Re: looking for a little respect

Yes, sum1 is provocative, and at times a little abrasive, but then he
also contributes things like this. What I like about the article is
that it's balanced; it's not just a puff piece for smooth jazz, it
also brings up some negatives like Carlos Santana's opinion.

Thanks, sum1.

Not sure if I agree with Culbertson's feeling that what would evolve
smooth jazz is someone who came along that is "really slammin'". Seems
to me that the problem is many artists have to tone down their
really-slammin-ness in order to conform to those tight radio
playlists. In the pop world, seems that the biggest "celebrities" are
the ones who emphasize style over substance (B. Spears, J. Lo, P.
Diddy, etc.).

[EMAIL PROTECTED] (sum1) wrote in message news:<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>...
> "All these jazz critics, complete jazz snobs, think [smooth jazz is]
> all horrible, so they slam it," Culbertson said. "Which is totally
> dissing the audience's intelligence, saying they don't know what
> they're talking about and they're all idiots."
> 
> -------------------
> 
> 
> http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/music/nov03/183296.asp
> 
> Smooth jazz looking for a little respect
> 
> By G. BROWN
> Denver Post
> Last Updated: Nov. 9, 2003
> 
> Jazz has been called America's greatest artistic contribution to the
> world. On the other hand, no one can define it, but everyone is sure
> they know it when they hear it.
>  
> That's why the surge of the "smooth jazz" genre has been the subject
> of ridicule from fans of "true," "pure" or "real" jazz. Never mind
> that the bestselling jazz records these days are in the despised
> category.
> 
> It's supposed to be banal tripe for people too meek for real jazz.
> It's the boring music played on "quiet storm" radio stations or heard
> in the waiting rooms, lounges and elevators. It's even the porno
> industry's soundtrack.
> 
> Nonetheless, smooth jazz has its champions. And its audiences are
> perhaps the most diverse and harmonious in all of music.
> 
> At a concert this fall in Denver, Dave Koz had 1,200 people screaming
> like they were at a rock show, dancing in the aisles. (Koz will bring
> his "Jazz Christmas" concert to Milwaukee's Riverside Theatre on Dec.
> 18).
> 
> "I got involved in smooth jazz before it was called smooth jazz, at
> WNUY in Chicago 17 years ago," said Michael Fischer, program director
> at KJCD-FM, Denver's smooth jazz radio station.
> 
> "The audience is unlike any other radio format. Adult, ethnically
> diverse, male-female balanced, all economic groups - probably one of
> the greatest rainbow coalitions around."
> 
> The ideal market
> They also are a group advertisers want.
> 
> "Look at the cars in the parking lot and the footwear in the lobby at
> a smooth jazz show," said Carol Archer, smooth jazz editor for the
> trade magazine Radio & Records. "By mind-set and life-set, they're
> people who aspire to the finest things in life."
> 
> Randall Kennedy, Warner Bros. Records vice president of marketing and
> sales, jazz, agreed.
> 
> "It's an ideal crowd to market to, and certainly Madison Avenue has
> discovered that with the smooth jazz stations. They're a favorite of
> car manufacturers and, in particular, high-end fashion department
> stores like Saks and Macy's."
> 
> However, the people who love the music and those who play it are
> almost invisible in popular culture. Jazz critics won't review smooth
> jazz albums or concerts, and they are often condescending toward the
> audiences.
> 
> "All these jazz critics, complete jazz snobs, think it's all horrible,
> so they slam it," Culbertson said. "Which is totally dissing the
> audience's intelligence, saying they don't know what they're talking
> about and they're all idiots."
> 
> Santana calls it 'coma music'
> Most jazz fans simply detest smooth jazz conceptually. Carlos Santana
> threw down when he performed in Denver several months ago.
> 
> "To me, smooth jazz is John Coltrane and Miles Davis playing ballads,"
> he said. "What they call smooth jazz today is more like coma music. .
> . . These people are afraid to show real emotion on the radio."
> 
> Warner Bros.' Kennedy said plenty of people, including jazz musicians,
> agree with Santana.
> 
> "Recall the famous quote of Pat Metheny sometime back that got blown
> out of context, about wanting to wrap his guitar around Kenny G's
> neck. Or the famous quote of John Scofield. Somebody at Blue Note told
> him, 'Hey, your record is getting played on this smooth jazz station
> up in Boston.' There was a big silence on the other end of the phone.
> The person said, 'John? John, they added your record.' John said, "
> 'Make them stop.' "
> 
> But a new group of young musicians is emerging with a different
> outlook.
> 
> "Have Carlos Santana come down to one of my shows and see if he's
> going to sleep," Culbertson said. "I will agree with him, a lot of
> stuff on smooth jazz stations is completely lame. Many artists just
> try to make their music fit in to radio, which is not the way to go.
> 
> "But with any style of music - smooth jazz is no exception - there's
> the opposite of that. And obviously, he hasn't heard it."
> 
> Kudos for Kenny G
> Conversely, there are millions of young people walking around claiming
> to be jazz fans, who have never heard jazz. Ask them to identify a few
> jazz artists, and to never-ending avail they list only one. "Man,"
> they say perkily, "isn't that Kenny G the best?"
> 
> Thanks to his knack for a catchy melody and willingness to offer
> smooth, polished pop material excruciatingly calculated for wide
> appeal, the saxophonist arose in the '80s as a punch line in the jazz
> world, the name you invoked whenever discussing a sellout, contrived
> musical effort.
> 
> Just because a tune is played on a saxophone, it is not therefore
> jazz. But two decades later, it's still hard to tell one saxophone
> player from another.
> 
> "From all the research I've seen, Kenny G is the No. 1 most identified
> sax player," Fischer said. "Most people who don't know the format
> think it's all Kenny G. I give him credit. He was in right place at
> the right time for instrumental music, and he created a sizzle for
> it."
> 
> Smooth jazz isn't a style of "proper" jazz in the sense that bebop or
> cool jazz are. It's pointless comparing any release with John Coltrane
> or Charlie Mingus. Some of it counts as a blend of '80s Penthouse
> soul, jazz fusion and easy listening. Think of it as a related form,
> chill-out music for thirtysomethings.
> 
> "The smooth jazz format was recently cited as the most profitable
> format there is," Kennedy said. "That said, it becomes a situation
> where they don't want to kill the golden goose. They just keep doing
> more of the same. . . . New records are very tight to get on; new
> artists are nearly impossible to promote. . . . (It has) evolved into
> a (radio) playlist as tight as any country or pop playlist in the
> country."
> 
> Music executive Kennedy says what the genre really needs is a poster
> boy for smooth jazz.
> 
> Added Culbertson, "What would evolve smooth jazz is if one young
> person who was really slammin' and people respected were to break out
> again, become a household name like another Kenny G, if you will."
> 
> "There's no one right now who is a celebrity, who gets on TV all the
> time and the music is well done," Culbertson said. "I don't know if
> that will happen, . . . but it would really help."