lawrence olds

Bob Koester, founder of Delmark Records and owner of the Jazz Record Mart, said if there's been a decline in contributions from jazz listeners over the years "it's because you've ruined the programming. Chicago's the number one or two center for avant-garde jazz, and you don't play it." --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just one important point of clarification here. The truth is, neither the ratings nor the level of listener contributions declined over the years. Both actually increased tremendously since the mid-90s, and remained solid through to the present day. The decision to drop music at WBEZ wasn't due to ratings, it's a desire on the part of management to create a whole new type of radio station on one frequency (89.5) and give more news/talk service to the existing primary news/talk audience on 91.5. Whether or not Bob Koester thinks ratings would have been significantly higher had WBEZ played more Roscoe Mitchell really is beside the point. (and by the way, Lazaro, I'm not rolling my eyes at Mitchell's music, and I wasn't rolling them at Braxton's a few weeks back either - that was your own extrapolation). Jazz isn't being pushed off WBEZ for lack of ratings or listener support, although that move probably would been made by management long ago had ratings not been as solid as they have been.

"Or ANYONE else"? Pretty big jump there. Buckley's commitment and savvy (within the boundaries of the music he knows and cares about) are not subjective matters really -- many people over the years have measured what he says and plays and have not found him wanting. But we should sit still for ANY schmoo's jazz show, in the name of what ... democracy? Also the reason 'BEZ is being held to "unceasing scrutiny" is because of things that the station has done -- during the Heim era and now. Don't you understand that THEY started this? Well, obviously someone should have to some commitment, knowledge and skill to get a show, but no one else has Buckley's exact qualifications. I think you're making a point about semantics there. Should Lazaro have been required to some panel of jazz quality police before he was hired years ago? Should he and all other djs other than Buck have to obtain a jazz dj liscense? I'm not sure I get your point. OK, I'll grant you, "unceasing" is a little overboard, but the scrutiny I referred to was not relating to the cancellation of the jazz programming,(some scrutiny from music fans for cancellation) but rather all the bashing of the content of the jazz programming which has been going on for years. It's often come from people who said patently false things (like that WBEZ didn't play Trane - totally untrue) or had a personal agenda (like that ex-DJ Dave Freeman who has been quoted all over the place) or just wanted to grind an ax because Heim didn't play their CDs, or from people who claim not to have even heard the jazz programs. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but much of the Chicago jazz media is like a little exclusive club that was neer going to give her a fair break, no matter what she did. The bad rep she got from people like Lloyd Sachs and Peter Margasack was worse than it deserved to be and was always left unchallenged. Most of the complaints came from people whose suggestions would have likely only quickened the cancellation. If is wasn't for the changes Heim made in the mid 90s, unpopular as some of them may have been in certain quarters (though they greatly increased the size of the audience and the amount of pledge dollars) it is more likely the plug would have been pulled long ago. Yet she is still a target after she is no longer employed there. Maybe it is the Chicago school board you should have this beef with for selling out the station 15 years ago (or the Federal pub broadcasting budget slashing of the Bush 1 and Gingrich eras) thus putting WBEZ, out of financial necessity, forever on a more audience growth oriented path. Heim made a number of program changes long designed to gain a larger audience and ensure the jazz show's survival. She never bashed anyone though, it all one sided against her from the "jazz community", even the stories often had two sides. She just made changes she felt needed to be made, and people got pissed. The only publicity the jazz programs ever really got was negative. I just think that bashing has never been very fair.

I agree with the gist of that. The more freedom a dj has to program their own show, the more genuine they will sound on the air, and that's a really important factor. A pro should probably be able to at least convincingly sound like they have a committment to all the material they are presenting, whether or not it is 100% true in every case. Best of course, to only play great music that one personally does believe in. Some non-commercial jazz stations around the country have music directors who pre-pick every single song and dump them into a computer program for djs to robotically follow. That's never been the case at WBEZ. Taste is subjctive though, and why shouldn't Buckley, or anyone else be allowed to express that. Buckley should be allowed to play exactly what he thinks is worthy of airtime, and is suited for the audience he is trying to reach. I'm fine with that. The thing I am mostly objecting to in this overall thread is the idea that any one station should be held up to unceasing scrutiny (especially by people who have their own shows on other radio stations) for not presenting every single aspect of jazz history, especially when its being done within a program with limited hours, and aimed at a fairly large general audience that includes many jazz fans who are, say, less fanatical than the folks like us who post on jazz websites and have collections of 1000's of records and CDs. It's especially unfair when those doing the criticizing (for instance, Guthartz from WNUR) can rationalize their own radio station's exemption from the same criteria they apply to WBEZ. Yes, Chicago Public Radio is a public radio station located within the city limits of Chicago, and it gets a very small percentage of its budget from govt sources, but all radio stations, including WDCB, WNUR, WHPK and even commercial stations like WGN, WLS, whatever, use the public's airwaves and are supposed to operate in the publc interest. We've all allowed elements of the federal govt and the FCC's media conglomerate backers to basically do permanent damage to the entire radio band. If there were more public stations run on the kind of reasonable scale that Blue Lake seems to be (with no middle managers), the radio dial would probably be a much more interesting place for all kinds of music and creative programming.

I know at least one dj plays Fred on occasion... Well, JazzyPaul, I don't know if "one dj playing Fred on occasion" is going to cut it with the self appointed defenders of the "Chicago Jazz Community". Better start gearing up for the boo birds. They're scheduled to begin arriving at WDCB's door in early 2007.

Ah, Lazaro, the sweet memory of youth. The first time I heard Coltrane's tenor coming out of the radio several decades ago, in the middle of the night, it seems larger than life to me, and nothing I hear from anyone on the radio, your fine radio show included, will ever match that in my mind. You lay out a good case here, but the memory of hearing those magical sounds of the station's sound in the '80s, as you traveled into the big city and heard everything with fresh ears, is never going to be matched, since you've probably become a far more knowledgeable listener in the intervening 20 years. The thing is, Buckley has still been playing what he likes all these years, he's still great, but I've never heard him segue from Bud Freeman to Braxton. Dave Tough, Oscar Peterson, Armstron, Monk on Buck's show, yes - Braxton, or anyone from the AACM...no. Neil Tesser's recent 3 year run on AM 1240 was a solid display for his obvious knowledge and clever segues - but no Braxton was ever played. He might have played a short snippet of a Vandermark tune, maybe once in 3 years, if that. I did hear him play a not so inspiring Gary Burton's version of Bob Dylan's "I Want You" once and say it was a Beatles song. That was kind of fun I guess. Everybody makes a mistake once in a while though, that's no crime. Tesser knows the music inside and out and his recent local show was fine radio... but probably wouldn't match the standard you've created in your mind for WBEZ of the past. Barry Winograd was on WBEZ in the 80s. He's been on WDCB (midday) for years, as well as WXRT on Sunday nights - Winograd is a fine professional with good taste, he does an excellent show, but I don't know that it would live up to your high standards of creative segueing, or the rigorous demands of folks like Jason Guthartz. Braxton? Haven't heard any on WDCB ever. Larry Smith was great too, before recently retiring from WBEZ, and his live in the studio "jazz parties" are legendary in Chicago, as were his live broadcasts of Trane, Miles, etc from the Sutherland Lounge in the early 60s, but Larry was no Braxton proponent. Clifford Brown, Roy Eldridge, Bird, Diz, yes, but Braxton, nah. Fred Anderson was an old friend of Larry's, sure, but was Anderson's the music he most desired to present on the radio, not so much. I have no doubt WBEZ sounded great to you in the 80s, but it probably sounds even better in your distant memories of youth hearing all the music with fresh ears and less of the knowledge you've accumulated over the years. ...And what's with the "Big Boys" comment? A subtle but sexist slam at Heim? Not like no one has done that before.

I don't think for a minute they weren't edited by management. Music directors do this all the time and a control freak wouldn't pass this up. Not saying they were false, just "tweaked". Between the Deep Blue disc and Von Freeman's "The Great Divide", also from 2004 list, those 2 discs have recieved more airplay on WBEZ than just about anything on (or not on) either of those best of lists over the past year and a half. I don't know how often either disc was played on WNUR, if at all, but certainly far less Chicagoans actaully would have heard them on WNUR, as their audience during their morning jazz programming is, statistically speaking at least, almost non-existent. Almost always literally a 0.0 share according to the Arbitrons. (though WNUR's hip hop and world shows actually show up a little bit sometimes) The great thing about stations run by large universities like Northwestern that charge astronomical tuitions, there's no responsibility on the part of the students or community volunteers running the station to actually draw any kind of sizable audience. Which is why their djs have the freedom they do. If they want to do a great, creative show, they can. If they want to throw random sets together with train wreck segues and no connective threads between the music, they can do that too. How about WDCB, they're kind of in the middle, a mix of paid and some really good volunteer djs. Anyone there playing Fred Anderson or the gamut of AACM folks?

So what? First post by a new member is in THIS thread? No flags? It was a flag for me and I was curious. I might be paranoid about the Heimster and all the crap foisted on the listeners, employees, artists, interested parties, etc over the years BUT this is no random post by a "member" without a mission. Jim, your experience was good but you should understand there is a long history (20+ years) of other folks. What happened to free speech? I have simply posted a few excerpts from WBEZ's website in an effort to support Mr Guthartz's assertion that WBEZ plays only cocktail music. What's the problem. By the way, the Deep Blue Organ trio (on the 2004 list of WBEZ's most played discs) does play every Tuesday at the "Green Mill Cocktail Lounge". So I guess it is cocktail music. And who is this Lawrence Olds guy from Richmond? I was stealing my false name from someone else who used one! Surprised no jazz organ fans have figured it out yet... Perhaps you could ask Thornel Schwatrz or Bill Leslie.

...a mind-numbing stream of cocktail jazz - mid-tempo stuff with lots of vocals, guitar & piano. From WBEZ's website: Top Twenty Jazz Music Albums of 2005 (Artists listed in alphabetical order) Monty Alexander -Live at the Iridium Billy Bang - Vietnam: Reflections Dee Dee Bridgewater - J'ai Deux Amours Mark Colby - Speaking of Stan Freddy Cole - This Love of Mine Dan Cray -Save Us John Ellis- One Foot in the Swamp Richard Galliano -Ruby My Dear John Goldman - In Walked Pierre Babatunde Lea - Suite Unseen Joe Locke - Rev-elation Thomas Marriott - Individuation Ted Nash - La Espade de la Noche David “Fathead” Newman - I Remember Brother Ray Organissimo - This is the Place Eddie Palmieri - Listen Here John Scofield - That’s What I Say Ximo Tebar - Goes Blue Tommaso-Rava Quartet - La Dolce Vita Ken Walker Sextet - Terra Firma Top Twenty Jazz Music Albums of 2004 (in alphabetical order) Ben Allison -Buzz Patricia Barber - Live: A Fortnight in France Andy Bey - American Song James Carter - Live at Baker's Keyboard Lounge Bill Charlap - Somewhere Alice Coltrane - Translinear Light Deep Blue Organ Trio - Deep Blue Bruise Von Freeman - The Great Divide Mike Frost Project - Nothing Smooth About It Curtis Fuller - Up Jumped Spring Conrad Herwig - Another Kind of Blue Joe Lovano - I'm All For You Harvey Mason - With All My Heart Brad Mehldau - Anything Goes Don Stiernberg - Angel Eyes Clark Terry and CJO - Porgy and Bess Jon Weber - Simple Complex Rodney Whitaker - Winter Moon Jessica Willliams - Live At Yoshi's Volume One Matt Wilson - Wake Up! ...other mind numbing streams of Cocktail Jazz included the entire month of December 2005 that was devoted to Jimmy Smith...