Welcome to the March 2000 edition of The Secret Garden, the page which offers a British perspective on all that’s good, and not so good, in the world of smooth jazz. Later we will pick another Smooth Soul Survivor from the archives and continue the story of the development of smooth jazz radio in the UK.

Bob James at the Barbican Centre in London, March 3rd 2000

Before all that the spotlight is firmly on the Barbican Centre London where, on 3 March 2000, smooth jazz fans lucky enough to be there experienced a real joy ride. Yes, this was the night that Bob James came to town. The show was billed as the Jazz FM 10th anniversary concert and was promoted by Lateral as part of Jazz FM’s ten-year birthday celebrations. The sell out show featured BJ together with his touring band, Dave McMurray on wood winds, Chuck Loeb on guitar, long time Earl Klugh collaborator Al Turner on bass and Billy Kilson on drums. The gig was mc’ed by Jazz FM breakfast show presenter Robbie Vincent and the mood was set right from the top, a wonderful arrangement of ‘Angela’, Bobs signature number from the 1983 album The Genie and, of course, the hit TV series Taxi. Next came ‘Restless’ from the 1994 album of the same name, again a really great arrangement. The show rolled on with much, much more of the same, a sequence of some of Bobs best loved recordings over two hours fifteen minutes of really unforgettable entertainment. The running order also made space to feature music from his band members. Up stepped Chuck Loeb with ‘High Five’ from his 1999 release Listen. Dave McMurray took centre stage with ‘My Brother And Me’ from the 1999 album Peace Of Mind where, on the original recording, Bob James can be heard delivering a Fender Rhodes solo. But quite rightly the night was all about Bob James. Particular favourites were tracks from his latest release Joy Ride, specifically ‘Swingset’ which was produced on the original recording by Chuck Loeb and, of course, the title track ‘Joy Ride’ with Chuck Loeb doing incredible justice to the playing of Lee Ritenour on the original. It was Dave McMurray who was handing out the musical compliments when he interpreted with great style the Boney James tenor sax elements of ‘Mind Games’ from Bob’s 1997 Warner release Playin Hooky. On this live version Bob really came through with an inventive arrangement, varying the tempo and overlaying the rhythms with light and shade. Among all of that there was still time for a Bob James tribute to Horace Silver with the ‘Jody Grind’ from his 1995 album Straight Up. Thundering applause from an audience who loved every minute without ever getting out of their seats to groove along with the music led to a welcome encore which, to the delight of many, turned out to be the much sampled Bob James classic, his 1976 recording, ‘Westchester Lady’. This was really a top rendition to which the crowd genuinely warmed. A great end to a great night. Then the show was over and the participants went their separate ways. Bob James and the band two hundred miles north to Manchester where they would play a concert at the Apollo Theatre the following evening. The fans back to their radios and CD players to relive the memories of this special night over and over. The promoters and Jazz FM to contemplate and build upon the now indisputable fact that smooth jazz in the UK is really here to stay. Picture: Bob James copyrighted © 1999 - Used with permission. Visit www.bobjames.com Read an Interview with Bob James and a concert review taken from B&S on Peter's Smooth Jazz page. Enjoy more pictures from the London/Manchester concerts in the "Digital Travels" section at the bobjames.com site.

Smooth jazz radio in the UK - Part 2

Now for more in the continuing story of the development of smooth jazz radio in the UK. This, for all intents and purposes, means Jazz FM 100.4 and 102.2. Picking up the story from the February 2000 issue of The Secret Garden you will remember that, back in 1994, JFM seemed destined to trail blaze a music format new to a growing band of British listeners. Yet, in autumn 1995, after only fifteen months of JFM, the station name reverted to Jazz FM. This happened at the time a new management team took over the running of the station. It was considered that the name ‘JFM’ meant nothing and that it failed to establish a clear station identity. The belief was that the station should be proud to be the voice of jazz in London and the North West. With this change in attitude came another change of music policy, this time toward more mainstream jazz. Smooth jazz and fusion was increasingly consigned to the margins of the station. In England the march of the smooth jazz army seemed to be on hold. By late 1997 Jazz FM had developed into a good radio station which majored on popular mainstream jazz with only a prime time dusting of smooth jazz and fusion. However it did not have enough listeners. It was not big enough or successful enough. After conducting some music research station boss John Baish felt that the time was right for a change. He spent much time working with colleagues, friends and consultants in the USA trying to work out just why the smooth jazz format is so popular there. He took hold of the bits that he thought would work in London and the North West and gradually integrated them into Jazz FM programming. The on air transition to the smooth jazz format began in February 1998. This coincided with the time a new presenter joined the station in London to take over the 7-00 am to 10-00 am breakfast slot. That presenter was Robbie Vincent. The rationale was that with a new presenter it would be possible to change the sound of his programme more radically towards smooth jazz and soul than would be the case at other times of the day. To fully explain why this should be the case it is important to understand that Robbie Vincent, to fans of soul, fusion and smooth jazz in London and beyond, is not just ‘another radio presenter’. Robbie has a huge reputation as one of the most knowledgeable and influential presenters of the genre. Although he had worked previously with Jazz FM presenting a Sunday soul and fusion show his reputation extended way beyond this. His move to the breakfast programme generated genuine excitement among his followers and undoubtedly made an immediate impact on listening figures. The transition was underway and, in the months that followed, the programming of the station began to fully reflect the switch to smooth jazz. Two years on, Robbie continues to do the business on the breakfast show and smooth jazz is now comfortably installed into the majority of its listening slots. So what is Jazz FM really like for the average day to day listener? Well, the style of presentation is UK rather than USA. If comparing its output to its counterparts in the States, for example KKSF San Francisco or WFSJ 97.7 Jacksonville, it does not go down the route of ‘extended sets’. With the exception of its Smooth Jazz In The Afternoon programmes, hosted by Helen Mayhew on 102.2 and Steve Quirk on 100.4, the daytime shows on Jazz FM tend to favour the traditional method of introducing and playing tracks individually. As is usual this is all interspersed with phone in opportunities and DJ talk. Another interesting feature of the output is the intent of the station to retain individual identities for its London and North West frequencies. Consequently 100.4 and 102.2 broadcast different breakfast, afternoon and drive time shows. The reasons for this can be partly attributed to retaining a local identity, providing localised news and traffic and also catering for advertisers particular regional interests. However it does have its down side. For example the breakfast show host in London, Robbie Vincent, is arguably the stations best presenter yet he can only be heard on 102.2. This is a fact much lamented by many enthusiasts of good quality soul, fusion and smooth jazz who reside outside the confines of the capital. There is of course Internet radio for those out of range. Jazz FM is currently available on line via Windows Media Player. Log on at www.jazzfm.co.uk and follow the on screen instructions. Although the play list offers the listener a wide range of soul, fusion and smooth jazz music it can, at certain times, suffer from ‘promotional overload’. This is due to the fact that Jazz FM, as well as being a smooth jazz radio station, has an extremely active ‘Jazz FM records’ production business. The business involves the regular release of compilation discs, the most recent of which have been smooth jazz collections. Consequently, around the release time of such recordings, the station understandably tends to stack the play list with examples of the new record. These compilations are invariably well put together but, from the radio listeners point of view, can make the output bereft of variation. However it would be churlish to be too critical of what is rapidly evolving into a top-notch smooth jazz radio station. Future editions of The Secret Garden will take an in depth look at Jazz FM records and will profile breakfast show presenter Robbie Vincent. In addition it will take a look at plans for the expansion of Jazz FM to other parts of the United Kingdom. Secret Garden is indebted to John Baish and Robbie Vincent of Jazz FM for their assistance in the compilation of this article.

Smooth Soul Survivors
For a recording to be classed by Secret Garden as a Smooth Soul Survivor it must be a much loved smooth jazz track which has its origins deep in the soul music of the 60’s and 70’s. The intention is to encourage you to search out these items of buried treasure from the racks of your favourite record stores.
	This months Smooth Soul Survivor is the McDaniels composition Feel Like Making Love. It is best remembered as a 1974 stateside chart topper for Roberta Flack. In that same year it also spent seven weeks on the UK charts where it reached #34. In addition it featured on the 1975 Roberta Flack long player of the same name on which Bob James played keyboards. James used the same players from this recording for his own version which was released at the same time as the Flack original and was included on his album One. As a consequence the recording career of Bob James was given a massive boost as both the Roberta Flack chart topper and his own version were often played back to back on the radio. ‘Feel Like Making Love’ was written by Kansas City born Eugene McDaniels. McDaniels had released a solo album on Atlantic in 1970 titled Outlaw and also composed for artists such as George Benson and Bo Diddley. He featured on backing vocals with Roberta Flack on her 1970 release Chapter Two and her 1971 recording Quiet Fire. He went on to produce her 1977 release Blue Lights In The Basement on which he again shared background vocals. This album contains a previous Smooth Soul Survivor, ‘The Closer I Get To You’, a duet with Donny Hathaway. McDaniels produced with the Supremes as well as collaborating with The Floaters for whom he produced their 1979 album Into The Future. The credentials of ‘Feel Like Making Love’ as a Smooth Soul Survivor steadily built over the years that followed. It became a hit for Heatwave and can be found on their 1995 hits release The Best Of Heatwave. Jeffrey Osborne featured the track on his 1991 release Only Human on which Grover Washington Junior also played. The Isaac Hayes treatment of the song can be tasted on the 1998 compilation ‘Soul Classics’ and Larry Coryell chipped in on another 1998 compilation, ‘The Very Best Of Smooth Jazz’. Twenty-five years old, still going strong and still sounding great. Just another Smooth Soul Survivor.

If you have any comments on what you have found in this months Secret Garden please contact the Smooth Jazz Vibes Guest Book or e mail me on DenisPoole@AOL.com

Added: 3/5/2000