[Dixielandjazz] OKOM on Satellite radio--a possible dream

[Charles Suhor]

Picking up on the many comments about ways we can promote the popularity
and accessibility of OKOM, here's another get-off-you-duff idea that could
fly--if a few key organizations would get behind it.

I've looked into two of the 100-channel satellite radio offerings--Sirius
(www.sirius.com) and XM (www.xxmradio.com).I'm guessing there are many
others that some of you know about. On all of the multi-channel stations,
though,  there are separate channels for all kinds of music that don't have
a mass audience--subsets of classical, country & western, Latin, folk, etc.
It's within the realm of possibility that a subset of their jazz offerings
could be something like "early jazz styles-New Orleans/Dixieland," if the
stations know there's a niche audience--which I believe there is.

My guess is that they could be persuaded to consider this if organizations
with a goodly number of members would make the case. I'm thinking, for
example, of...

the many OKOM jazz clubs throughout the country

the association of jazz clubs (I forget the name)

the Traditional Jazz Educators association (Dave Robinson)

jazz mags that specialize in OKOM such as Mississippi Rag, JazzBeat, Second
Line, IAJRC journal...

the Jazz Archive at Tulane

the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers

record labels, large and small, with a good OKOM list

this Dixeland Jazz list

others--you name 'em

Most of the big circulation journals keep at arm's length from early jazz
while claiming to revere it, but it wouldn't be out of question to get
big-name support. Mags like JazzTimes and Down Beat have some writers in
their current cadre who review OKOM records, and they might be an entree.
Wynton Marsalis has been championing early styles jazz in recent years.

Credentialled institutional leadership is needed, with a gung-ho editor or
jazz club prez with the energy needed to get a cooperative effort started.
The leaders could use the combined resources of their groups to get
grass-roots letters/emails sent to the station(s), maybe with pledges for
subscriptions. Satellite radio means an initial investment in the equipment
(a friend got his for $300) and monthly fee of $10-13 for the full 1000
channels, round the clock. If you can afford it, you'd have 24/7 OKOM, and
surely browsers would come across it and increase the fan base.

If you check out the websites you'll notice some terminologies that can be
misleading. To them, the terms "traditional," "classic," and "pure" jazz
refer to bop and beyond, whereas in an earlier time they meant N.O. styles
and post-N.O. Dixieland. Oh--XM radio does have one show called "French
Quarter--New Orleans style jazz," not as a 24/7 channel but as part of its
jazz offerings (how often it comes on and for how long, I don't know). But
that was all I found on these two satellite stations.