5 Seaton Halls radio station for those times when the ipod is dead. FTFY. Got to keep it real for The Pirate Radios (best place to win tix for any show).

BTW, thank YOU /Subby. I'd have no idea that there was an alternative to KRock and wanting to blow my head off at hearing "Bush" or the "Foo Fighters" again.


/not long enough in car to justify Satellite expense
//but long enough to cause road-radio rage

pentaxian - it wont stream on a mac

boogerwolf: I don't care for smooth jazz instrumental pop. To be fair, most of the smooth "jazz" artist are very talented but relize that they would make more and get more notariaty playing a more commercial sound. I hate the music but understand.

Only if talent has to do with potential -- if that were true, Wynton Marsalis would be the great jazz artist of our era --- nope, talent has to be exercised -- you play sucky music, you're a sucky musician, period.

don't understand
mahavishnunj

George Benson started going downhill when he started singing. I too wish he would go back to his CTI days. I think by now he has enough fark-you money to do it.

reyalfonso: Are we really using a sad tag for less Kenny G?

Really?

Is there no "happy" tag?

boogerwolf: I too wish he would go back to his CTI days.

ive seen some recent footage and he OCCASIONALLY pulls out a standard or something that doesnt suck. he still rules on guitar, but its as if he LIKES being a pussy now. george duke is the same way.

People who think Kenny G is any kind of jazz are totally ignorant of what constitutes "jazz".

There is some excellent music that would fall under the "smooth jazz" banner, and Kenny G is not on the list.

Some that come to mind are George Benson during the CTI years, Wes Montgomery's CTI records, The Yellowjackets, some of the records by Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Tal Farlow, Patricia Barber, Micheal Brecker, Oscar Peterson, Michel Petrucciani, and even Miles Davis. (Tell me "So What" isn't smooth as glass!)

Kenny G is mediocre instrumental pop for soccer moms.

The irony here is that, back in the late 70's/early 80's,
101.9 was WPIX-FM, which for a time was the best Rock & Roll
radio station in the nation (even better than WPJL or WNEW,
though I was too young & stupid to realize it at the time).
The problem, back then, was that there were too many rock
stations in NYC, and the management changed the format most
visibly to "Nothing but Love Songs" after a bogus 'listener
survey', and it stayed in the bland area since about '82.

Much as I love Q-104, when I'm back up yonder I'll give it
a listen. I love AOR, but I want to hear a station that
will play other stuff, too.

/And I'd ban Foreigner from the playlist

GibbyTheMole: (Tell me "So What" isn't smooth as glass!)

i dont think 'smooth jazz' means what you think it means.

I listen to the Smooth Jazz station in Denver but only when Starstreams is on.

Some that come to mind are George Benson during the CTI years, Wes Montgomery's CTI records, The Yellowjackets, some of the records by Wayne Shorter, Pat Metheny, John McLaughlin, Tal Farlow, Patricia Barber, Micheal Brecker, Oscar Peterson, Michel Petrucciani, and even Miles Davis. (Tell me "So What" isn't smooth as glass!)

I dislike calling smooth jazz "smooth," because smooth is actually a good description of a lot of great music. Associating smooth jazz with the word smooth just damages that word, and that's too bad. Let's rename smooth jazz "s***."

boogerwolf: George Benson started going downhill when he started singing.

Yeah, I agree. What a shame. When Benson was playing good; Wow! He had Swing and He had Fire, dammm He was good.
What really got Me was when one of My favorite players of all time, Larry Carlton, went soft. ugh. I wanted to give up. Luckily, I found Scott Henderson to steal from listen to.

So glad to read that I'm not the only smooth jazz hater.

mahavishnunj:

"i dont think 'smooth jazz' means what you think it means."

To me, it means real jazz music, which happens to also be "smooth". Just because some tone deaf soccer moms call Kenny G and Dave Koz "jazz", does not make it so.

You can call an apple an orange, but it's still an apple.

GibbyTheMole: To me, it means real jazz music, which happens to also be "smooth".

i hate to get into semantics here, but why not just keep thinking of 'real' jazz as just 'jazz'? 9 out of 10 people consider 'smooth' jazz to be gheyness like koz and g, they now own the word 'smooth'.

pipco: What really got Me was when one of My favorite players of all time, Larry Carlton, went soft.

wasnt he always soft? great player but ive never heard him do anything besides mellow stuff excepting the lukather thing he did.

pipco: Luckily, I found Scott Henderson to steal from listen to.

he did worse than going smooth jazz, he went BLUES!

Death of smooth jazz. That's farking awesome! Where's the "Cool" tag?

Even if you don't like the rock the new station plays, it must be better than smooth jazz!

(Actually, real jazz would be better...)

http://guitar.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.geocities.com/che ezz%5Fwhizz/

Nice to see someone else mention pat metheny, regarding kenny g and smooth jazz.

"Let's face it, thats the dumbest music there could possibly be in the history of human beings. There could never be music any worse than that."

I wish I still had Kenny Wheelers - Der Whan

I heard the latest Pat Metheny...and its smooth, however its light years different than any of this stuff calling itself jazz. For too many people.. if it has a horn... its jazz.

Also I like that close to jazz stuff by Steely Dan. Aja is a very cool CD. I liked when Joni Mitchell toyed with it.

Hey Kenny G made some money. If some people liked that stuff, that their business. Just as long as the good stuff is there to find. I do cringe with this whole smooth jazz title. To me might as well call it Hallmark card Jazz