Obituary for Jazz89, Part I

Larry Seeman

The voice of the mainstream jazz community in Middle Tennessee died Monday. WMOT radio this week introduced its new format, with news and classical music during the day and jazz in the evenings and overnight. While some jazz remains, it must now be said that what we formerly knew as Jazz89, the voice of the jazz community (and a good part of its heart and soul), is gone. It seems important that someone write an obituary and say a few words over the deceased, so here goes.

I've got some experience with obituaries. My father recently passed away at the age of 95, after a four-year decline from congestive heart failure. We all knew the condition wasn't curable and saw him getting steadily weaker. Yet we kept holding out hope that he would get just a bit better, even if only temporarily, and stick around a little longer. We knew the end was coming; we just assumed it wouldn't be now, and we were still taken aback when it finally came. Such is the nature of human denial and avoidance.

The same thing happened with Jazz89. Two years ago the station was on the verge of being shut down or converted to an all news/talk format. It was spared, thanks in large measure to an outpouring of support from Jazz89's many listeners and fervent fans. About six months later, some news programming was introduced, but only during drive time. It seemed we had dodged another bullet. At that time the slogan was changed from "Jazz89" to "Middle Tennessee Public Radio." That should have been an omen, but denial is a powerful thing. Soon after, there was a noticeable deterioration in the quality of music: about every third song was some sort of blues or something not quite jazz, but "jazzy." We couldn't tell exactly what was driving this, but it didn't sound like the sort of music that longtime Program Director Greg Lee would choose voluntarily. Most likely he was getting some sort of pressure from above. Just what this was expected to accomplish is a mystery. Taking a world-class jazz station with fervent supporters and diluting it with second-tier public radio news and mediocre music doesn't seem like the smartest business decision.

Unless, of course, you want to take some of the steam and fervor out of fan support, which is exactly what happened. It was hard to stay excited about our favorite radio station with the barrage of second-rate blues, BBC commentators expounding on soccer in Australia, and frequent pre-emptions for Blue Raider sports. Nevertheless, echoes of the old Jazz89 remained that could be comforting if we didn't think too hard or look too closely. As with my Dad's decline, there was still enough of the old loved one there that we could close our eyes and remember the younger, stronger version. It shouldn't have been a shock when the format change was announced a couple weeks ago, but it was.

Jazz89 was more than a radio station playing jazz music. It spoke to and for the jazz community. It told us about coming events and the vast diversity of jazz offerings in Middle Tennessee (I know that announcements of local events will continue, but will anyone be there to hear them?). It showcased the many fine jazz artists who make Middle Tennessee their home. And yes, it also played some less-than-stellar local vanity projects, much to the chagrin of some of my purist friends. But, that's part of the jazz community as well. Many of the student DJ's were surprisingly articulate, even if they sometimes mispronounced names, with comical results. In its best days, Jazz89 was a place to hear an amazing diversity of jazz music, from old classics to modern takes on jazz classics, contemporary music, and a large variety of local music. In this diversity was an incredible vitality -- we never knew just what was coming next. Even if one piece of music sounded lame (to our ears) and we wondered "why are they playing that?" the next piece was likely to be a killer.

Pundits are fond of saying that broadcast radio is dying or dead, but it certainly isn't yet. It remains a powerful medium for connecting with us in our homes, cars, and offices, and bringing the outside world to us. Jazz89 connected us with an outside world that said the likes of Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis, and Wynton Marsalis were still important, and brought us works of young, up-and-coming artists. Just as important, it told us that this world existed right here in Middle Tennessee. Yes, I know we can listen to Pandora, XM, Bob Parlocha, or any number of national jazz products. But dammit, the fact that Middle Tennessee itself is a hotbed of jazz creativity is important! The voice we've lost is the voice that tells us, over the airwaves, that it's here.

None of the blame for this loss should go to WMOT's staff. In particular, Greg Lee and Keith Palmer worked long and hard to keep things going in the face of adversity. They deserve a lot of the credit for Jazz89 lasting as long as it did. They held the fort for quite a while, but the rest of us didn't come to the rescue. The fact that the decline in jazz coverage and program quality took away a lot of the fervor of old is an explanation, but not really an excuse.

While some of us might question the business logic of this programming change, it is certainly WMOT's prerogative. We hope, for the sake of our old friends and the little remaining jazz programming, that it is successful. We may gnash our teeth and be sad and angry, but that doesn't mean WMOT owes it to us to continue as it was. The fact that Jazz89 was what it was and did what it did was a happy accident that benefited us all. We may have come to regard it as our due, but it really wasn't.

I'd like to talk a bit more about the community's responsibility, and will do so in a future installment. For now, though, let's just mourn the loss of a trusted old friend.