KJZY (93.7

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

, "Jazzy 93.7") is an FM

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

licensed A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another part ...

Sebastopol, California Sebastopol ( ) is a city in Sonoma County, California, with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region. Wine grapes are the predominant a ...

. It broadcasts to the

Sonoma Valley Sonoma Valley is a valley located in southeastern Sonoma County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Known as the birthplace of the California wine industry, the valley is home to some of the earliest vineyards a ...

. Owned by Redwood Empire Stereocasters, it broadcasts an

adult standards Adult standards (also sometimes known as the nostalgia or Big Band format) is a North American radio format heard primarily on AM or class A FM stations. Adult standards started in the 1950s and is aimed at "mature" adults, meaning mainly tho ...

format Format may refer to: Printing and visual media * Text formatting, the typesetting of text elements * Paper formats, or paper size standards * Newspaper format, the size of the paper page Computing * File format, particular way that informatio ...

. Its studios are co-located with its sister stations on Mendocino Avenue in

Santa Rosa Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

. A 1,200-

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of Power (physics), power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantification (science), quantify the rate of Work ...

booster transmitter operates on 93.7 FM in

Rohnert Park, California Rohnert Park is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located approximately north of San Francisco. The population at the 2020 United States census was 44,390. It is an early planned city and is the sister city of Hashimoto, Waka ...

, with the

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

KJZY-FM1. KJZY broadcasts in the

HD Radio HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. HD radio generally simulcast, simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD R ...

format. Its HD2 subchannel airs a classic country format known as "99.1 The Bull".

History

On November 5, 1995, the station first

signed on A sign-on (or start-up in Commonwealth countries except Canada) is the beginning of operations for a radio broadcasting, radio or television station, generally at the start of each day. It is the opposite of a sign-off (or closedown in Commonw ...

the air as KJZY. It was begun by Gordon Zlot, and remains under the ownership of his company, Redwood Empire Stereocasters. The station played

smooth jazz Smooth jazz is commercially oriented crossover jazz music. Although often described as a "genre", it is a debatable and highly controversial subject in jazz music circles. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to e ...

, featuring contemporary artists like

Dave Koz David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in Los Angeles, California. Early life Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologis ...

Wayman Tisdale Wayman Lawrence Tisdale (June 9, 1964 – May 15, 2009) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and a smooth jazz bass guitarist. A three-time All American at the University of Oklahoma,

, David Benoit,

Mindi Abair Mindi Abair ( ; born May 23, 1969) is an American saxophonist, vocalist, author.. Her solo career has produced ten No. 1 radio singles, two No. 1 Billboard Jazz CDs, and four more solo CDs that have landed No. 5 and above on the ''Billboard'' Co ...

and

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

, classic artists like

Ramsey Lewis Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality. Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five RIAA certification, gold records and three Grammy Awards ...

and

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

and vocalists such as

Anita Baker Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American jazz and soul singer. She is known for her soulful ballads, particularly from the height of the quiet storm period in the 1980s. Starting her career in the late 1970s with the funk ban ...

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

Sade Sade may refer to: People * Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine; namesake of the word ''sadism'' * Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band * ...

and

Basia Barbara Stanisława "Basia" Trzetrzelewska (; born 30 September 1954), better known mononymously as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. She began singing professionally in vari ...

Music Director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

Rob Singleton said modern smooth jazz "is the evolution of fusion—milder fusion, the original fusion was pretty electric." On September 11, 2017, KJZY changed its format from smooth jazz to soft adult contemporary, branded as "Smooth FM 93.7." The Smooth Jazz format moved to KJZY's HD2 subchannel and translator station K256DA at 99.1 FM in Santa Rosa, known as "Smooth Jazz 99.1". The move gave a larger coverage area for the soft AC format, while maintaining the smooth jazz format in Santa Rosa and its adjacent communities. The same personalities were heard on both stations, by

voice-tracking Voice-tracking, also called cyber jocking and referred to sometimes colloquially as a robojock, is a technique employed by some radio stations in radio broadcasting to produce the illusion of a live disc jockey or announcer sitting in the radio stu ...

Smooth Jazz 99.1. On August 5, 2019, and after playing "

The Tide is High "The Tide Is High" is a 1967 rocksteady song written by John Holt, originally produced by Duke Reid and performed by the Jamaican group the Paragons, with Holt as lead singer. The song gained international attention in 1980, when a cover versi ...

" by Blondie, KJZY flipped to a rhythmic/Dance-leaning

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (CHR, also known as contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top ...

format as ''93.7 The Beat''. The station was operated by Jamtraxx Media, and was affiliated with its club mixed oriented SPiN-FM format. The first song on The Beat was a remix of "

Happier Happier may refer to: *Happiness, an emotional state Music * "Happier" (Ed Sheeran song), 2018 * "Happier" (Marshmello and Bastille song), 2018 * "Happier" (Olivia Rodrigo song), 2021 *''Happier'', an album by Kid606, 2014 *"Happier", a song by G ...

" by

Marshmello Christopher Comstock (born May 19, 1992), known professionally as Marshmello, is an American DJ and record producer. His songs "Silence (Marshmello song), Silence" (featuring Khalid (American singer), Khalid), "Wolves (Selena Gomez and Mar ...

and

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

. On January 30, 2020, it was announced that KJZY would be flipping to a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

format on February 3. On that date, at midnight, KJZY launched its new format, branded as 93.7 The Bull, and assumed the call sign KBBL from its sister station at 106.3 FM. The first song on The Bull was " 10,000 Hours" by

Dan + Shay Dan + Shay is an American country pop duo composed of vocalists and songwriters Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney. They are signed to Warner Records Nashville and have released six albums, '' Where It All Began'', '' Obsessed'', '' Dan + Shay'', '' ...

and

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Regarded as a pop icon, he is recognized for his multi-genre musical performances. He was discovered by record executive Scooter Braun in 2008 and subsequently brought to the U ...

. On July 26, 2022, it was announced that "The Bull" branding would move to K256DA on August 1 and flip to classic country and KBBL would flip to

using the "Jazzy" branding from K256DA. Coincident with the format change on August 1, the station flipped back to its former KJZY call sign. The K256DA translator now rebroadcasts

KZST KZST (100.1 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Santa Rosa, California, and serving Sonoma County. It is owned by Lawrence V. Amaturo, through licensee Amaturo Sonoma Media Group, LLC, and broadcasts an adult contemporary radio forma ...

, following its sale on December 1, 2022 to Amaturo Sonoma Media Group.

References

External links

{{coord, 38.419, N, 122.677, W, type:landmark_region:US_source:FCC, display=title JZY (FM) Mass media in Sonoma County, California Sebastopol, California Radio stations established in 1996 1996 establishments in California Smooth jazz radio stations in the United States