[Dixielandjazz] 'smooth jazz' (was cloddish musicians)

[TCASHWIGG at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/8/04 7:47:05 AM Pacific Daylight Time, patcooke at cox.net 
writes:

> 
> Thanks for the analysis of smooth jazz, Tom.  I have listened to it many
> times in an effort to find the heart of it.  I felt "I must be missing
> something here".  I'm still missing it.  My main problem is I can't seem to
> figure out where the choruses start and stop.  If I tried to play it, I
> would be coming in at all the wrong places.
>   Maybe in my next life,,,,,,,,
>   Pat Cooke
> 

Hi Pat:

I think the guys playing Smooth Jazz are having the same problems, but just 
have not figured it out themselves yet.   There is a lot of -pretty mudane crap 
going out over the Clear Channel stations these days, and it is amazing at 
how many good records they turn down for airplay because it does not fit their 
mundane formula for Smooth Jazz.

Send them a record with real instruments and music and they act like you are 
crazy.

I saw a keyboard player here in San Francisco who plays some great music get 
off his grand piano and go with the program director of a Clear Channel Radio 
Station, to K-mart and buy an $80.00 kids casio keyboard and bring it back to 
the studio and record his entire last Cd with it along with a very cheap drum 
rhythm machine.   The electric Bass player thumped and slapped out the bottom 
end in disco style at full volume of course.

Talk about crap, I can't believe it and he is getting airplay on that pices 
of %$^&%.


Today's pop producers are also being dictated to, and I sat in on a session a 
few months ago with one of the top Hit producers it he business.  He had been 
delivered an ultimatum along with his big check to take a 24 track recording 
with some great music on it from a lot of excellent players and reduce it to 
nothing but Bass & Drums and the vocals in your Face.

They had wasted all that money to record all those players and then cut em 
out on the editing session because of some twit executive bean counting wannabe 
producer at the major label thinking he knows something about music and 
today's sound.

These are the musical idiots that are running the major labels today, the 
real producers and musicians are all back to self producing independent projects 
unless they wish to stay on the major label payroll for dolling out crap.

Some of the stuff these guys are turning out makes Alvin and the Chipmonks 
sound like highbrow classical music, can't imagine what their other stuff that 
does not make it to the airwaves sounds like.

Jeers,

Tom Wiggins