Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of commercially-oriented crossover jazz and easy listening music that became dominant in the mid 1970s to the early 1990s.
History
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1 ...
was a popular
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...
that included songs by artists such as
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
,
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...
,
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album '' Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling arti ...
,
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...
,
Sade
Sade may refer to:
People
* Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine
* Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band
* Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WA ...
,
Robin Thicke
Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
,
Anita Baker
Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm
Quiet storm is a radio format and ge ...
,
Basia
Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska (Polish: , born 30 September 1954), better known as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. She began singing professionally in various Polish ban ...
,
Dave Koz
David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California.
Early life
Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist ...
and
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, voice actor, trumpeter and composer.
He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother, ...
. It began in the 1980s as "adult alternative" or NAC (New Age Contemporary or New Adult Contemporary), a well-defined radio format, with
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...
,
new-age music
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than ...
and
adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
. In the 1990s, the format became much more jazz-oriented, with very little new-age, and emphasizing young artists.
Around 2007, the format became less popular; it was abandoned by several high-profile radio stations across the United States, including WQCD (now
WFAN-FM
WFAN-FM (101.9 FM), is a commercial radio station licensed to New York, New York. Owned by Audacy, Inc. the station simulcasts a sports radio format known as "Sports Radio 66 AM and 101.9 FM", or "The FAN", along with co-owned WFAN 660 AM. I ...
) in New York, WNUA Chicago (now
WCHI-FM
WCHI-FM (95.5 MHz) is a mainstream rock formatted radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by iHeartMedia. WCHI-FM has studios located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago, and it broad ...
KOSF
KOSF (103.7 FM) is a commercial classic hits radio station that is licensed to San Francisco, California. Owned by iHeartMedia, the station serves the San Francisco Bay Area. The KOSF studios are located in San Francisco's SoMa district, while t ...
) in San Francisco. Programmers say the audience for the format has aged beyond the prime demographic sought by advertisers. Despite the format's demise outside a handful of commercial radio outlets, a number of
non-commercial
A non-commercial (also spelled noncommercial) activity is an activity that does not, in some sense, involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis. For example, advertising-free community ...
and HD stations have taken up the music. It is still available on
SiriusXM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...
on Channel 66, known as "Watercolors" and on the
Music Choice
Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service that digitally broadcasts audio-based music channels and video-related content to cable television providers in the United States. Music Choice reaches 65 million househol ...
cable radio service. In addition, smooth jazz concerts, recording sales, as well as increased smooth jazz offerings on the Internet, continue to show strong fan support for the genre.
Early history
Smooth jazz as a
radio format
A radio format or programming format (not to be confused with broadcast programming) describes the overall content broadcast on a radio station. The radio format emerged mainly in the United States in the 1950s, at a time when radio was compelle ...
has its roots in the construction of what were once called "
beautiful music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...
" stations, which generally played fifteen-minute sets consisting of instrumentals bookending a vocal song or two. The incubators of the format were specialty shows at night or on the weekends, in places such as Atlanta (WQXI-FM and WVEE-FM), Miami (WWWL-FM) and San Antonio (KTFM). The first jazz radio station to attempt to reach an audience beyond hardcore jazz fans full-time was New York's WRVR-FM, which was acquired by Sonderling Broadcasting in 1976. Under its new management, WRVR more than tripled its audience by emphasizing artists like
George Benson
George Washington Benson (born March 22, 1943) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He began his professional career at the age of 19 as a jazz guitarist.
A former child prodigy, Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s, pla ...
and
Pat Metheny
Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer.
He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...
that were crossing over to more popular formats. Other early pioneers included WLOQ in Orlando, Florida (which began programming such a format in 1977), Russ Davis in Atlanta and "Jazz Flavours", Al Winters and "The Quiet Storm", Ross Block, Dave Caprita and Stu Grant at Love 94FM with "Sunday Morning Jazz" in Miami and Art Good at KIFM San Diego with "Lights Out San Diego".
In 1983, "adult alternative" became a well-defined radio format, with jazz,
new-age music
New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather than ...
and
adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
. In 1987, the switch by
album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock (AOR, originally called album-oriented radio) is an FM radio format created in the United States in the 1970s that focuses on the full repertoire of rock albums and is currently associated with classic rock.
Album-orient ...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
to
KTWV
KTWV (94.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. KTWV has studios on ...
"The Wave" made the format more popular.
After programmer
Frank Cody
Francis R. Cody (born June 13, 1948) is an American record producer, A&R and radio executive. Described by the '' R&R Magazine'' and '' The New York Times'' as ''"Smooth Jazz's Leading Alchemist"'' and ''"The Father of Smooth Jazz"'',
Backgro ...
began "The Wave" in Los Angeles and the simultaneous KIFM (San Diego) and the eclectic
KKSF
KKSF (910 AM) is a licensed broadcasting commercial radio station coming out of Oakland, California. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the San Francisco-Oakland- San Jose media market. It operates as the Bay Area affiliate for th ...
(San Francisco), the number of stations banking on "The Wave's" softer sound grew quickly. Those included " Breezin' 100.7" in Milwaukee and KHIH in Denver programmed by consultant Gary Guthrie, WNUA (Chicago) consulted by Cody, WVAE (a short-lived Wave network affiliate from 1987–89) and WJZZ in Detroit,
WNWV
WNWV (107.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio, carrying an alternative rock format known as "107.3 Alternative Cleveland". Owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station serves Greater Cleveland and much of surround ...
in Cleveland (which began as a Wave affiliate but eventually moved to local programming), and the re-launch of WQCD (CD101.9), New York. Also Love94FMWWL, later WLVEin
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
/
Ft. Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...
, an early innovator with its "Sunday Morning Jazz" show went totally smooth jazz by 1990, not long after The Wave in Los Angeles had switched to the format. The format had been deemed "new-age" originally and radio stations like WNUA Chicago and KNUA Seattle emulated the phrase in their call letters. For a short time in 1987–1988, Chicago actually had two such stations, as the "Wave" network was also heard on WTWV-FM, licensed to suburban Des Plaines (now
WPPN
WPPN is an FM radio station licensed to Des Plaines, Illinois that targets the Chicago metropolitan area. WPPN broadcasts on 106.7 MHz with a Spanish AC format. The station's studios are located at 625 North Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago, ...
).
In the late 1980s, research firm Cody/Leach conducted a study for WNUA–Chicago; it was through the verbatim responses from listeners that the name "Smooth Jazz" was identified. WNUA then adopted the slogan "Smooth Rock and Smooth Jazz", replacing the old slogan "Music for a New Age" as the station added more vocals and dropped most "avant-garde" instrumentals. Under the direction of General Manager John Gehron, "Smooth Rock" was dropped. Cody is credited with making Smooth Jazz a household name, giving rise to its nationwide proliferation through the firm Broadcast Architecture, the widely syndicated "The Jazz Show with David Sanborn" and his association with saxophonist Dave Koz. Cody was also responsible for overseeing the launch of the now defunct
Satellite Music Network
Satellite Music Network was the first satellite delivered network to provide complete live 24-hour-a-day music programming to local stations, under several different formats.
History
Affiliate stations, mostly in small and medium markets, ...
's syndicated "Wave" format.
Over a six-year period ending in 1993, the format increased its audience by 140 percent, and from 1992 to 1993, by 67 percent. Listeners were 71 percent
white
White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
and 28 percent
black
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
. Advertisers recognized that adult alternative music tended to attract buyers of upscale items. The format became much more jazz-oriented, with very little new-age, and even while emphasizing young artists, the format kept its heritage acts as well. However, smooth jazz did add artists from adult contemporary music to increase its popularity with a larger audience; artists included
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the ...
,
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporate ...
,
Sting
Sting may refer to:
* Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger
* Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself
Fictional characters and entities
* Sting (Middle-ear ...
,
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
Michael Bolton
Michael Bolotin , The Jewish Historical Society of New Haven, 1998. (born February 26, 1953), known professio ...
,
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
, and
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...
. The smooth jazz format also added R&B; according to Cary Goldberg of JVC,
Paul Hardcastle
Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985.
Early l ...
"brought a sophisticated, urban groove" to the format. She said, "Instead of bringing jazz to R&B, he's brought an R&B groove to contemporary jazz."
The smooth jazz music mix included 70 percent instrumentals and 30 percent vocals. Programmers no longer regarded the music as merely "background". The format's most successful stations included WNUA, KKSF, KOAI, WNWV and KIFM, as well as WQCD, which had a significant rating increase in Fall 1993.
In 1994, smooth jazz experienced the largest increase in the relationship between audience share and advertising revenue ("power ratio"). Although the format was increasing in popularity, '' M Street Journal'' counted 43 stations in the format, down from 64 in 1989. But new stations such as KKJZ in
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populou ...
and
KLJZ
KLJZ (93.1 FM, "Z93") is a commercial radio station in Yuma, Arizona, United States. KLJZ airs a hot adult contemporary format.
History
KVOY-FM was licensed in 1972 as a sister station of KVOY (AM), changing its calls to KJOK the next year. ...
Minneapolis
Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 cen ...
.
Smooth Jazz has gone on to be recognized as a successful radio format, first emerging in name in the mid- to late-1980s (often, they would be transitioned from existing "
new-age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consid ...
" stations) and subsequently spreading into most radio markets within the United States as well as to other countries.
Smooth jazz radio today
Recent problems
The smooth jazz radio format continued to grow and thrive through the 1990s and early 2000s, though in the late 2000s most markets began losing smooth jazz stations. In a number of media markets, this format is no longer available over the air except online, via Music Choice (an option made available by some cable television providers such as
Comcast
Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...
), and on HD Radio. Currently, the most prominent of the few remaining commercial (and independently programmed) smooth jazz stations are
WSBZ
WSBZ (106.3 FM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a smooth jazz format. Licensed to Miramar Beach, Florida, United States, the station serves the Ft Walton Beach metropolitan area. The station is owned by Carter Broadcasting, Inc.
T ...
"The Seabreeze" in Destin, Florida, and WEIB in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Three of the originators of the smooth jazz format - WQCD in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
,
WNUA
WCHI-FM (95.5 MHz) is a mainstream rock formatted radio station located in Chicago, Illinois, owned and operated by iHeartMedia. WCHI-FM has studios located at the Illinois Center complex on Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago, and it broad ...
in Chicago, and
KKSF
KKSF (910 AM) is a licensed broadcasting commercial radio station coming out of Oakland, California. The station is owned by iHeartMedia and serves the San Francisco-Oakland- San Jose media market. It operates as the Bay Area affiliate for th ...
in San Francisco - have all changed format in the last decade. The format has also disappeared from the commercial radio dial in most other major and medium markets in the United States, and has completely vanished in Canada, where the format was less common at its peak due to relative lack of content to fulfill Canadian content regulations.
However, smooth jazz or some variant thereof has made a minor comeback in some markets, via AM stations (see below), FM
HD Radio
HD Radio (HDR) is a trademark for an in-band on-channel (IBOC) digital radio broadcast technology. It generally simulcasts an existing analog radio station in digital format with less noise and with additional text information. HD Radio is used ...
side channel/analog translator combos, or so-called "Franken-FM"s (actually low-power analog television stations on Channel 6 which serve a double function as radio stations due to the audio portion of the broadcast being audible on 87.75 MHz, possible because the FCC has not yet required low-power TV stations to convert to digital transmission). One such Such "Franken-FM" has popped up in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
( WLFM-LP, which has since changed format several times) and
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...
(with a more traditional jazz/blues flavor as KNIK-LP, using the call sign of a former smooth jazz station there which had flipped to adult contemporary). The format made a second comeback in Chicago in December 2014 via an FM HD side channel/analog translator combo. Similar FM HD side channel/analog translator combos also briefly allowed the format to return to the airwaves in markets such as
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...
; all of these have since changed format.
In January 2012, in a rare case, a former smooth jazz station actually returned to its former format after the replacement format had failed.
WNWV
WNWV (107.3 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Elyria, Ohio, carrying an alternative rock format known as "107.3 Alternative Cleveland". Owned by Rubber City Radio Group, Inc., the station serves Greater Cleveland and much of surround ...
/107.3 in Cleveland had dropped its long-running "Wave" smooth-jazz format in favor of
adult alternative
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of ...
after Christmas of 2009, under the ownership of Elyria-Lorain Broadcasting. On January 4, 2012, new owners Rubber City Radio Group restored the "Wave" format to the analog radio dial in Cleveland as a Smooth AC outlet, after a period of stunting with
Christmas music
Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject m ...
. In 2013 the station evolved back into smooth jazz, although the word "jazz" was not included in the station's imaging. The format changed once again, albeit rather abruptly, at the start of 2020.
Reasons
The decline in popularity of the smooth jazz format has been blamed on a variety of factors, including lack of exposing compelling new music, over-reliance on instrumental cover versions of pop songs similar to the mostly-defunct
Beautiful Music
Beautiful music (sometimes abbreviated as BM, B/EZ or BM/EZ for "beautiful music/easy listening") is a mostly instrumental music format that was prominent in North American radio from the late 1950s through the 1980s. Easy listening, elevator m ...
format, and Arbitron's PPM reports showing lower ratings returns for smooth jazz stations than the traditional diary system had. Lack of revenue and the genre not being viable during the current economic crisis have also been cited as reasons. Many purists of the format also feel that the smooth jazz interpretation has strayed too far from its roots in contemporary jazz and new-age music by over-relying on soft urban vocals, with R&B artists such as
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
and
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
now staples of many smooth-jazz playlists. Others indicate that the repetition of the same tracks on stations—particularly those owned by
Clear Channel Communications
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
(now iHeart Media)—and the reduction of artists recording tracks resulting in fewer tracks for airplay may have also contributed to the decline.
American saxophonist Dave Koz responded back in November 2009 to the claims that the smooth jazz radio genre was in decline by stating that although the audience has aged and not enough young people were embracing the format, making it harder to gain advertising revenue, the genre is still seeing the support in record sales and audiences at shows. He also suggested that the format may move from a genre covered by big FM stations to one covered by smaller stations, in particular
Internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitte ...
stations, which were showing an increase in popularity.
Some of the former terrestrial smooth jazz stations, including the former KHJZ in Houston, the former WVMV in Detroit, and the former WLVE in Miami continue to offer smooth jazz programming as Internet streams or as offerings on their HD subchannels. Some stations which are still providing smooth jazz and are still popular in their respective markets, including Jazz FM in the United Kingdom used to integrate traditional and popular jazz and
jazz standards
Jazz standards are musical compositions that are an important part of the musical repertoire of jazz musicians, in that they are widely known, performed, and recorded by jazz musicians, and widely known by listeners. There is no definitive lis ...
alongside smooth jazz tracks in their playlists.
The Smooth AC format
One track several smooth jazz stations tried, in order to attract more younger listeners (particularly in the important 25-54 age demographic) without completely alienating jazz fans, was to evolve the format into a hybrid known as Smooth Adult Contemporary. Smooth AC stations played more of the vocalists popular on smooth jazz stations, such as
Luther Vandross
Luther Ronzoni Vandross Jr. (April 20, 1951 – July 1, 2005) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his sweet and soulful vocals, Vandross has sold over 40 million records worldwide. He achieved eleven consecutive P ...
,
Sade
Sade may refer to:
People
* Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), French aristocrat, writer, and libertine
* Sade (singer) (born 1959, Helen Folasade Adu), British Nigerian musician and lead singer of the eponymous band
* Sade Baderinwa (born 1969), WA ...
,
Robin Thicke
Robin Alan Thicke (born March 10, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 2013 hit single " Blurred Lines", which is one of the best-selling singles of all time. At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards, h ...
,
Anita Baker
Anita Denise Baker (born January 26, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. She is one of the most popular singers of soulful ballads, especially renowned for her work during the height of the quiet storm
Quiet storm is a radio format and ge ...
, and
Basia
Barbara Stanisława Trzetrzelewska (Polish: , born 30 September 1954), better known as Basia, is a Polish singer-songwriter and recording artist noted for her Latin-inspired jazz-pop music. She began singing professionally in various Polish ban ...
, while incorporating more mainstream and urban AC material from artists such as
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
,
Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...
, and Maroon 5 and limiting instrumentals to two or three cuts an hour (and usually restricting airplay of instrumentals to artists such as
Kenny G
Kenneth Bruce Gorelick (born June 5, 1956), known professionally as Kenny G, is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, and producer. His 1986 album '' Duotones'' brought him commercial success. Kenny G is one of the best-selling arti ...
,
Dave Koz
David Stephen Koz (born March 27, 1963) is an American smooth jazz saxophonist, composer, record producer, and radio personality based in California.
Early life
Dave Koz was born in Encino, California, to Jewish parents: Norman, a dermatologist ...
and
Chuck Mangione
Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, voice actor, trumpeter and composer.
He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother, ...
who had crossover pop success). In markets where they existed, Smooth AC stations were meant to fill a void for soft music created by the mainstream adult contemporary format's overall move toward more uptempo adult Top-40 musical fare.
One of the first high-profile stations to adopt the Smooth AC approach was pioneering smooth-jazz station
KTWV
KTWV (94.7 FM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Los Angeles, California, and broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc., and airs an urban adult contemporary radio format. KTWV has studios on ...
in Los Angeles ("The Wave"), under new program director Jhani Kaye. KTWV's transition was successful in improving the station's 25-54 ratings. Other stations followed suit, including the late WLFM-LP in Chicago;
WXJZ
WXJZ (100.9 FM) is a commercial radio station in Gainesville, Florida, broadcasting to the Gainesville-Ocala, Florida area. The station is owned by MARC Radio Group Gainesville, LLC and broadcasts a classic hits format branded as "Classic Hits ...
in Gainesville, Florida; KIFM in San Diego; and WNWV in Cleveland, which relaunched under its former "107-3 The Wave" identity as a Smooth AC on January 4, 2012. However, the Smooth AC format for the most part did not succeed: WLFM, WXJZ and KIFM have switched to other formats, WNWV has evolved back into smooth jazz, and KTWV has continued to progressively downplay (while not entirely eliminating) instrumental music in its shift to a "Smooth R&B" Urban AC format. The Smooth AC format is now virtually extinct on commercial radio.
Other former smooth-jazz stations have evolved to
Rhythmic Oldies
Rhythmic oldies is a radio format that concentrates on the rhythmic, R&B, disco, or dance genres of music. Playlists can span from the 1960s through the 2000s and, depending on market conditions, may be designed for African-American or Hispanic a ...
formats while maintaining their previous call letters, notably
KOAS
KOAS (105.7 FM, Jammin' 105.7) is a radio station broadcasting an Urban AC format. Licensed to Dolan Springs, Arizona, United States, the station serves the Laughlin/Las Vegas/Dolan Springs area. The station is currently owned by Beasley Broad ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
, which saw its ratings in the 25-54 age demographics improve after moving to its "old school" format.
KYOT-FM
Kyot the Provençal is claimed by Wolfram von Eschenbach to have been a Provençal poet who supplied him with the source for his Arthurian romance ''Parzival''. Wolfram may have been referring to the northern French poet Guiot de Provins, but thi ...
in Phoenix tried the same but has since switched to another format.
Non-commercial and AM stations
By 2009, as smooth jazz continued its rapid decline on the commercial radio airwaves, a growing number of non-commercial stations (including some
LPFM
Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly ...
s) have taken up the music and added it to their programming. Among non-commercial stations playing primarily smooth jazz as of June 2016 include:
KJZT-LP
KJZT-LP (90.1 FM, "Jazz Tulsa") was an American low-power radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma that broadcast a smooth jazz format.
History
The station started as "Jazz Tulsa 107.9".
Tulsa Community radio surrendered KJZT-LP's license to the Fed ...
in Tulsa, Oklahoma; KRWV-LP in Gold Canyon, Arizona;
KWBR-LP
KWBR (105.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Smooth Jazz music format. Licensed to St. George, Utah
St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona bord ...
in St. George, Utah; WNOZ-LP in New Orleans; WAJH in Birmingham, Alabama;
WCRX-LP
WCRX-LP (102.1 FM) was a low-power FM radio station licensed to serve Columbus, Ohio, United States. WCRX-LP was a not-for-profit, volunteer, non-commercial community radio station whose broadcast license was held by the Bexley Public Radio Fo ...
in Columbus, Ohio;
WFSK
WFSK-FM, 88.1 FM, is a non-profit radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. Owned and operated by Fisk University, it broadcasts a smooth jazz format under the branding ''"Jazzy 88,"'' although the station also features various specialty programs, b ...
in Nashville, Tennessee; and
WBWH-LP
WBWH-LP is a low-power FM radio station operating at 96.1 MHz in Bluffton, Ohio. It is the campus and community radio station owned and operated by Bluffton University. WBWH-LP offers a diversified programming schedule geared to university ...
in
Bluffton, Ohio
Bluffton, originally known as Shannon, is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Allen County, Ohio, Allen and Hancock County, Ohio, Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,125 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...
, which has extended its Sunday-night show "The Chillout Sessions" (featuring a mix of smooth jazz, smooth vocals, and chill music, hosted by Donald Isaac) into its primary format as of October 2011. In addition, some commercial stations which present the format on their HD side channels, such as
KKCW
KKCW (103.3 MHz, "K103") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Beaverton, Oregon and serving the Portland metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia and airs an adult contemporary radio format. From mid-November to the 31st of Decem ...
in Portland, Oregon, and WDZH in Detroit, do so without or with limited commercial interruption.
One of the longest-running non-commercial smooth jazz radio programs in the United States was "The
Quiet Storm
Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album '' A Quiet Storm''.
The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lind ...
," which aired weekly on the community-based WGDR in Plainfield, Vermont and its sister station, WGDH in Hardwick, Vermont, both owned by
Goddard College
Goddard College is a progressive education private liberal arts low-residency college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle, Washington. The college offers undergraduate and grad ...
. Launched in 1998 and hosted by Skeeter Sanders, "The Quiet Storm" was a 50-50 mix of smooth jazz and soft R&B, presented in "Triple-A" (Album Adult Alternative) style, with a strong emphasis on "B" and "C" album tracks that most commercial stations often ignore. The show took its name from the early-evening program pioneered in 1976 by
WHUR-FM
WHUR-FM (96.3 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station that is licensed to Washington D.C., and serving the Metro D.C. area. It is owned and operated by Howard University, making it one of the few commercial radio stations in the Uni ...
in Washington, D.C. and duplicated with great success as a 24-hour format from 1979 to 2012 by
KBLX-FM
KBLX-FM (102.9 Megahertz, MHz) is a commercial radio, commercial radio station city of license, licensed to Berkeley, California, and serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by Salt Lake City-based Bonneville International. The radio st ...
in San Francisco. WGDR's "Quiet Storm" was one of the station's most popular music programs, based on a 2010 listener survey, and was the only program of its kind on the air in northern New England. In September 2011, a syndicated version of Sanders' program began broadcasting on the Internet-only Fishbowl Radio Network and ran for three years, until November 2014. In January 2015, the program began streaming on the Minneapolis-based SsassyRadio.com, and expanded to the Boston-based internet station WJMX SmoothJazzBoston.com in September 2016 (SsassyRadio canceled the program in January 2017 after two years). In November 2017, the program began broadcasting on a third Vermont station,
WBTV-LP
WBTV-LP (99.3 FM broadcasting, FM) is a radio station city of license, licensed to serve the community of Burlington, Vermont. The station is owned by Vermont Community Access Media (VCAM). It airs a variety (radio), variety radio format.
The st ...
in Burlington. It was also syndicated to terrestrial radio stations across the United States affiliated with the
Pacifica Radio Network
Pacifica Foundation is an American non-profit organization that owns five independently operated, non-commercial, listener-supported radio stations known for their progressive/ liberal political orientation. Its national headquarters adjoins s ...
. Sanders continued to produce new episodes up until shortly before his death in 2019.
In some markets, the smooth jazz format has also found a new home on the AM dial. The format had brief comebacks on the AM dial in Reno, Nevada, Phoenix, Arizona (nights and weekends), and Atlanta, Georgia (the latter during weekends only). Among the markets featuring full-time AM smooth jazz outlets are
Seattle, Washington
Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
( WDAS 1480 AM, simulcasting WUMR 106.1 FM HD2). In
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, WMUZ 1200 AM (with a translator on 99.9 FM) also programs smooth jazz during the evening and overnight hours.
Specialty shows
It is not uncommon for
adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
or
urban AC
Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music o ...
stations to devote some of their weekend programming to the format in an effort to serve a niche market without devoting an entire station to it. Some examples include WRRM Warm 98 in Cincinnati,
WZUN-FM
WZUN-FM (102.1 MHz "Sunny 102") is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Phoenix, New York, and serving the Syracuse metropolitan area. The station is owned by Edward Levine's Galaxy Communications through licensee Galaxy Syracuse Licensee ...
in Syracuse, New York,
KVIL
KVIL (103.7 FM, ''Alt 103.7'') is a commercial radio station dual-licensed to Highland Park and Dallas, Texas. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and it serves the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in North Texas. The station's studios are located along N ...
in Dallas, Texas,
WMXC
WMXC (99.9 MHz) is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Mobile, Alabama, and serving the Mobile and Pensacola metropolitan areas. The station broadcasts an adult contemporary radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of Novembe ...
in Mobile, Alabama, and WSOL in Jacksonville, Florida. An oddity in this category is WLAV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, a
classic rock
Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, prim ...
station which features a "cool jazz" brunch show on Sunday mornings. WZTK in
Burlington, North Carolina
Burlington is a city in Alamance and Guilford counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the principal city of the Burlington, North Carolina Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Alamance County, in which most of the ...
, a former talk station which switched in 2012 to
regional Mexican
Regional Mexican is a Latin music radio format encompassing the musical genres from the different parts of rural Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Genres include banda, country en español, Duranguense, grupero, mariachi, New Mex ...
programming, also formerly devoted most of its weekend programming to smooth jazz, using programming provided by
Dial Global
Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...
and playing much of the library from the now-defunct Jones Radio Network Smooth Jazz format.
Syndicated shows
In January 2007, Broadcast Architecture launched the satellite-delivered Smooth Jazz Network, featuring smooth jazz artists Dave Koz, Kenny G, Norman Brown, Brian Culbertson, Paul Hardcastle and Ramsey Lewis as on-air hosts. The network soon spread to 25 markets across the US, with among its more notable affiliates including WJCD in Norfolk, Virginia; WJZL in Lansing, Michigan; WQJZ in Ocean Pines, Maryland; KJZS in Reno, Nevada; WKYL in Lexington, Kentucky; KORL-FM in Honolulu, Hawaii;
WAEG
WAEG (92.3 FM) is a commercial smooth jazz radio station in Evans, Georgia, broadcasting to the Augusta, Georgia area. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an effective radiated power (ERP) of ...
in Augusta, Georgia; and WAUN in Green Bay, Wisconsin. WLFM-LP in Chicago also began as a 100% satellite-fed Broadcast Architecture affiliate, but soon went to mainly local programming during weekdays with the satellite feed filling most of the remainder of the schedule. Of these stations, only WAEG remains an affiliate of the Smooth Jazz Network as of June 2016. The list of remaining over-the-air affiliates also includes KZIZ in Seattle, WCHB-AM-FM (part-time) in Detroit, and KWDR in Kennewick, Washington, as well as HD Radio side channels in various markets, including San Francisco, Washington, Miami, Baltimore, Houston, Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, San Antonio, and Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is also available for streaming via
iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia, Inc., formerly CC Media Holdings, Inc., is an American mass media corporation headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. It is the holding company of iHeartCommunications, Inc. (formerly Clear Channel Communications, Inc.), a company fou ...
's
iHeartRadio
iHeartRadio (often shortened to just "iHeart") is an American freemium broadcast, podcast and radio streaming platform owned by iHeartMedia. It was founded in August 2008. , iHeartRadio was functioning as the national umbrella brand for iHear ...
application.
In response to the late 2000s trend toward Smooth AC, Broadcast Architecture also for a time marketed a Smooth AC Network (formerly named "Chillout Radio Network", despite the lack of so-called chill music in the network's playlist, and then renamed "Bright Radio Network" before the final name change to "Smooth AC") featuring the same air talent as the Smooth Jazz Network. This network had only a handful of affiliates at its peak and has since been discontinued.
The current air talent lineup on the Smooth Jazz Network includes Kenny G and Sandy Kovach (formerly of WVMV "V98.7" Detroit) mornings, Miranda Wilson middays, Allan Kepler during afternoon drive, and Maria Lopez evenings and overnights, with weekend personalities including Norman Brown, Paul Hardcastle, and Allan Kepler's Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown. Top-selling saxophonist Dave Koz was a former air personality on the Smooth Jazz and Smooth AC networks.
Other weekly syndicated smooth jazz radio shows include the long running Art Good's
Jazztrax
''Jazztrax'', formally known as the ''Jazztrax Showcase of the Absolute Newest'', is a weekly countdown of America's Top 20 Smooth Jazz singles by Art Good. The show was founded in 1985 by Good in San Diego and is currently broadcast out of the ...
, "Chill" with saxophonist Mindi Abair, Ramsey Lewis' "Legends Of Jazz" and the weekly two-hour Dave Koz Radio Show. In the summer of 2007, Broadcast Architecture launched the format's first ever national countdown show, the "Smooth Jazz Top 20 Countdown with Allen Kepler". The Smooth Jazz Top 20 now airs in more than 20 radio stations.
Elements of the smooth jazz format are also present in the Timeless Cool format distributed by Timeless Cool Music, Inc., which features a mixture of smooth and traditional jazz with adult standards by artists like
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
,
Madeleine Peyroux
Madeleine Peyroux (born April 18, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album '' Care ...
, and
Bobby Darin
Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music.
He started his career as a songwriter for Connie Fran ...
and
adult alternative
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a "minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of ...
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A m ...
, and
Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
. However, this format has failed to take off and is as of August 2011 aired on only a small handful of stations nationwide.
Until September 30, 2008,
Jones Radio Networks
Jones Radio Networks & Jones Media Group were branches of Jones International before being sold to Triton Media Group. JRN and JMN provide local radio stations with satellite-delivered formats. They also offer other services to local radio such a ...
also distributed a smooth-jazz format via satellite. This network was discontinued following Jones Radio Networks' purchase by Triton Media Group, owners of the
Dial Global
Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming.
The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company w ...
stable of 24/7 formats, and Triton's decision to eliminate Smooth Jazz from its portfolio. Jones' Smooth Jazz network had dwindled to only a handful of affiliates at the time the format was discontinued; most of the remaining Jones stations (i.e. WJZL Lansing, Michigan and WQJZ Ocean City, Maryland) were switched over to Broadcast Architecture's network.
Smooth jazz radio
The smooth-jazz format was always less common in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
, where cultural differences, fewer large urban markets and fewer CanCon-friendly smooth jazz acts made the format less attractive to station owners. By August 2012, the format became completely extinct as a full-time offering on the Canadian airwaves; in 2011, Canada's two remaining high-profile Anglophone smooth jazz stations both flipped to different formats, with CIWV-FM in Hamilton flipping to country music in August 2011 as CHKX-FM (albeit continuing its previous ''Wave'' format as an
internet radio
Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitte ...
station, Wave.fm),
CJGV-FM
CFPG-FM (99.1 FM broadcasting, FM, ''Peggy @ 99.1'') is a radio station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Owned by Corus Entertainment, it broadcasts an adult contemporary format. Its transmitter is located in Duff Roblin Provincial Park, while its ...
in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
dropping its "Groove" format on December 1, 2011 and flipping to adult contemporary after the Christmas season.
In August 2012, French-language station
CKLX-FM
CKLX-FM (91.9 MHz) is a French-language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec. Owned and operated by RNC Media, it airs a sports talk format as flagship station of RNC's ''BPM Sports'' network. It is the French-language flagship stat ...
in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
dropped its ''Planète Jazz'' branding and relaunched as
talk radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
''CHOI Radio X'' (modeled after Quebec City sister station
CHOI-FM
CHOI-FM is a French-language FM radio station that broadcasts on the frequency 98.1 MHz out of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, with a talk format. Locally, it is known as ''Radio X'' (a reference to "Generation X", as most of CHOI's listeners con ...
); for licensing reasons, the station continued to carry jazz as a part-time format in off-peak dayparts until 2014, when the
CRTC
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...
relieved the station of its obligation to carry jazz music. In 2021, CHKX owner
Durham Radio
Durham Radio, Inc. is an Oshawa, Ontario-based radio broadcaster. The company owns six radio stations and their associated repeaters, which are primarily located in the Golden Horseshoe region of Southern Ontario.
In 2021, Durham Radio received ...
reached an agreement to acquire CIRH-FM in Vancouver, which it then re-launched in 2022 with a smooth AC format as ''Wave 98.3.'' CIWV is the first jazz station in Vancouver after the 1985 demise of CJAZ, a traditional jazz formatted station, the first in Canada, in 1985.
New material from the UK, Europe and Australia has largely failed to gain airplay in the US. Well–financed and often government-funded radio organisations in the UK, Europe and Australia, coupled with technical developments in the digital radio field, have led to the launch of a number of smooth jazz radio stations in these markets and their playlists are substantially more diverse than in the US.
In the UK however, the only radio station that regularly played smooth jazz was
102.2 Jazz FM
102.2 Jazz FM (also known as London Jazz Radio and JFM) was a local jazz and soul music station for London run by GMG Radio. The station was based in and broadcast from Castlereagh Street in London. The station experimented with its core playli ...
in London and 100.4 Jazz FM in the North West. Upon takeover by the Guardian Media Group in 2003, the station started to create playlists predominantly consisting of easy listening soul and pop. Finally, in March 2004 in the North West and in June 2005 in London, the station changed its name to Smooth FM, and dropped smooth jazz from its playlists altogether. At the same time, GMG launched jazzfm.com in some parts of the UK which after closing in some areas. However, as part of its relaunch, smooth jazz and funk has also been played alongside more mainstream and traditional jazz output as played by former UK jazz station
theJazz
theJazz was a British jazz digital radio station run by GCap Media that started on Christmas Day of 2006The Local Radio Company
The Local Radio Company was a British media company, based in Redruth, Cornwall, that owned ten independent local radio stations in the UK. After takeover talks with UTV Media, UKRD Group and Hallwood Financial, UKRD acquired the majority sha ...
to relaunch Jazz FM initially with smooth jazz output in the daytime and early hours of the morning, however, smooth jazz output has since been dropped from the schedule as of September 2012.
Gold Canyon, Arizona
Gold Canyon is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community in Pinal County, Arizona, United States. The community is sometimes incorrectly called Gold Camp.
The town name is referred to as Gold Camp on weather statements issued ...
*
KWBR-LP
KWBR (105.7 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a Smooth Jazz music format. Licensed to St. George, Utah
St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona bord ...
/105.7: "Smooth Jazz 105.7",
St. George, Utah
St. George is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Utah, United States. Located in southwestern Utah on the Arizona border, it is the principal city of the St. George Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The city lies in the no ...
*
WAEG
WAEG (92.3 FM) is a commercial smooth jazz radio station in Evans, Georgia, broadcasting to the Augusta, Georgia area. The station is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to broadcast with an effective radiated power (ERP) of ...
/92.3: "Smooth Jazz 92.3",
Evans, Georgia
Evans is a census-designated place (CDP) in Columbia County, Georgia, United States. It is a suburb of Augusta and is part of the Augusta metropolitan area. The population was 29,011 at the 2010 census, up from 17,727 at the 2000 census.
Evans ...
(Broadcast Architecture affiliate)
*
WBWH-LP
WBWH-LP is a low-power FM radio station operating at 96.1 MHz in Bluffton, Ohio. It is the campus and community radio station owned and operated by Bluffton University. WBWH-LP offers a diversified programming schedule geared to university ...
/96.1: "Smooth 96.1",
Bluffton, Ohio
Bluffton, originally known as Shannon, is a village (United States)#Ohio, village in Allen County, Ohio, Allen and Hancock County, Ohio, Hancock counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 4,125 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 ce ...
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571.
Northampton is known as an a ...
- Smooth Jazz/Smooth AC/Urban AC hybrid
*
WFSK-FM
WFSK-FM, 88.1 FM, is a non-profit radio station in Nashville, Tennessee. Owned and operated by Fisk University, it broadcasts a smooth jazz format under the branding ''"Jazzy 88,"'' although the station also features various specialty programs, b ...
/88.1:
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...
*
KJZT-LP
KJZT-LP (90.1 FM, "Jazz Tulsa") was an American low-power radio station in Tulsa, Oklahoma that broadcast a smooth jazz format.
History
The station started as "Jazz Tulsa 107.9".
Tulsa Community radio surrendered KJZT-LP's license to the Fed ...
/90.1: "Jazz Tulsa",
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...
*
WSBZ
WSBZ (106.3 FM) is a commercial radio station broadcasting a smooth jazz format. Licensed to Miramar Beach, Florida, United States, the station serves the Ft Walton Beach metropolitan area. The station is owned by Carter Broadcasting, Inc.
T ...
/106.3: "Seabreeze 106.3",
Miramar Beach, Florida
Miramar Beach is a census-designated place (CDP) in Walton County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2010 census. Although many other coastal localities in Florida have appended "Beach" to their names to distinguish themselv ...
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
Edwardsville, Illinois
Edwardsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Illinois, and is a suburb of St. Louis. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,808. The city was named in honor of Ninian Edwards, then Governor of the Illinois Territory.
...
*
WCLK-FM
WCLK (91.9 FM) – branded ''Jazz 91.9'' – is a non-commercial jazz radio station licensed to serve Atlanta, Georgia. Owned by Clark Atlanta University, the station covers much of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The WCLK studios are located ...
/91.9: "Jazz 91.9"
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...
- Smooth/Classic Jazz
* WJZA/ WNSY/1310/100.1: "Smooth Jazz 101.1/100.1",
Decatur, Georgia
Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes ...
/
Talking Rock, Georgia
Talking Rock is a town in Pickens County, Georgia, United States. The population is 91.
History
Talking Rock had its start in the early 1880s when the railroad was extended to that point. The community takes its name from nearby Talking Rock Cr ...
(translator W266BW on 101.1 FM,
Winder, Georgia
Winder (pronounced WINE-der) is a city and the county seat of Barrow County, Georgia, United States. It is located east of Atlanta and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. The population was 18,338 at the 2020 census.
History
The Georgia Gen ...
Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Fort Walton Beach is a city in southern Okaloosa County, Florida. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 20,922, up from 19,507 in 2010. It is the principal city of the Fort Walton Beach− Crestview− Destin Metropolitan Statistical Ar ...
*
WTTZ-LP
WTTZ-LP is a traffic information and smooth jazz formatted broadcast radio station licensed to and serving Baltimore, Maryland. WTTZ-LP is owned and operated by Maryland Transit Administration. WTTZ-LP is also simulcasted on WMVK-LP in Perryvill ...
/93.5: "The Maryland Transportation Channel",
Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
*
WJTI
WJTI (1460 AM) is a radio station licensed to West Allis, Wisconsin, United States. The station serves the Milwaukee area. The station is owned by El Sol Broadcasting, LLC.
History
The 1460 kHz frequency signed on the air in 1950 with the W ...
/1460:
West Allis, Wisconsin
West Allis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. A suburb of Milwaukee, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 60,325 at the 2020 census.
History
The name West Allis derives from Edward P. Allis, wh ...
(translator W273DQ on 102.5 FM,
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...
)
Canada (excluding HD side channels)
*
CIWV-FM
CIWV-FM (98.3 FM, ''Wave 98.3'') is a radio station in Vancouver, British Columbia. Owned by Durham Radio, the station broadcasts a smooth adult contemporary format.
History
The idea for the station came in 2012. Don Shafer, his partner Yvonne an ...
/98.3:
Vancouver, British Columbia
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
Cable/satellite/subscription
* City Lights (
Mood Media
Mood Media Corporation is an international in-store provider of music, digital signage, hold music, on-hold messaging, scent, integrated audio/video, and interactive mobile marketing products. It was founded in 2004, and is based in Austin, Tex ...
- instrumentals only)
* Impressions (
Mood Media
Mood Media Corporation is an international in-store provider of music, digital signage, hold music, on-hold messaging, scent, integrated audio/video, and interactive mobile marketing products. It was founded in 2004, and is based in Austin, Tex ...
- instrumentals and vocals)
* Smooth Jazz (
LiveXLive
LiveOne (formerly known as LiveXLive) is a music streaming platform that combines audio and (sometimes live) video available in the US and Canada. Users can access the service on the web through mobile apps on smartphones and over-the-air devic ...
) Free with ads/premium ad free
* Smooth Jazz (
Music Choice
Music Choice (abbreviated as MC) is an American television music service that digitally broadcasts audio-based music channels and video-related content to cable television providers in the United States. Music Choice reaches 65 million househol ...
)
* Smooth Jazz (
Stingray Music
Stingray Music is a Canada-based international multi-platform audio service that broadcasts continuous streaming music and other forms of audio on multiple channel feeds. The service is owned by Stingray Digital.
While a song is playing on the ...
)
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Watercolors
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...
(
Sirius XM
Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius Sat ...