Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Do You Play Jazz?

A few days ago I was getting caught up on old episodes of the fabulous teen show Degrassi: Next Generation, when I heard a disparaging remark made about jazz by one of the characters. In the scene, a jazz loving guy was assumed to be old fashioned and a total bore by his college classmates.

At college radio stations I've heard people joke about DJs who were "afraid" of jazz. At many places, jazz is relegated to specialty show time slots and isn't heard at any other time. However, some stations try to embrace jazz throughout the programming schedule, even encouraging all DJs to play a bit of jazz. The Revolution 21 blog wrote on this very topic, saying:


"When I was in college, LSU's campus radio station, then called WPRG, had what I considered a great format -- pretty much the full spectrum of album rock and college-y alternative fare, plus a minimum of one jazz cut an hour.

SOME DJs BALKED at the jazz thing, but I thought it was brilliant, and it made WPRG sound a sophisticated cut above your average college-radio fare."

I like to hear jazz on college radio, especially given the wide range of experimental and underground varieties that are a perfect fit for indie-minded stations. How much jazz is on your station?

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