The Straight Skinny

 

 

Season's Greetings & Good Will To All

 

 

By Carol Archer

Response to BA President Allen Kepler's remarks here two weeks ago continues to pour in.  

 

AC WLRQ/Melbourne, FL Lite Jazz Brunch programmer and SmoothViews.com writer Shannon West comments: "We in the Smooth/Contemporary Jazz community need to focus our thoughts, energy and creativity on visions of what we want to manifest, not a reaction against something. Yes, a lot of us have directly or indirectly had unpleasant experiences related to BA whether it affected our careers or the sound and presentation of the music we love. It's time to dust ourselves off and move forward using those experiences as guidance toward creating alternatives. Working in a situation where your voice is quieted and overridden can cut people off from their own instincts, this goes back to your comments on fear in the workplace. We must now take steps toward getting back in touch with our guts and hearts, the music, and cultivating original thoughts. How? Listen to the music-the whole CD not just the single, talk to real people from all walks of lives, hang out in the back rows at concerts and watch the crowd, and share the ideas that come to you with your peers.

 

"This was a fabulous year for music. I heard more excellent new releases than there have been in years. Those of us who have been able to share them with the audience via indie radio, brunch shows, internet radio or print and online publications are very blessed. What we must do now is connect with each other and share information, our music discoveries and the thoughts and ideas that will be critical to developing alternative approaches to programming contemporary instrumental/NAC music  Not as an attack on any other entity but as a way to present listeners with the whole spectrum of the music. As the Mary Chapin Carpenter song says, 'Ideas are like stars.' We need to let all of them shine whether we agree with them or not," she concludes.

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The views expressed by Carol Archer do not necessarily

reflect the opinions of All That Jazz.  But often they do.

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"This was a fabulous year for music. I heard more excellent new releases than there have been in years.

-Shannon West