Smooth Jazz in Seattle

My music roots go back a long way. It started when I was a small child watching my dad play his guitar and gradually learning to play his Chet Atkins style of finger picking. He was in a number of bands when he was very young and in addition to playing guitar was an incredible whistler. That's not something you see much of, but he could whistle like a champ.
After the guitar I was taken by keyboards, which in those days meant the very first electronic keyboards, know then as chord organs. They had a short right-hand keyboard with piano keys and a set of twelve or so buttons for the left that played chords for accompanyment. It wasn't long from there to the accordion. I still do not know how my parents managed to afford to get me that gorgeous Stanelli instrument, but after spending several months in lessons on the tiny 12-bass student rental, they became convinced I was going to stick with it and by some miracle put in my hands a magnificent instrument.

From there followed a series of electric guitars as I worked my way into the fun rock and roll of the 60's. First a cheap Airline (sold through Montgomery Ward catalog) and then a still cheap Kent. After that I became a bit more particular and had a Fender Mustang, then a Vox of some sort, finally a Fender Telecaster - the guitar I had for the longest time. Now I'm reduced to a cheap Yamaha electric and a fabulous hand-built Alvarez.

All of this background of various musical styles leads me to my current favorite muscial category - what is popularly known as smooth jazz. Some people I'm close to ridicule this music as "crappy jazz". I understand that to be the misunderstandings of an immature musical concept and forgive such harshess. Imagine my chagrin when, in December of 2010, the local "groovy jazz" station - KWJZ - was sacrificed to some completely uninteresting format and changed to KLICK. Instead of the complexity and satisfaction of highly talented and creative artists such as Anita Baker or Michael Franks or Randy Brecker I get some mix of "modern music". Well good news! Now on the Internet you can reconnect with the Smooth Jazz sound in Seattle!!!!

http://smoothinseattle.com/listen/