The awesome firepower of four superstar saxophonists will light up the Country Club Hills Theater stage July 27.
"A Celebration of Chicago Artists Award Show" presented by Narski Music at Governors State University in University Park - Saturday, May 25. Featuring performances by Michael Manson, Paul Richmond, Carlos Cannon and many surprise guests.
*The Peter White Christmas Concert (Peter White, Rick Braun, Mindi Abair) at the Montrose Room, Hotel Intercontinental Chicago O'Hare - Sunday, December 1. Two performances: 3PM, 7PM.
*The Hotel Intercontinental Chicago O'Hare, home to the Montrose Room, is offering discounted room rates for those attending this show. Book a room, stay 'til the very last note of the final encore and don't worry about having to make the drive home! For information, click here.
Our Smooth Video of the Day: Michael Manson plays his first WNUA hit, "Outer Drive," a preview of the next Narski Music Chicago Artists Award Show and Concert, May 25 at Governors State University's Center for Performing Arts.
Everything you ever wanted--and then some--by Chicago's own Lifeforce is here! Available now through iTunes and Amazon.com, it's the remastered deluxe edition of Forces at Play by Jim Peterik's Lifeforce.
It's impossible to ignore the veritable Who's Who of Smooth Jazz that comprises Lifeforce's supporting cast on the CD. Take a look at the list above. And appearing on a special bonus track, "Vehicle," is the legendary Buddy Guy.
Disc One features the group's most memorable instrumentals, including their new Smooth Jazz hit, "Forces at Play," featuring Steve Cole and Chieli Minucci. Disc Two features their best vocals, including "'Sall Good" a WLFM 87.7 hit in 2011.
Our Smooth Video of the Day: Jim Peterik captured live in Glen Ellyn in 2011.
The Solarium inside the South Shore Cultural Center, home of the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch
One thing you
can always count on with our Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch since 1992 is that you
will be dining in a one-of-a-kind setting.
From the spectacular open-air atrium at the Hyatt Regency to the magnificent
Normandie Lounge at the Hilton and Towers, where they furnished the room with
art deco treasures salvaged from the French ocean liner, the SS Normandie, to
the 43rd floor Edelweiss Penthouse at Swissotel, we’ve tried to make
our Brunch a feast for all the senses.
The South Shore Cultural Center
The tradition
continues in 2013 at the Parrot Cage Restaurant. Located inside the South Shore Cultural
Center, our Brunch at the Parrot Cage offers diners a chance to stroll through
a historic Chicago landmark. Seating
takes place in the Solarium with its floor-to-ceiling windows providing views
of the lakeshore that have remained virtually unchanged and unspoiled since the
building opened in 1916.
As for the menu,
the Parrot Cage features a combination of tried and true Sunday morning favorites
such as waffles and omelets made to order and gourmet creations prepared and
served by students of the acclaimed Washburne Culinary Institute, one of the
City Colleges of Chicago. Their brunch
is consistently named one of the Top Brunches in Chicago by diners at
OpenTable.com.
To further
enhance your dining experience, the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch is proud to
feature live music. On most Sundays, the
talented student musicians of the Harold Washington College Jazz Ensemble will
be performing during the brunch. On
April 21, Chicago rock and now Smooth Jazz icon Jim Peterik will appear with
his band Lifeforce, playing selections from their newly remastered two disc
deluxe edition of Forces at Play, as
heard on SmoothJazzChicago.net.
And, if you’re
feeling lucky, you could be Rick O’Dell’s ongoing giveaways during each
Brunch. During each seating, Rick will
be holding a drawing for CDs, concert tickets and other fun prizes.
The next
Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch at the Parrot Cage is April 21, 2013. Make your reservations soon, because most
brunches fill up quickly. Call (773)
602-5333, or send an email to ParrotCageBrunch@ccc.edu. Seatings are at 10:45 am and 12:00 pm.
I’ll see you
on the 21st at the Parrot Cage!
~Rick O’Dell
(FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: Jim Peterik leads
Lifeforce on their new hit, “Forces at Play.”
For years I’ve
been talking about the guilt-free pleasures of Smooth Jazz. It doesn’t raise your blood pressure or
cholesterol. It doesn’t make you
fat. It doesn’t take up time that could
be better spent with family. It doesn’t
drain your pocketbook. In short, Smooth
Jazz is about an ideal an enhancement to your life and lifestyle there is.
And now, we
come to learn that Smooth Jazz might actually help you lose weight. The latest edition ofNutrition Actionfeatures an interview with Brian Wansink. Mr. Wansink is a noted researcher in the area
of consumer behavior and nutritional science and has authored several books on
the subject. Here’s what he’s learned
recently:
“A good
friend, Koert van Ittersum, and I did this experiment in a Hardee’s that was
changing to a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in Champaign, Illinois. We built a separate section, and we made it
darker with offset lighting and quiet by piping in Miles Davis’ music. “Kind of Blue” was playing.
“People who
came into the restaurant ordered their meal at the counter, and then we
randomly put them in either the soft light, soft music room or the normal place
with rock music, bright lights and hard surfaces.
“They all ate
the same food, because they ordered ahead of time. But people who ate in the soft light ate 18
percent fewer calories, and they rated the food and the restaurant as more
appealing.”
He offers an
explanation for the difference in eating behavior.
“[People in
the soft light and soft music area] spent about nine minutes longer in the
restaurant. They were more relaxed and
ate more slowly. So two things may have
happened. Their satiety cues caught up,
and they may have said, ‘I guess I’m full.’
The second thing is that French fries taste great when they’re hot, but
not so great when they’re cold. As the
food cooled off, people may have said, ‘I’ve had enough.’”
Well, that
was in a controlled setting in a restaurant.
Would that work at home?
“Yes. At home, you can turn on some quiet music and
turn the TV down and use candlelight instead of fluorescent light. The more relaxed the environment, the more
relaxed you are. You eat more slowly, you
like the food more, and you end up eating less.”
Of course, when
you’re concerned with things like “quiet music” and creating a relaxing
environment, Smooth Jazz is the genre best equipped to do the job. So, now we can add another virtue its list of
beneficial qualities. Smooth Jazz not
only doesn’t cause you to gain weight, it might actually help you drop a few
pounds.
~Rick O’Dell
(FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: When it comes to relaxing
dinner music, it’s hard to top the Winelight
album by the late, great Grover Washington Jr.
It's last call on tickets for tonight's Larry Carlton show at the Montrose Room. There's only a handful of seats remaining.
I'll be your host as we spend an evening with the man behind "Smiles and Smiles to Go," "Kid Gloves," "Sleepwalk" and many other Smooth Jazz hits. Larry also performed the acclaimed guitar solo (the third greatest rock guitar solo ever, according to Rolling Stone) on Steely Dan's "Kid Charlemagne" and did stints with the Crusaders and Fourplay.
Opening the evening will be rising keyboard star, Naperville's Scott Allman.
For more information and tickets, please click here. See you tonight!
~Rick O'Dell (FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth Video of the Day: One of the best tracks on Scott Allman's 2011 debut, Generations.
First things
first. SmoothJazzChicago.net would like
to congratulate Catherine Cameron of Hazel Crest. She wins a Jazz on the Vine package with two
nights in a one bedroom Courtyard Room and a pair of two-day general admission
tickets to see this year’s mainstage lineup at the Osthoff Resort:
May 10
Saxophonist
Shilts (5:15pm)
The Larry
Carlton Quintet (7:15pm)
Acoustic
Alchemy (9:15pm)
May 11
Trumpeter
Cindy Bradley (1:45pm)
Guitarist
Matt Marshak (3:45pm)
Fourplay
(6:15pm)
Saxophonist
Michael Lington with special guest Bill Champlin (9:45pm)
Jazz on the
Vine continues with a Sunday jazz brunch from 10:00am to 3:00pm on May 12
featuring pianist/vocalist Marcell Guyton.
If you haven’t
made your reservations yet, don’t delay.
Preferred seating sold out a week ago, and only a few overnight rooms
remain as of today (3/1). General admission
tickets are still available but going fast.
For information, click here.
Make the
drive up to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, this coming Mother’s Day weekend, and you’ll
see why Jazz on the Vine has been a favorite of Chicago area Smooth Jazz fans
since the days of WNUA.
~Rick O’Dell
(FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: Cindy Bradley gives us
a sneak peek at her set list for May 11, her new hit, “Lifted.”
First, it was
Hedy Weiss in the Sun-Times. Then Chris
Jones in the Tribune. Then Albert
Williams in the Reader. They all ended
up highly recommending Porchlight Music Theatre’s new production, “Lady Day at
Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” a tribute to Billie Holiday.
But what does
a Smooth Jazz fan think of the show? Loyal
listener (all the way back to WNUA, 1989!) Elizabeth Elser won a pair of
tickets to the one-woman play a couple weeks ago from
SmoothJazzChicago.net. I asked her if
she wouldn’t mind giving us a review.
Here’s what she wrote:
I had passed
the place a million times but never been inside. I wasn’t sure what to expect. Turns
out, Stage 773 seats about 250 people. Everyone
is up close to the stage, resulting in a very personal experience. All seats are good seats, in other words.
Going in, I
did not know exactly what “a musical biography” meant. It ended up being an accurate depiction of one
of the last four shows Billie Holiday did at Emerson's in Philly. And the young lady who played Miss Holiday,
Alexis Rogers, was amazing. She became Billie
Holiday from the moment she stepped on stage. Her size, mannerisms, facial
expressions, along with her speaking AND singing voice, were absolutely spot on.
As the show (about
90 minutes total) went on, she sang 14 songs and in between them told stories
of her life just as Billie Holiday apparently did in her real life shows. I was
riveted by the actresses’s talent and feel for this part! All the way down to her vulnerability, exposed
to the audience as Billie would get more inebriated as the show went on. When she reached for the signature white
gardenia in a box on a stool behind her and put it behind her left ear, I
cried. I'm a sap for theatre! Anyway, her three piece band was great also.
When I got home and read the bios on the musicians, I was blown away. Am I glad I went!
~Elizabeth
Elser
(“Lady Day at
Emerson’s Bar and Grill” continues through March 10 at Stage 773, 1225 West
Belmont, in Chicago. For tickets and
more information, click here.)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: Another unforgettable
performance by the legendary Miss Holiday.
Smooth Jazz
fan Kathy Baker of DeKalb put it best: “I
had the most fantastic time last year.”
She posted those words on Facebook right after I put up the news that we’d
be giving away a weekend package to this year’s Jazz on the Vine.
Like Kathy,
you could be coming back eager to share the exciting details of your weekend at
the AAA Four Diamond Osthoff Resort’s annual “Jazz on the Vine” weekend May 10
and 11. We are giving away a grand prize
package which includes overnight accommodations for two and tickets to all the
performances:
May 10
Saxophonist
Shilts (5:15pm)
The Larry
Carlton Quintet (7:15pm)
Larry Carlton
Acoustic
Alchemy (9:15pm)
May 11
Trumpeter Cindy
Bradley (1:45pm)
Guitarist Matt
Marshak (3:45pm)
Fourplay
(6:15pm)
Saxophonist Michael
Lington with special guest Bill Champlin (9:45pm)
To enter,
click here. Give us a list of your three
favorite Smooth Jazz artists or tracks.
If we select your set and feature it on the air at noon on my
midday show during the weeks of February 17 or 24, you’ll win a pair of CDs by
artists appearing at this year’s “Jazz on the Vine.” And you’ll qualify for the grand prize to be
given away March 1.
~Rick O'Dell (FmAm1@aol.com)
(The fine
print: CDs to be awarded will depend on
what is available but will include two of the following artists: Larry
Carlton, Fourplay, Cindy Bradley, Matt Marshak, Shilts, Michael Lington,
Acoustic Alchemy. They will be mailed in 3-4 weeks. Winner agrees
to provide their own transportation to and from the Osthoff Resort.)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: It’s Larry Carlton
captured live doing one of his signature tunes back in 1990.
One of the
finest Smooth Jazz festivals in the entire country is less than a three-hour
drive from Chicago. Each year, over
Mother’s Day weekend, the Osthoff Resort hosts its acclaimed “Jazz on the Vine”
event, combining a top lineup of Smooth Jazz performers, exceptional wines and
sophisticated cuisine.
For 2013, it
all starts May 10 with a Friday night triple-header: saxophonist Shilts followed by the Larry
Carlton Quintet and Acoustic Alchemy.
Saturday’s entertainment begins in the afternoon with trumpeter Cindy
Bradley and guitarist Matt Marshak.
Then, following a dinner break, the music resumes with the world-class
musicians of Fourplay and saxophonist Michael Lington with special guest,
vocalist Bill Champlin. If you’re able to stay awhile longer on Sunday morning,
the Osthoff serves a festive jazz brunch for Mother’s Day starring
pianist/vocalist Marcell Guyton.
Smooth Jazz
fans in Chicago who make the drive up to scenic Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, for “Jazz
on the Vine” have never been disappointed.
I know because, for the past eleven years, I’ve heard from dozens and
dozens of them, going back to the days when WNUA was only too happy to spread
the word about this exciting event. For
many, it’s become an annual tradition.
It’s not
unusual for the Osthoff to run out of rooms during “Jazz on the Vine”
weekend. I suggest you book early so you
won’t be disappointed. Right now would
be a good idea. Click here for more
information. Or call toll-free (877)
496-4113.
During the
weeks of February 18 and 25, with my Lunchtime Listener’s Choice, I’ll be
giving away CDs by artists who’ll be appearing at this year’s “Jazz on the
Vine.” Be one of my noontime winners
either week, and you’ll qualify for the grand prize, overnight accommodations
for two and tickets to all of the performances.
To enter, click here.
~Rick O’Dell
(FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth
Video of the Day: The supergroup
Fourplay headlines on Saturday, May 11, at this year’s “Jazz on the Vine.”
I asked for it and I got it:
lots of excellent questions from listeners and fans. I promised to answer them all, so here we go.
What are the chances Smooth Jazz
will be back on regular radio in Chicago?
As a full-time format?
Doubtful, unfortunately. And now
there’s another issue that’s working against us. It came up in a conversation I had with
longtime Chicago broadcasting executive John Gehron last week. “AM’s dying,” John pointed out to me, “and
companies are trying to move their talk formats to FM.” That’s putting even more of a squeeze on
available frequencies on FM. Unless
there’s an independent owner out there who’s willing to take a chance on Smooth
Jazz, we don’t have much of a shot. But
I’ve learned never to say never . . . .
What’s your prediction for the
future of Smooth Jazz radio, short and long term?
On terrestrial radio, bleak. On satellite radio, good, although the choices
there will always be slim. On the
internet, excellent. I do think we need
more traditional radio thinking on the internet side to improve the product. There’s a lot of substandard internet radio out
there that you have to wade through before you get to the good stuff. Internet music stations are not created
equal.
Give us your vision of the Smooth
Jazz station you’d create if cost were no object.
Wow—I get to dream with an open checkbook? Well then, I’d love to create a national
Smooth Jazz superstation to be delivered on all the major platforms: terrestrial, satellite and internet. We’d hire a veteran major market Smooth Jazz
host to handle each daypart (Talaya from the Wave/Los Angeles; Carol Handley
from KWJZ Seattle; Miranda Wilson from KKSF San Francisco; Michael Tozzi from WJJZ
Philadelphia; Sandy Kovach from WVMV Detroit; and so on) and fill in with the
likes of Dave Koz and Steve Cole. On
weekends we’d feature premiere syndicated shows such as Legends of Jazz with
Ramsey Lewis, Chill with Mindi Abair, the Dave Koz Weekend Show. Oh, and we’d be playing the traditional
Smooth Jazz mix, 55% instrumental, 45% vocal.
I’d bring the entire genre and format together under our
umbrella to coordinate marketing and promotion of everything from concerts to
cruises to new releases, and we’d have some kind of presence—someone on the
ground—in every city where a Smooth Jazz event would take place. We’d coordinate with record labels and artist
managers to make sure nothing would escape our attention. And we’d do a fair amount of contesting. It would be a total one-stop Smooth Jazz network.
I’d also like to see us get back to presenting concerts across
all tiers, from top-priced shows in large venues all the way down to intimate “Listener
Appreciation”-type parties where we introduce a new artist and give away
tickets or charge only $20 or so to get in—in as many cities as we could.
I want the format to do what it did best in its heyday, to
be a classy place where people can come to relax and be soothed or be uplifted
and inspired.
Why did the format fail so hard on
commercial radio so fast?
RO: The end of the
format on commercial radio wasn’t all that fast. It was more of a steady decline. Here’s a chronology of when the Smooth Jazz
stations in the country’s top ten markets left the format for good:
New York – 2/08
Los Angeles - ???
Chicago – 4/12
San Francisco – 5/09
Dallas/Ft. Worth – 10/06
Houston/Galveston – 3/08
Washington DC - 8/09
Philadelphia – 9/08
Atlanta – 1/09
Boston – 9/99
These format flips weren’t equally significant. When WQCD in
New York decided to pull the plug, that was the tipping point, when everyone
else started losing confidence in Smooth Jazz. Madison Avenue saw the change happening in
their backyard and started diverting ad buys to other formats. When revenues start to drop, ownership gets
nervous and starts looking in a different direction.
Do you agree with Carol Ray that 25
year old “chestnuts” should be retired into special programming to allow for
new music to be almost “exclusive?”
I know where Carol’s coming from, and I respect that. I beg to differ. Playing lots of new music sounds exciting,
but it’s a ratings killer. On the other
hand, the chestnuts I think she’s referring to have had proven staying power with
our audience. It wouldn’t be the same if
we stopped playing Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Stevie Wonder, Sade and
artists like that. When they wanted to
unveil the RAV4 in 1996, Toyota didn’t stop producing the Camry. The popularity of the Camry enabled Toyota to
finance new models such as the RAV4.
How do you select which artists to
play?
First, we need to break this down into two groups: instrumental artists and vocal artists. Within the former, we look for a compelling
and melodic hook (e.g., is it hummable?).
Within the latter, it gets a bit tricky.
Ideally, we look for an artist who has musical integrity and some degree
of jazz heritage, like an Al Jarreau or Steely Dan. We also consider artists who aren’t
associated with jazz but who are generally embraced by Smooth Jazz listeners,
such as Michael McDonald, Phil Collins and Seal.
How do new artists get airplay?
Again, we need to draw a line between instrumental and vocal
artists. New instrumental artists are
judged in the same way we judge established instrumental artists: is the music catchy and compelling? For new vocal artists, the standards are much
tougher. Since vocals are the only
consistently familiar selections on the playlist, it’s risky to slip an
unfamiliar artist into that position.
New vocalists need to be a nearly perfect fit to be considered.
Why don’t you play newer music from
established artists (e.g., David Sanborn) instead of the same old songs they
released years ago?
Say you’re at a Hall and Oates concert. Which group of their songs do you think will
get the bigger hand?
Group A: “So Close,” “Everything Your Heart Desires” and “I’ll
Be Around.”
Or Group B: “Kiss On My List,” “I Can’t Go For That” and “Rich
Girl.”
Group A is all newer music.
Group B is “the same old songs.”
As in the case of Hall and Oates, when it comes to David
Sanborn, our listeners are much more apt to embrace his older material (such as
“Chicago Song” and “Maputo”). That’s why
you hear more of it.
Why do you play music that was never
Smooth Jazz when it was released (e.g., “Raspberry Beret” by Prince)?
As a general rule, the narrower a format defines its musical
boundaries, the smaller the pool of potential listeners. If we played strictly Smooth Jazz artists,
all we’d appeal to would be the diehard Smooth Jazz fans. And we’d never grow our audience. A song like “Raspberry Beret” helps open up
the format and make it accessible to more people. Also, having a few mass appeal pop songs on
the playlist never hurts in a workplace situation where majority rule often
decides which station gets played there.
How much input do advertisers have
in the selection of the music? How much
input do listeners have?
I can’t recall ever getting any input from advertisers, to
tell you the truth. Listeners, however,
can have a big say in what gets played, through requests and participating in
station research projects such as focus groups and music tests.
Do you listen to other Smooth Jazz
outlets, like television stations, to find music and artists you might not otherwise
hear?
Yes! But this might
surprise you: most of the time I listen
to other broadcast outlets to try and find non-Smooth Jazz artists who might be
a good fit for us. I do that because,
between the national charts and record promoters, I’ve got Smooth Jazz pretty
well covered.
What makes a song right for the
Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch but wrong for the weekday?
For many of the same reason restaurants have separate menus
for breakfast and dinner. The mood, the
feel, the lifestyle—they’re all different.
Sunday mornings call for lighter, more elegant musical fare. You’re not at work, wanting music to help
motivate you to finish a project.
Rather, you’re kicking back with a cup of coffee and the paper. When you're at work, you don't want something that might slow you down.
What can we listeners do to make
SmoothJazzChicago.net more successful?
(Speaking for myself, I definitely want you and this venture to
succeed.)
Every little bit helps a lot: telling a friend about the station and
sending them the link; posting the link on your Facebook page; liking our
Facebook page; attending a concert; patronizing an advertiser and letting them
know you appreciate their support of SmoothJazzChicago. We’re grateful for any of these things.
~Rick O’Dell (FmAm1@aol.com)
Our Smooth Video of the Day:
Without the Smooth Jazz format, how many of us would even have known
about an artist such as Richard Elliot and a tune like “Street Beat?”
There’s some
excellent news for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users! The long awaited Smooth
Jazz Chicago app is now available for iOS devices. With it, you can listen to the live stream of
SmoothJazzChicago.net anywhere in the world, 24/7 as long as you have an
internet connection.
The Smooth Jazz
Chicago app also provides you with information about the ten most recent songs
played on the station. Like what you
hear? You can share a song with your
friends via Facebook or email or purchase it in the iTunes store with just one
click.
Start your day off right. The app features an
integrated alarm clock. Plus, you can
check up to date traffic and weather reports for the Chicagoland area as well.
The Smooth Jazz
Chicago app is free and can be found in the App Store by clicking this link
or by searching for “Smooth Jazz Chicago” from iTunes or from your iOS device. It is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod
Touch devices running iOS 4.3 or later.
You can download a
version of the Smooth Jazz Chicago app for your Android device in the Google
Play store here.
If you’re using
another device such as a BlackBerry or Windows Phone, check out my previous
blog for information on how to listen to SmoothJazzChicago.net.
Have any
questions, concerns, or comments? Let us
know!
