Yes to what Elson says. BTW, you may be interested to know how "Smooth Jazz" formats are test marketed. They're not looking for a tune that makes you want to turn the radio up, they're just looking for tunes that don't compel you to turn the dial.
That's not unique to smooth jazz though. A lot of formats, from urban to country, do this. But I get the impression that Smooth Jazz is meant to be played in the background at dentists' offices, car dealerships, and whatnot.
(Although LA's ubiquitous "The Wave" initially had a pretty cool playlist, hitting you with some ECM releases (Pat Metheny's earlier stuff) some Weather Report, (A Remark You Made), Chick Corea, and other decent fare that wasn't played anywhere else, least of all on the jazz stations.
----- Original Message -----
From: Elson Trinidad
To: Mark Turner ; acid-jazz@ucsd.edu
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2001 1:50 AM
Subject: Re: The Plague called Smooth Jazz
Although to their credit a few "Smooth Jazz" stations like Los Angeles' KTWV carry the "Musical Starstreams" syndicated show which features some ambient & downtempo stuff from people I never heard before. Sade gets a good amount of play on these kinds of stations, as does the occasional Incognito track.
But yeah, it's funny to sometimes listen and hear some wannabe acid-jazz type tracks...they'll use a funky bassline, they'll use a drumloop, they'll use a Rhodes, but there's something about it (usually crystal-clear production) that's too yuppified for our tastes...
"Smooth Jazz" is actually a strange amalgam of a format...It's rooted in new age, 'fuzak' and instrumental pop (which is what Kenny G should properly be categorized as (NOT jazz)), but it's also designed to cater to a sector of the R&B demographic that's too old to listen to contemporary R&B stations and too young to be into the "old school" stuff.
- 30 -
: . elson trinidad, los angeles, california, usa
: . elson@westworld.com : www.westworld.com/~elson
: . groove to the futurethnic beats of e:trinity at www.e-trinity.org and www.mp3.com/etrinity
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