Upcoming Gigs

At times, it can seem that Frank Zappa's oft-quoted assertion that, "Jazz ain’t dead, it just smells funny," is becoming increasingly hard to believe – it was recently announced that DAB radio station theJazz will come off air at the end of March after over a year of quality broadcasting, informed, intelligent opinions and above all excellent music that brought in over 400,000 listeners a month.

According to various sources, including GCap Media's chief executive, the main reason appears to be a combination of falling revenue at the company and a lack of financial viability for the DAB format. The BBC's website states that "In November GCap, hit in recent years by falling advertising revenues, reported a 3% fall in six month underlying pre-tax profits to £5.6m". By scrapping the station (Planet Rock radio is also coming off air) GCap "...plans to boost advertising at its flagship Capital 95.8 station", and that the company hopes "...to make £8.8m of annual savings through disposals and restructuring."

This, in my humble opinion, sucks. I'm not going to naively suggest that a station or company that is currently failing to meet its various necessary financial demands can or should continue with a station or format that simply isn't making the numbers required - someone with a better head for business models and the like can do that instead - but I doubt I will be a lone voice in stating that this deals a huge blow to the music we love.

Despite its consistent and continued level of appreciation in the music world - Herbie Hancock recently picked up 'Best Album' at the 2008 Grammys - jazz is still something of a niche market and is in very real need of a dedicated station such as theJazz in order to heighten its profile and give the music a chance to shine. By making the music more accessible, by not forcing fans to wait until everyone else has gone to bed before they can hear their music of choice (GCap's concession to the music is to put jazz on a two hour slot from 12am-2am every night) and by giving both listeners and musicians the platform to experience this music, theJazz was promoting this music in a pro-active, forward-thinking way that was greatly appreciated by the listeners who tuned in

Of course, we’re not totally at a loss. Jazz is well served by the BBC with their range of shows on Radio 2 and 3, offering a range of music not heard elsewhere on the mainstream airwaves. Along with these programmes, there are numerous regional stations that are doing their bit to keep the beat going. I had a recent conversation with Linley Hamilton, esteemed musician and broadcaster on BBC Radio Ulster, whose After Midnight show has long been proudly parading the best in contemporary jazz music. What interested me is that while he, like many other regional presenters who dedicate large portions of their time to getting the music to the people, has a dedicated group of FM listeners who twiddle their radio dials each week, the greatest response and feedback he’s had has been from listeners who have tuned in via the internet, including fans from the other side of the world.

The platform of digital broadcasting allows the music to reach far more people than FM alone, and with the internet’s influence on global communication and media continuing to increase at an exponential rate, surely it can only be a matter of time before the DAB format becomes financially viable and theJazz, or a similar future incarnation, rises from the grave and comes up smelling like roses. Here’s hoping…

You can ‘Listen Again’ to Linley Hamilton’s excellent After Midnight show (at your convenience) by logging onto http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radioulster/aftermidnightlinley/

Enjoy,

J.