The Death of Smooth Jazz Radio Stations

Jazz is not a music you can dance to; at least, not as a rule. While there are often jazz compositions that provide a tempo for dancing, this is not a part of the definition of jazz. Jazz is also not background music. While there are numerous jazz compositions that are delicately written and performed, this is not an effect designed for pleasant dinner conversation. Jazz is not workout music, singalong, elevator music, or merely easy listening. Jazz can be any or all of those things, but none any of them singularly.

Jazz is more of a gumbo, which is a stew (but not the average stew). A stew would normally be comprised of beef, or chicken, or vegetables, but a gumbo can (and should) contain as many ingredients as the preparer can accomplish, as long as the ingredients add to (or enhance) the overall cuisine. Taken apart from the gumbo, a piece of corn would no longer be referred to as gumbo, but as a piece of corn. Such is the nature of jazz. If you try to take away the spontaneous nature and keep only the funky part, you will have just funk. Or, if you want to keep the fact the much of jazz is instrumental without the improvisation, the result would be instrumental, but not jazz. If you want singing, but not scatting. That's right. Singing, but not jazz.

This is exactly what "Smooth" jazz radio has attempted to do. They've tried to commercialize jazz by stripping away what they deemed the "rough" edges. Eliminate the chaos, and go with only jazz that is easy to listen to, and you're on to something. This must have been what they were thinking. The only problem with that was the fact that they were no longer playing jazz, and many people, in particular, the masses, think that this is really what jazz is. It even got to the point that mainstream AC artists were being played under the guise of Smooth Jazz.

What a mess.

So, when jazz fans found out about Smooth jazz, we're ecstatic. We were tired of jazz being underground, or not being a part of the mainstream, so we bent; we allowed it. We went along with it. We wanted Grover to get paid and recognized, not just Kenny. We were certain that the day had finally come when all these amazing musicians would be recognized for who they were; the greatest on earth. Then, we watched in awe as our art form was reduced to hummable tunes and repetitive melodies. What happened to the solos? Where is the interaction? Gone. In its place, a lot of artists whose new album sounded a lot like their last one.

Smooth jazz is destined to fail because it's not jazz. At least, not true to the art form. So, if you have a jazz station that can't even satisfy a jazz audience, who would the intended audience now be? Who would be left to embrace the thing that is an abomination to those who would nurture it?

Theory: Bring jazz back to jazz radio and see what happens.