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Posts Tagged ‘Smooth Jazz’

Smooth Jazz Christmas Music–One of My Favorite Things

Wednesday, November 24th, 2010

We had nothing from Kenny G back then. Mannheim Steamroller had but one Christmas album out and were still in the best-kept-secret category. And Dave Koz, Peter White and Boney James hadn’t even arrived on the scene yet. It’s no wonder that we ran out of music that first Sunday Brunch Christmas special back in 1987. As I recall, our playlist that day was little more than a dozen albums.

Fast forward to 2010, and we find that gaping hole in the Smooth Jazz category of Christmas music has been filled—and then some. There are just too many holiday collections to pick from, and it’s impossible to know which recordings are worth your time and money. That’s where my annual list of recommended holiday recordings comes in.

With the 2010 edition of the list in your hands (or up on your computer screen), you’ll see the best of the best. These are the CDs that have proven to be evergreens. They’re favorites at my house as well as on the air every holiday season, and listeners tell me over and over how much they’ve enjoyed them, too.

The list is free for the asking. Just drop me a note via email to Rick@WLFM877.com, and let me know if you’d like your copy as a Word document or PDF. If you prefer the list be sent to you by conventional mail, include your name and address and drop a line to Rick O’Dell, WLFM-LP, 540 Frontage Road, Suite 2000, Northfield, IL 60093-1297.

Tags: Boney James, Christmas music, Dave Koz, Kenny G, Mannheim Steamroller, Peter White, Smooth Jazz
Posted in Smooth Jazz and Music | No Comments »

A Night of 101 Smooth Jazz Stars*

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

*a/k/a the American Smooth Jazz Awards, Friday, October 29, at the DuSable Museum, Hyde Park, Chicago, Illinois, USA.

In my opening remarks before a capacity crowd at the DuSable Museum Friday night I referred to the last time an awards show in Smooth Jazz took place in Chicago (March 3, 2001) as “something those of us who were there have never stopped talking about.” I went onto say that I felt Friday night held the same promise, that we were in for something special. Turns out, we were.

The 2010 American Smooth Jazz Awards will go down as a night of exceptional all-around entertainment. The music was scintillating, the performers and presenters cordial and upbeat, the crowd enthusiastic and the mood electric throughout the evening.

Event organizer, the indefatigable Bernie Scott, mentioned to me that they had had to turn away over a hundred people who showed up at DuSable hoping to buy tickets at the door Friday night. With every seat spoken for, when the program began at 8:00 pm and Nick Colionne hit the stage to begin his opening number, it was standing room only. There’s nothing like a packed house and this crowd, I could tell, was ready to rock—smoothly, of course. For the next 3 ½ hours there were countless laughs and plenty of magical moments. Off the top of my head, let me share with you a few of them:

The Canadian group Four80East, led by Tony Grace, were the first of the nominees to perform. They chose to play their 2009 hit, “Roll On,” which turned out to be the ideal tone-setter for the evening, with its sprightly, positive beat. Jeff Kashiwa deftly handled the melody on flute.

Trumpeter Cindy Bradley led a riveting impromptu jam session by rising stars, the “Up and Comers,” as they called themselves. Joining Cindy in the band were saxophonist Kyle Wolverton, Valparaiso native Bryan Lubeck, Chicago’s Gerey Johnson and Michael Manson, keyboardist Nate Harasim and (very impressive) drummer Hannah Ford. They, along with “Best International Male Artist” nominee Anders Holst, gave me a hopeful feeling about the future of Smooth Jazz.

Also, Cindy related to me after the show that her mother had been diagnosed with kidney cancer a year ago. This past August, when she got the word that she was cancer free, she declared to the family, “Now I can book tickets for the Awards!” She and her husband flew in from Buffalo and ended up seeing their daughter win the “Best New Artist” award. Cindy acknowledged her parents in a touching and heartfelt acceptance speech.

Mike Scott, of TheMikeScottJazzShow.com out of Toledo, Ohio, couldn’t contain his astonishment upon learning he was named “Broadcaster of the Year – Internet.” In an acceptance speech filled with moments of hilarity, he went on and on for over ten minutes.

The evening’s most touching moments came during Regina Tisdale’s introduction of the Humanitarian Award named in her husband Wayman’s honor. Overcoming a case of stage fright and explaining that “Wayman would have wanted me up here to do this,” she reminded us of Wayman’s total devotion to Smooth Jazz and the fans he made as a musician. He’d rather be remembered as a musician than a basketball player, she revealed.

Steve Cole, Kim Waters and Jeff Kashiwa—as The Sax Pack–kept the mood light, clowning around on stage while, at the same time, treating us to some heavy-duty playing. They got one of the biggest hands of the night with their recent hit, “Can’t Help Myself.”

Dave Koz couldn’t make the Awards. He was on the first leg of his Asian tour, performing in China this weekend. Longtime Koz band director Brian Simpson accepted both of Dave’s awards for him. I had the pleasure of meeting Brian’s two daughters who were there, rooting on their dad, a nominee in the keyboardist category.

It took stagehands five minutes to roll a grand piano out on stage. Then, David Benoit sat down and, in three numbers, proved once again why he’s the finest Smooth Jazz pianist ever–treating us to his signature pieces “Freedom at Midnight,” “Kei’s Song” and “Beat Street.” Once the applause finally died down, he graciously accepted the Lifetime Achievement Award from Bernie Scott, who announced the award would be renamed the “David Benoit Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Smooth Jazz’s old guard acquitted itself well, with Boney James’ and Richard Elliot’s sharing the “Brass/Woodwinds Artist of the Year” award, Peter White’s taking home three awards (the most by any artist), and David Benoit’s Lifetime Achievement award. For his live number, Richard Elliot chose to perform his first Smooth Jazz hit, “When a Man Loves a Woman,” with all the flourish and the wonderful fat notes that made his rendition a standard during the early years of the genre.

The night’s finale was appropriately grand, with Nick Colionne and his supergroup led by David Benoit, Michael Manson, Richard Elliot, Peter White, Marc Antoine, Jackiem Joyner and Joey Sommerville playing a spirited extended rendition of “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now” in memory of Wayman Tisdale. Each musician in the 11-piece band got to do a solo. It was also a rare opportunity to see Marc Antoine play something other than his customary acoustic guitar. There weren’t enough acoustic guitars to go around, so Marc had to borrow Gerey Johnson’s electric axe, forcing Gerey to sit out during the final number.

Chicago’s Khari Parker, Dave Hiltebrand and Gerey Johnson were the core of a house band that showed its mettle all night, deftly backing up each of the acts as comfortably as though they’d been together for years.

Before the show started, the packed-to-the-gills lobby was the site of a massive meet-and-greet, with fans exchanging handshakes and hugs with musicians and presenters. I renewed acquaintances with a number of former WNUA listeners going back nearly two decades. We could have spent all night catching up! As I was meeting saxophonist Darren Rahn for the first time, a gentleman came up and asked Darren if he knew where keyboardist Nate Harasim might be. Darren disappeared into one of the upstairs projection areas at DuSable that had been turned into a makeshift green room and returned a minute later with Nate. The gentleman reached into his bag and produced a custom made lampshade that he had decorated with amazingly accurate likenesses of his favorite artists. I noticed that one of them was Bobby Lyle, who had placed his autograph next to his portrait on the lampshade some time back. The space next to Bobby’s was a likeness of Nate Harasim. Nate’s reaction was priceless. He had never seen anything like it; nor had I. This was a truly unique and remarkable keepsake, which Nate eagerly signed and then snapped a photo of.

Incidentally, if anyone doubts the power and popularity of Facebook, they should have been to the Awards. Facebook was one of the most popular topics of conversation all evening, on and off stage. Much to my delight, I got to meet Margie Fischer, part of a group of 87.7 listeners who frequently take part in my daily quiz on vintage Smooth Jazz tracks which I put up on the station’s Facebook page. Margie was there with her husband, Jim. She had won front row tickets to the Awards through a contest we ran two weeks ago on Facebook. Margie had created a colorful poster listing the names of everyone in this Facebook group. She and I stood next to each other holding the poster, while Jim took a picture of us. By Sunday morning Margie had posted the photo on her page.

As things were winding down, around 11:45 pm, I overheard someone say, “This was as much fun as a Smooth Jazz cruise.” I’d have to say that was an apt comparison.

Here are the 2010 Smooth Jazz Awards winners in the order they were announced:

Broadcaster of the Year – Terrestrial (Presenters: Ken & Robin Levinson and Dorine Wright): Dave Koz

Journalist of the Year (Presenters: the Levinsons and Dorine Wright): Melanie Maxwell (Smooth Jazz News)

Broadcaster of the Year – Internet (Presenter: Carmen Kennedy): Mike Scott

Gospel Jazz Artist of the Year (Presenter: Carmen Kennedy): Kirk Whalum

International Male Vocalist of the Year (Presenters: Rob Tardik and Joey Sommerville): Michael Buble’

International Female Vocalist of the Year (Presenters: Tardik and Sommerville): Diana Krall

International Artist of the Year (Presenters: Tardik and Sommerville): Marc Antoine

International Group of the Year (Presenters: Tardik and Sommerville): Incognito

Female Vocalist of the Year (Presenter: Pat Kelley): Norah Jones

Keyboardist of the Year (Presenter: Pat Kelley): Brian Culbertson

Guitarist of the Year (Presenter: Pat Kelley): Peter White

Percussionist of the Year (Presenter: Rick O’Dell): Harvey Mason

Male Vocalist of the Year (Presenter: Rick O’Dell): George Benson

New Artist of the Year (Presenters: Marissa Caliguire, Joy Hall, Kim Giles): Cindy Bradley

Brass/Woodwind Artist of the Year (Presenters: Randy Bennett and Mike Scott): Richard Elliot

Group of the Year (Presenters: Bennett & Scott): Fourplay

Wayman Tisdale Humanitarian Award (Presenters: Bernie Scott, Regina Tisdale): Nick Colionne, Brian O’Neal

Lifetime Achievement Award (Presenter: Bernie Scott): David Benoit (the award will henceforth be known as the Dave Benoit Lifetime Achievement Award)

Song of the Year (Presenters: Jim Peterik and Lisa McClowry): “Bright” by Peter White

Album of the Year (Presenter: Jason Polansky, American Airlines): Good Day by Peter White.

Entertainer of the Year (Presenters: Bernie Scott, Pat Kelley): Dave Koz

Tags: American Smooth Jazz Awards, Smooth Jazz
Posted in Smooth Jazz and Music | 1 Comment »

You Can’t Keep Smooth Jazz Down

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

Smooth Jazz was one of those things we took for granted. Since early 1987, it was always there for us, first on WCLR and WTWV and then WNUA. Whether you played it for a living, as I did, or listened to it on the radio, Smooth Jazz was a comforting, dependable part of your life.

For me, that all changed on January 20, 2009. With the attention of most of Chicago focused on a new president’s getting ready to take his historic oath of office, several of us at WNUA were quietly shown the door: Pat Kelley, Danae Alexander and I. Collectively, the three of us had more than 50 years of service to Smooth Jazz.

The other shoe dropped on May 22 when, at 9:55 that Friday morning, Clear Channel, the owners of WNUA, flipped the format to Spanish Pop. Loyal station employees such as Ramsey Lewis, Karen Williams, Bill Cochran, Scott Adams and Domingo Castillo, who had survived the staff cuts in January, were all let go that day.

Rumors of an impending format change at WNUA had been swirling around the Chicago media for months, so none of us in the industry was too surprised by what happened on May 22. In fact, a couple of enterprising individuals had been preparing to launch their own Smooth Jazz-based radio projects, waiting for the exact moment that Clear Channel would open up a hole in the Chicago market for Smooth Jazz by abandoning the format at 95.5.

Kurt Hanson, CEO of Chicago-based internet radio firm AccuRadio.com, and former WNUA Sales Manager Pat Kelley had been waiting for news of the format change. When it came, they both unveiled their respective plans. Mr. Hanson brought me onboard to help launch www.ChiTownSmoothJazz.com, a series of Smooth Jazz internet radio channels targeted to the Chicago market. At the same time, Mr. Kelley debuted WLFM, “The L,” a low-powered FM station featuring a Smooth Jazz format, at 87.7.

The summer and fall of 2009 proved to be periods of fast growth for both projects. Reflecting the hunger Chicagoans still had for the format, ChiTownSmoothJazz.com boasted audience growth in excess of 5900% in six months, while WLFM reached 540,000 listeners in November. Attendance at Smooth Jazz concerts remained strong in the summer and fall, as well.

In December, Pat Kelley initiated the next phase in his plan to grow WLFM: feature more locally-originated programming and add local air personalities to the 87.7 lineup. In the process, he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. He would hire me as Program Director and host of middays and the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch. I was only too happy to accept the opportunity to help Smooth Jazz take advantage of a second chance in Chicago.

My first day at WLFM was December 21. As for returning to the midday show, I am anticipating that my first day on the air will be either January 11 or 18. By then, construction on the station’s brand new air studio should be complete.

Pat and I are looking forward to the New Year as a time of significant improvements—especially on the air—at WLFM. We aim to preserve what loyal listeners liked best about WNUA while introducing exciting and innovative new features and station events that will whet the appetite of Smooth Jazz fans throughout the Chicago area. And we are counting on input from those fans throughout the coming year to let us know we are on the right track. I welcome your comments anytime through this site, the station site (www.877ChicagosSmoothJazz.com) and by private email (Rick@WLFM877.com).

Happy New Year! May 2010 bring us good news, good fortune and good music.

Tags: 87.7, Rick O'Dell, Smooth Jazz, WLFM, WNUA
Posted in Smooth Jazz and Music | 5 Comments »

The Only Constant is Change

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

We’re packing our things and getting ready for a move.

That’s all I can say for now. More in a couple days. Promise!

Tags: ChiTownSmoothJazz, Smooth Jazz, WNUA
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

The Sunday Brunch and Its Place in Smooth Jazz History

Saturday, September 19th, 2009

(At ChiTownSmoothJazz.com we recently launched the “Sunday Brunch” channel. It features music from my original playlists for the Brunch, assembled in the late ’80s when the show made its debut on WCLR. I’d like to take you back to the beginning of the Brunch, because it was also the start of the Smooth Jazz radio format in Chicago.)

When Smooth Jazz began in Chicago, there was no “how to” manual for the format. In the entire country there was only one other full-time station playing the same music (KTWV, “The Wave,” in Los Angeles), and it had gone on the air just one week earlier. We were definitely starting a format from scratch, something that rarely happens in radio these days. I remember the nervous energy we all felt around WCLR that February 22, 1987, when the “Sunday Lite Brunch” made its debut in Chicago.

The “Sunday Lite Brunch” was born out of a gut feeling on the part of two radio executives at WCLR, General Manager Chet Redpath and Program Director Dave Ervin. They heard about the new radio format that was about to hit the air in Los Angeles, and they wanted to lay claim to it in Chicago. Rather than risk converting their entire station to a totally unproven format, however, they decided to take a chance on Sunday morning. After all, what better time of the week to try out the concept of a show that features mainly mellow instrumental music? Since I was hosting the 8:00 am to noon time slot Sundays on WCLR, they asked me if I could help out Music Director Suzy Mayzel by listening to some jazz and New Age albums (it was still mainly vinyl back then) and pick out tracks that might sound good on the air. They were working on an experimental new show–that’s what I was told.

It was in early February, 1987, that the station had me making frequent trips to record stores in search of music for the Brunch. I went back and forth quite a few times to Rose Records, which was the leading Chicago area chain at the time. I’d scour their Jazz and New Age sections and grab the entire catalogue of the few artists whose names were familiar to me (David Sanborn, George Benson and Grover Washington Jr., for instance). Then, I’d ask someone in the store to suggest some of their own favorites in either category. That’s how I first learned about the great old Windham Hill and Narada artists of the mid ’80s. In an hour, I’d be back at the station with a stack of albums that Suzy and I would listen to, track by track, on the turntable in her office. Within a week, we had the makings of our first playlist for the Brunch: several dozens tracks we could play on the air.

The Wave, we found out, was set to make its debut on February 14, 1987. Around that time, I gave Suzy the word that we ought to be ready to launch the Brunch on WCLR the following weekend. Behind the scenes, Suzy, Dave, Chet and I were also grappling with the idea of how we ought to describe the music we’d be playing on the show to the listeners. Since the now famous phrase “Smooth Jazz” wouldn’t come along for another two years, we were at a loss. What we settled on was a mouthful. I’d go on the air and tell the listeners our show was “a blend of contemporary jazz, New Age music and vocals.” Nothing concise or clever there. But, as clumsy as it was, the phrase did the job. At least listeners would know where they could find all of this unfamiliar music at the music store.

On February 22, 1987, the Sunday Lite Brunch debuted at 8:00 am on WCLR to the strains of Chuck Mangione’s “Bellavia,” which we decided would be the opening theme of the show. The station had opted for a quiet launch. There had been no on-air promos leading up to that moment, nothing that even hinted to the audience that a brand new show was about to hit the air. I turned on the microphone around 8:03 during the fadeout of “Bellavia” and made the announcement: “Welcome to the Sunday Lite Brunch, a brand new program on WCLR.” I went on to explain the type of music we’d be playing and how we hoped people would approach the show with both an open mind and open ears. If they gave the music a chance, I added, they’d find it was a pleasant mix on a Sunday morning.

Within seconds, the request lines in the studio began to ring. I glanced over at the phone, and all five lines were lit up. I was astounded by the reaction. The only time the phones behaved that way was during a contest, when we were giving something away. I answered the first call. It was a woman saying she liked the idea of the new show. I took a second call. Another encouraging, positive comment. I took a third. Same thing. On and on it went, call after call that hour. As I played more music, listeners continued to call. Then, around 9:00, the hotline in the studio rang. It was Chet Redpath, asking what kind of reaction we were getting to the Brunch. I couldn’t answer him fast enough: “It’s unbelievable, Chet–people are LOVING the music.”

Normally, doing a music show while answering a request line that’s constantly ringing is exhausting. Not this Sunday morning, however. The calls kept coming in, one rave review after another. It was total exhilaration. As noon rolled around and I wrapped up the first Sunday Lite Brunch, I looked at my phone call log that I had filled out that morning. We had gotten over fifty calls, all of them overwhelmingly positive. That morning I had played only a handful of songs WCLR would normally have been playing at the time (a few Anita Bakers and Sade’s “Smooth Operator,” mainly), but not a single person complained. Naturally, I couldn’t wait to give Chet, Dave and Suzy a full report the next day.

At our Monday morning recap meeting, following a round of high fives, it was decided that I would publish a monthly program guide for the show and make it available to listeners on request. The following Sunday, on our second show, I started soliciting requests for the free “Sunday Lite Brunch Menu.” It look less than one week to get nearly 100 letters from listeners wanting to be added to our mailing list for the Menu.

The warm reaction to the Brunch from listeners grew into a white-hot buzz as the weeks went by. Clients lined up to become sponsors. Carson’s State Street store brought me in to help them prepare “The World’s Largest Omelet.” I hosted a night of Windham Hill artists at Ravinia that summer. On numerous occasions, while browsing anonymously in the New Age department of a music store, I’d be approached by a staffer suggesting that I try this new show on WCLR because “they’re playing New Age music on it.” The Pioneer Press came on board as our primary sponsor, giving the Brunch a full page ad in all of their editions each week to feature our growing playlist. Then, other local media jumped in. Dan Miller of Crain’s Chicago Business took us all by surprise with a glowing review. Robert Feder described the Brunch as “being as close to perfect as any radio show” in his Sun-Times column. Chet, Dave, Suzy and I agreed: in all our years in the business we’d never seen a reaction like this to any new show we’d ever been involved with.

By the end of the summer, the Sunday Lite Brunch added two more hours, going to 2:00 pm. The volume of calls kept growing. The mailing list passed the one thousand mark. Ratings for Sunday morning began to rise. And the station still hadn’t received a single complaint about the show. Positive calls and letters were outnumbering the negative, and it was a shutout: about 1,500 to 0. When WNUA finally hit the air with a full-time format of what we’d been playing the past six months on the Brunch on August 3, that station would be trading on an unprecedented amount of goodwill in the listening community with respect to this type of music. Chicago was ripe and ready for “Smooth Jazz.” Was it ever!

It was obvious the music we were playing struck a chord with listeners. I learned later on that the reaction we had gotten on the Brunch was very similar to what other stations around the country experienced when they, too, launched similar formats. To say the least, Smooth Jazz had an auspicious start. I’ll always be grateful that I was a part of it here in Chicago with the Sunday Lite Brunch.

Tags: New Age, Smooth Jazz, Sunday Brunch, WNUA
Posted in Smooth Jazz and Music | 3 Comments »

A Date to Remember

Monday, August 3rd, 2009

As near as I can tell, August 3, 1987, is apparently the last date my cluttered brain had the room to store. Three nephews and a darling niece have come along since then and, with a weapon pointed at my head, I couldn’t give you a single one of their birthdays.

But there’s a reason that date is cemented in my memory. That’s the day the Smooth Jazz Era began in Chicago. That’s the day WNUA was born, when the passionate alto of David Sanborn came charging out of radio speakers at 5:00 that afternoon in the form of—what else—“Chicago Song” on WNUA 95.5.

In 1987 WNUA was the third radio station in a major market to switch to a full-time format based on contemporary instrumentals and eclectic vocals. Station KTWV was the first, when “The Wave” debuted in Los Angeles on July 14, 1987. Next, it was KKSF in San Francisco on July 31.

Like Seinfeld, WNUA had an inauspicious start. Ratings foundered for a couple of years. There was even talk in early 1989 that the owner of the station was getting restless. Murmurs of a possible format change were heard in the local and national broadcasting press.

At around that time, new management took over the station. Chicago radio veteran John Gehron came in as the new General Manager. He, in turn, hired Lee Hansen as Program Director. Lee and John installed legendary announcer Yvonne Daniels in the morning drive role. They recruited Charlie Meyerson from WXRT to be News Director. And they brought me onboard from WCLR. John and Lee had a specific vision for the radio station. Within a year, under their leadership, ratings began to climb.

By the station’s tenth anniversary, in 1997, WNUA had the makings of a ratings powerhouse, occasionally jumping into the top ten of all listeners and the top five of all adult listeners in Chicago. Smooth Jazz was beginning to hit its stride, with WNUA artists drawing large audiences and sellout crowds to Navy Pier, the Chicago Theater and United Center. On June 12, 1997, nearly 60,000 came out to Grant Park for a free concert by George Benson and Herb Alpert. By then, the Smooth Jazz Sunday Brunch had become a signature event at, first, the Hotel Nikko and then the Hilton Chicago. Kenny G, Dave Koz, Boney James, Peter White and Richard Elliot became household words.

As the format began to mature in the 2000s, WNUA maintained a solid, loyal listenership, even through the upheaval that followed 9-11. Station ownership changed hands a couple more times, and WNUA was the property of Clear Channel Communications by the time the twentieth anniversary rolled around in 2007. August 22, 2007, saw the staff and over a hundred listeners gather at Andy’s jazz club downtown for an anniversary party with special guest performers Steve Cole, Nick Colionne and Michael Manson.

By the end of the decade the ratings for WNUA had dipped a bit since its 1990s heyday but were still respectable by any standard. Unfortunately, the economic downturn which began in late 2008 put all radio stations under huge financial pressure. Clear Channel felt the station was not producing enough revenue and flipped the format to Spanish Adult Contemporary on May 22, 2009, ending the 23-year run Smooth Jazz had enjoyed in Chicago.

Even though there’s no more WNUA, August 3^rd will always be a special date for me. After all, like my wedding anniversary, it was a date never to forget. For my almost 20 years at WNUA, we sure had some good times on those anniversaries.

Tags: Smooth Jazz, WNUA
Posted in Smooth Jazz and Music | 4 Comments »