Well, I waited a little while to comment on this topic when I could find a moment to gather my thoughts. I've been a little busy with the new family addition. Anyway, here goes...
On the morning of Friday May 22, 2009, cubicles and elevators all around the Chicagoland area paused for 95 1/2 seconds of silence to remember a fallen radio station. OK, not really, but WNUA, the smooth jazz kingpin of the Chicago airwaves officially went off the air due to lagging financial support, replaced by Clear Channel's "Mega" Spanish-pop offering.
This is a big deal for three reasons:
1) On a large scale, it marks a certain facing-of-reality by the music sub-culture that is Smooth Jazz that maybe it really is not a sustainable art form after all. As more of an illegitimate child of '70s fusion-jazz, smooth jazz took off in the mid-1980s as it blended vocals and other pop-crossover stylings offering greater commercial appeal . Further toward the turn of the century, it grafted in slow-jam and funky groove elements, making it a hit among adult "urban" crowds.
2) The replacement format choice is a mega-win for commercial appeal in the region. Chicago has always been a diverse city, but this clearly marks an acknowledgment of the ethnic changes that have been bubbling over for some time. There are other Hispanic stations on the dial, but they play a more traditional south-of-the-border flavor. Mega 95.5 has a significantly more pop-crossover identity, which probably aligns more closely with the blending of Hispanic and American pop-music culture.
3) I can speak openly and frankly about the smooth jazz style as I was immersed in the making of it (which put a good chunk of my food on the table) between 1995 and 2003. For a number of reasons, Chicago became the petri dish for this music, and I just happened to end up working in the recording studio that churned out a great deal of its creative undertakings. I cut my teeth on a whole variety of music - gospel, contemporary Christian, pop, straight-ahead jazz, rock, commercial spots, etc. - but a good chunk of the calendar was filled recording and mixing what I would consider "pop instrumental" music. There where some diamonds in the rough; producers and musicians who brought a high-caliber of musical production values to the table, but those where few and far-between. Most of the time however they were banal, sub-par musical offerings whose ultimate hope was often to get just a hint of airplay on WNUA or its sister stations. "For what ultimate purpose, though?", I often asked. Well, not outloud to the artists, but internally of course. Most of these cats are hardworking musicians, though; many of whom I would still consider friends. As such, if "faithful are the wounds of a friend," then my hope that they would take these words and this new season as a time to get back to the toolshed for some fresh musical offerings.
OK, yes; music is subjective, but here are a few thoughts about music-making and its ability to stay viable over the long haul. First, a song or style's transcendence is directly tied to purity and creativity of the particular expression and its ability to connect with the masses. Write a good song that captures the emotion of the songwriter, which also resonates with the given culture, and deliver it on a fresh and palatable musical canvas, and you'll probably have a classic. Failure on any of these points will likely send you to the music graveyard. Second, Western music has a limited range; 12 notes to be exact. There's only so much one can do to reinvent those notes in a unique way. Now take away the vocal element, which is how the majority of humans connect emotionally with one another through song form, and which is exactly what most smooth jazz songs do, and replace it with an instrument that belongs in the background of pop productions (solos excepted) and make it try to speak like a vocal... Any rational music maker will see that there is no way that this type of creation can have lasting health without offering proper musical nourishment. As the childbirth class instructor for our first baby once said in reference to adequate feedings, "The proof is in the poop!" Finally, music is a gift from God. He gave it to us as an means to creatively express worship, to which He is rightly due. For thousands of years now, people have been singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs about His infinite worth, wonderful creation, and most of all, His awesome redemption found only through faith in Jesus Christ. Now that's a music style guaranteed to last forever.
Yes, there will still be the fond jokes & memories:
- "Some people take their mix out to the car to listen for reference, but we had a audio tielines from the control room pumped out to the elevator; real world reference, baby!"
- "How do you know when the smooth jazz mix is finished? The engineer is asleep at the board."
- "Steve, turn up the electric guitar already! This isn't smooth jazz, OK!?!"
- A particular friend who had a knack for programming all my car radio presets to 95.5...just because.
- Ah, and who can forget the classic "WNUA theme song" parody tracks by local musician and anti-smooth jazz zealot, Jim Dinou...
Where shall one now turn to hear Sade's "Smooth Operator" or Kenny G's "Songbird"? I guess satellite/internet radio or iTunes or wherever; but for now I count this as a great victory for the artistic purity of the music industry. Kinda' reminds me of the Apostle Peter's condemnation of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, where we see God purifying His church from those intentionally holding back their best from Him.
1 comment:
I'm particular, alright. Write more often.
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