The Email of the Week

As a 19 year old audiophile and devout smooth jazz fan, the one thing I value about radio, especially the smooth format in general, is the randomization and the fact that I could put on the radio and focus on what I'm listening to, rather than what to listen to.  I have both an iPod and iPhone full of thousands of songs, and when listening to them, I typically find myself listening to the same few selections of music repeatedly. After the most recent format change on 87.7, I spent some money and purchased some of my favorite smooth music in a combination of CD and digital formats.  However, I quickly came to the realization that I miss access to new music new artists.  I knew I had to find some variant of radio to fulfill my listening habits.

I've long been a fan of XM radio, and since their merger with Sirius, they have scaled back jazz their smooth jazz offerings.  I often listen to their Watercolors channel, but their mix is somewhat repetitive, and I only had access to it in one of the vehicles I drive.  When it comes to local radio, I've spent considerably more time listening to College of DuPage's WDCB as well as V103.

I first created a Spotify playlist filled with tracks that were played on WNUA and WLFM, primarily consisting of my favorite tracks and songs from many of the CD samplers I'm unable to acquire. I then shifted to steaming ChiTownSmoothJazz.com on my Mac and iPhone.  However, I just wasn't a huge fan of the site. I then searched for local smooth stations in different markets that I could listen via streaming. The first one I found was KMYT from Temecula, CA, a Clear Channel owned smooth jazz station with a mix identical to what was played on WNUA and even includes very familiar station IDs and jingles featuring the distinctive voice of the one and only Bill Cochran.  Due to the substantial time change between the west coast and Midwest, I found WLOQ out of Orlando via the iHeart radio I use to listen to KMYT.  They too faced displacement from the regular FM band due to format changes and first launched as an HD radio station and then picked up on FM radio repeaters.  Both stations play completely syndicated Broadcast Architecture programing including shows by Kenny and Sandy, Dave Koz, Maria Lopez, and Allen Kepler.  I've most recently been listening to Smooth AC station also out of Florida, WXJZ. Their local personalities on during a few parts of the day are pretty enjoyable.  However, they do not offer any means of mobile listening.

I miss the Sunday Brunch, the local artist spotlight, and especially Dinner Party.  I miss listening to Rick O’Dell and Bill Cochran as well as Danae Alexander, who are truly musical staples of my childhood, right behind the music of Steely Dan.

Not only does this fulfill my jazz listening needs, but I feel like I am continuing to support smooth radio in a subtle way.  Instead of listening to radio (or streaming stations) while driving and my digital/physical music library at home, I have swapped my habits since I do not have access to the internet everywhere, all the time.

Sadly, change is the only constant in life.  I am doing my best to adapt and evolve despite factors out of my control.  I've given this advice to fellow fans, as well.  We already know the benefits for listeners of the smooth format, and so who knows what's around the corner.  Glad to hear I'm not alone.

~Stay Smooth,

Danny Rigoni - Homer Glen, Ill.

 

Our Smooth Video of the Day:  Gerald Albright and Norman Brown give us another sneak peek at the Kettle Moraine Jazz Fest this weekend in West Bend, Wisconsin.  They’ll be performing tomorrow (Friday) night at 9:15.  This is their latest hit, “24/7.”

 

Comments

[Art B.]

Danny, you are " wise beyond your years ", we All miss Smooth Jazz on the radio, I always describe it as a relaxing, refreshing alternative to what's on the air. We miss all our programs and of course Dinner Party where I was the Steely Dan fan and Cora was the Michael Franks fan and Bill would usually play 2 each every Saturday night to keep us satisfied. Hopefully sometime soon this will all seem like a bad dream and Smooth Jazz will be back where it belongs, in the meantime ... Stay Well and Stay Smooth !!!

[Art B.]

Rick, Great video by Gerald and Norman on how they worked together !!!

[Jerry Waz]

Danny,

Nice to hear from you. I've been listening to 107.3 The Wave (do a google search). They do a good job (not WNUA though). They are in Ohio, so it's close to our geographic area. Bill Cochran does some of the promos and they tell you what is being played, or what was played. You can even vote on songs. Check it out. Be good, have fun, enjoy Smooth Jazz.

Jerry

[Super Dave]

Danny, nice of you to chime in with your thoughts about your love of Smooth Jazz. I'm sure there are many more like you in your age bracket that supports this format, yet advertisers & corporate station owners refuse to acknowledge you when the decision is/was made to eliminate Smooth Jazz from terrestial radio. If you have friends who feel as you do, encourage them to let their voices be heard and their dissatisfaction be known.