SmoothAhead® Jazz :: Forum

Are Jazz Musicans Willing to Die Empty? [by lmorgan45]

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:08:28 -0700

Open Topic:: Are Jazz Musicans Willing to Die Empty?
The Survival of Jazz, an interesting topic of sorts. I am located on the West Coast and I have quite frankly been doing a lot of soul searching in regards to this very topic. With the demise of radio stations that play jazz, whether it's Traditional or Contemporary, the economic boom, and all the other reasons to make one take note to the demise of Jazz. How is Jazz surviving? If one were to look at the recent closures of Jazz Festivals across the country, you would think that jazz fans would be in an uproar. I guess here on the West Coast, we're spoiled. We have the Playboy Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, West Coast Jazz Party, and so many other local jazz festivals that you wouldn't think that jazz surviving is even an issue here, but I will say I have to agree with the notion that jazz will not continue to survive even on the West Coast. Im a novice in the jazz world, love listening to you it, whether its recorded or live, but what has bothered me the most is the rising concern of its survival. Ive started reading all the articles and blogs been posted about the survival of jazz and it has brought me to an awareness that something needs to be done before it gets to the point of death. Herein lies the problem, At the same time, the cost of attending a live jazz concert, regardless of venue, is out of reach for many, especially young people and those of limited economic meansthe very same folks who need to hear the music to understand and appreciate its cultural relevance. We have cut the very source of survival at the root. The youth of today, have no investment in keeping this music alive. Sure there are several academic jazz programs in select schools across the nations, how many of these are in Inner Cities schools? I attend most Jazz festivals here on the West Coast and you dont see any young children at the festivals, why is that? Most of the festivals will have a High School band or ensemble open up the festival, but thats the extent of their involvement. The old guard of jazz musicians in my opinion has abandoned the notion that they need to reach back and give this great legacy to others to carry the torch from here. Lets not even talk about Smooth Jazz versus Straight-Ahead Jazz; you will open up a can of whip ass. (LOL) Here is where change kicks in and new creative ideas are put into practice. SmoothAhead is a concept of sorts. Bridging the old with the new and moving ahead into a new future. The old guard hands the baton to the new guard with an overwhelming amount of responsibility in making sure that the survival of jazz is not even an option. There's a saying, when I leave this earth, I want to die empty, are Jazz Musicians willing to give all they have inside of themselves to the next generation to carry the torch into the future. Im open to comments! Posted June 14, 2009

Re: IT'S TIME FOR SMOOTHAHEAD TO TAKE CENTER STAGE [by lmorgan45]

Wed, 3 Jun 2009 01:22:15 -0700

Open Topic:: IT'S TIME FOR SMOOTHAHEAD TO TAKE CENTER STAGE
Linda,

Well the secret is no more. Smoothahead is here and it has the juice to sway and entertain the masses. The concept behind smooth jazz is based on a/c radio. You, the jazz listener can't understand the scope of jazz. So let's programmed a "muzak" form of jazz, a lot of syncopated beats with little substance. And yes we add some pop music to "help you" understand Jazz.

Many of the listeners today came into jazz from RTF, Herbie Hancock, the Jazz Crusaders, Grover Washington, Jr, Patti Austin, Chuck Magione, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Eddie Jefferson etc. They brought the records and then CDs and kept the jazz format live. Corporate American came in and started buying stations due to deregulations and having a commercial jazz format became "not cost effective". Public radio became the last bastion for jazz. That's where it is for the moment. But should that be the only Place? No, hell no!

Linda, you have the vision to bring the audience to jazz and bring those who need a musical format that exemplify their taste in good music. Jazz has always been a danceable music. Because of its origins it does not hold as a art form to be celebrated by America. The whole world celebrates jazz, let's do it with now with Smoothahead Jazz. Think Lee Morgan and Rick Braun, Grover Washington, Jr with Kenny Burrell and Grover Washington, Jr and George Benson, Al Jarreau and Eddie Jefferson, Ella and Diane Reeves, Earl Klugh and Jeff Golub. I could on and on but this is what I have been programming since 1974 playing John Coltrane and Grover Washington, Jr in the same hour. In Denver, I was voted the # 1 Radio Announcer in the Seventies and in 2009 I was voted the Best Radio Personality by the OC Weekly. All I do is program jazz and the blues, no adjectives necessary. The audience is there. The artists are there and want to play. I have counseled so many artists about playing into a "format". Play the music that expresses who you are. If the music touches the listeners will respond. When you play to a formula and that formula changes, you become dust on a shelf. Keep in mind that 50 years ago Miles Davis's "Kind Of Blue" was recorded plus TIME OUT, SKETCHES OF SPAIN, and MINGUS AH UM. No formula needed just jazz baby. JAZZ!

Smoothahead is the music that is needed to keep jazz on the Radio. Linda, I am with you one hundred percent and I will be your programmer.

Ms. Smoothahead, thank you for your vision!

Bubba Jackson
Breakfast With Bubba
KKJZ, FM 88.1

Helping Jazz Artist to Embrace Social Media for More business [by rtishcreations]

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 21:10:16 -0700

Open Topic:: Helping Jazz Artist to Embrace Social Media for More business
How to Create Business from a Blog

First, lets agree that there are many ways to create business from a blog. Ill cover a handful to start. Youre very welcome to share more advice and ideas in the comments section.

Straightforward Sales

Blogs are a wonderful piece of software to use as a home base for several kinds of website projects. For example, I believe Chris Pearson used a Wordpress blog to build his DIYThemes.com site. There, hes selling a beautiful theme called Thesis for $87. Thats one way to create business from a blog: a simple sales platform.

Affiliate Marketing

Another way is through Affiliate Marketing. For example, go back and hover your mouse over the URL for the two links to Chriss latest project. You should see this: http://diythemes.com?a_aid=t4ag3 . That part after the ? is an affiliate code. Some sites dont really divulge that theyre doing affiliate marketing. Others make disclosure very vital. Now that you know to look for it, you might look at other blogs you read and see when theyre slipping you an affiliate tag here and there.

Want to learn more about Affiliate Marketing? Ive been reading Revenews, and I also plan to attend (and speak at) the upcoming Affiliate Summit event in Boston in August 2008. One reason why I plan to attend is to understand this space more, because Im still not 100% sure how I feel about the variations on the theme. Affiliate marketing is a multi-billion dollar industry, so theres something there to consider.

Lead Generation

Blogs are a great way to establish thought leadership, and further, to encourage lead generation. For instance, a lot of what I do by writing this blog is share with the world at large what I know about social media and how it might apply to your business. My primary goal is to give you as much information as I can possibly share, so that you can likely run off and solve most things on your own.

My secondary goal is to encourage you to contact me, should you have business needs. I work with CrossTech Partners to help me fulfill larger projects (such as building Market Relationship Management platforms and the like). This blog often starts conversations with people who need next-step help. And thats great. Its another value, and another way to create business from a blog.

A great person who gives in abundance with her blog is Liz Strauss. She derives some amount of leads from her thoughtful and meaningful efforts, too.

Content Marketing

He could tell you this every day, but Brian Clark has been praising the value of content marketing since 2006. This is basically how the Financial Aid Podcast brought millions in revenue to Christopher S. Penns Student Loan Network. Theres nothing shady about it. Chris creates great podcasts and blog posts and uses the trust earned through information sharing and helping others as one way to drive sales of his primary product: student loans. Hes the only student loan guy I know who gets profiled by BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, and all kinds of other press.

See also Gary Vaynerchuk, the only wine seller I know who has a Hollywood agent. Hes that cool.

Content marketing is essentially doing great things with content but with a goal that this work leads back to a sale on top of being useful and interesting. To me, this is where its at right now. If I were looking to build even more business, and I might just do so, Id blend content marketing with a mix of my own products, and perhaps some well-chosen affiliate opportunities, and start from there.

By the way, content marketing has the added benefit of helping you with organic search engine optimization, meaning it helps people searching for things find it easier.

Other Opportunities

There are lots of other ways to make money from a blog. Im definitely not qualified to talk about search marketing, for instance, but this article by Paul J. Bruemmer looks like a useful starting point. There are also projects like Ted Murphys Izea, which covers pay-per-post and Social Spark. Im not versed enough to talk about any of these, but maybe Ted will stop by and talk about his, or you can swing by the IZEA blog.

The web is an interesting place to make money these days, and there are many ways to take a swing at it. Be open about what youre doing. Be helpful. Offer value. And maybe something will come of it for you.

**Update: Im not sure how I forgot Darrens and Chriss book - ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income . (And yes, thats an affiliate link). ;)

Your Ideas

If you have some other great ideas for creating business from a blog, lets talk about them in the comments. Some will be promoted to the main post via updates, so please fill out your URL when you comment, so I can give you credit if I use it in the post.

What do you think?

The Social Media 100 is a project by Chris Brogan dedicated to writing 100 useful blog posts in a row about the tools, techniques, and strategies behind using social media for your business, your organization, or your own personal interests. Swing by [chrisbrogan.com] for more posts in the series, and if you have topic ideas, feel free to share them, as this is a group project, and your opinion matters.

nell bryden free download on datz.com [by anniebeediddlydee]

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 05:07:29 -0700

Open Topic:: nell bryden free download on datz.com
Hi guys, one of my fave artists is giving away one of her songs on www.datz.com! Shes called Nell Bryden and the tracks called From Midnight On, click away for the free download, its up there for a limited time so get in there quick!