Jazz!

[UncleDuke]

no jazz means no civilization

in nyc there is never a shortage

[JSWolf]

Overall in NYC there is a shortage of decent FM radio stations.

[Hadrien]

In Paris we have one Jazz only radio station, and at least 2-3 other stations that play jazz a few hours everyday.

In September there's a really nice Jazz festival down here: Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul, Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane...

[NatCh]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Overall in NYC there is a shortage of decent FM radio stations.

That strikes me as a bit scary.

[yvanleterrible]

If you followed the trend, you would have noticed that big consortiums are gobling up flegling stations all over America and replacing them with top 40-100 predigested music. It's real sad. Radio has become a driving companion commodity.

To me it's a presence in the shop since I'm alone all day. There are good intelligent cultural eye opening programs still available on Radio Canada, and a couple Jazz programs too. If something ever happened to them it would surely signal the end of radio.

I know that some towns in the central States are dying and the first symtoms were always local radio being gobbled up and automatized.

[NatCh]

Oh, I've noticed that all right -- it's just that New York City's experiencing the same thing is ... disturbing.

[JSWolf]

Last time I drove in NYC, I got a few different types of radio stations. Country, talk, Spanish, and there were no decent music stations available. This was back when Opy & Anthony were big in NYC till they got fired (again) and they are not funny. Boston radio is pretty good. We have a nice mix so it's easy to find something you want to listen to.

[Hadrien]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Last time I drove in NYC, I got a few different types of radio stations. Country, talk, Spanish, and there were no decent music stations available. This was back when Opy & Anthony were big in NYC till they got fired (again) and they are not funny. Boston radio is pretty good. We have a nice mix so it's easy to find something you want to listen to.

Much easier to earn cash with talk show, that's why there's so many of them.

[mogui]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Say Mogui! What's the Chinese take on Jazz? Are there any clubs there?

Yes there are jazz clubs, but not in our city. In general Chinese people enjoy western music, but many of them don't distinguish between say, Norah Jones and Reba McIntyre. They don't usually have a wide enough experience of our musical genres to distinguish between them.

There are many talented musicians here. When you take music lessons here you progress through ten levels. By level ten you can read sheet music competently. I have a nurse friend who plays piano, and I am able to get her to play for me occasionally. We just find a bar or restaurant where the piano is not in use. She sits and plays. No permission is apparently required. She does ragtime, Eric Satie, and more -- very pleasant.

The other night my wife and I were walking home from her sister's and we happened upon a musical group playing together under a shelter in a park. The music was Chinese classical. There were five erhu players
a cello, a four-stringed lute-like instrument, a Chinese side-blown flute and something that is almost exactly like our hammered dulcimer. A lady sang beautifully.

The music was complex and the musicians read their parts from sheet music held on stands. Apparently they were friends who just gathered to play together for fun.

When I met my wife I was surprised at her eclectic taste in western music. She had an extensive collection of CDs and older tapes. To my great delight much of it was new to me. I have introduced her to many jazz vocalists like Diana Kraal and others. She even seems to like my Thelonius Monk and others of that era.

There is nothing native to China that resembles jazz. There is classical and Chinese opera. There are great varieties of ethnic music which is exotic and very exciting. China has vast quantities of pop music which is available on TV at any time. It is performed on elaborate stage sets. China has her stars and many of them are world-class quality. Coming to China was, for me, a whole new world of music.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

Originally Posted by mogui

Huh!? What is this?

Sorry... I missed this question. Thanks to lobbying by music labels believing internet radio is essentially robbing them of revenue, royalty rates for U.S. webcasters have been drastically increased by a recent Congressional ruling, and are due to go into effect on July 15 (retroactive to Jan 1, 2006!). These rates will require internet radio stations to pay about 300% to 1200% higher royalties for each song played (no lie!), driving most of them out of business.

Efforts are being made right now to reverse the process in Congress, with new bills that still require support to be passed. For more details (and if you are a U.S. citizen, to contact your Congressional Representatives), go to www.savenetradio.org.

[yvanleterrible]

Hey! I have a question for Jazz fans!

Were you born into it? Was it something from your parents? Did you come across it in school... with buddies?

For my part my parents were classical musicians and got to teaching it. During adolescence, as a rebellion, I started listening to hard rock, which then led to playing bass. Soon enough, the challenge gone, I found out this terrific group that most everyone knows. Steely Dan. That's where it all cliked; Fusion Jazz and Art Rock! And then as maturation set in, up to the classics of Jazz.

[mogui]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Hey! I have a question for Jazz fans!

Were you born into it? Was it something from your parents? Did you come across it in school... with buddies?

A friend liked it very much. I started listening because I wanted to know if he really liked it or just pretended to. Then I gradually found artists I enjoyed.

Then I had a hiatus. In college I became a folk musician. I didn't listen to rock or jazz, only folk and some classical. Later that expanded into blues which took me right back into jazz.

I have never played jazz (successfully). I wish I could. I think the root of musical enjoyment for some people is the act of imagination while listening that puts the listener into the imaginary role of the player.

[nekokami]

I didn't like it when I was younger (<20). My parents played a lot of music, but it was mostly classical, choral, folk, or theatre music. (I don't think either of them dislike jazz, it just isn't their favorite.) I used to not like much of anything that had an improvisational component. Then I started listening to music on the "Windham Hill" label in college, which included some jazz influences, and then later when I started listing to a lot of public radio, I'd catch shows that would feature particular jazz musicians and explain some of the musical form and history, which really helped get me interested in the form. It's still only one of many forms of music that I enjoy, not my exclusive favorite, but that's quite a difference from when I was young.

[yvanleterrible]

Hey mogui! Since you're in to folk, what do you think of Bélà Fleck and the Flecktones?

Since we're right smack in the middle of The Montréal Jazz Festival, Bélà is coming over. I've seen them three times. One time had Jean-Luc Ponty, Al DiMeola and Stanley Clark as first part of the show and an other had Marcus Miller who came back to Jam with the Flektone's Victor Wooten. Great shows!

For those who'd like to try Bélà, find the album 'UFO Tofu'. You'll find it in the Bluegrass section, of all places! They're Jazz but Bélà plays banjo, sot they gategorized them as bluegrass!

[mogui]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

Hey mogui! Since you're in to folk, what do you think of Bélà Fleck and the Flecktones?

Love it! His rendition of "Spain" is one of my favorites! We used to call it "dog music" -- a fusion of jazz and bluegrass. There is a lot more in that genre too, like Tony Trischka (pure magic). More here. A real treat is when they do bluegrass-classical fusion. They will be here in a couple of weeks.

What do you think of "Malicorne"?

Good memories -- you have colored my morning. Gotta go play some MP3s :