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The Straight Skinny
The New Wave, "Rich And Smooth"
By Carol Archer |
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First Listen: Jhani Kaye’s KTWV (The Wave)/Los Angeles For the music community that may not see it, the following exerpts on The Wave ran last week in Edison Research's VP of Music and Programming Sean Ross' outstanding twice-weekly newsletter, Ross On Radio. |
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"We wrote that we were looking forward to hearing what KRTH (K-Earth 101)/Los Angeles programmer Jhani Kaye did with his additional responsibilities at Smooth Jazz sister and format pioneer KTWV(The Wave). It didn’t take long. Within days, listeners on the Radio-Info.com discussion boards were chronicling the changes: the term 'smooth jazz' came off the air, there were fewer instrumentals, and vocals now included Timbaland f/OneRepublic's 'Apologize' and Malo's 'Suavecito.'
"There have been a lot of agendas for Smooth Jazz throughout the format's recent travails. Those on the discussion board expected that Kaye would quickly turn the Wave into a direct competitor for his former employer, Soft AC KOST. Many in the industry have wanted the format to evolve more towards Triple-A.
"The Wave, at this point in its evolution, is neither of those. Instead, it's the format that a lot of the Smooth Jazz purists gripe about -- lots of R&B (and compatible pop) vocals and instrumental covers of recognizable songs. It's the Smooth Jazz that nobody likes, except the audience. The R&B flavor isn't new for this station, but it's more noticeable with a greater proportion of vocals in the mix. |
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The term "smooth jazz" came off the air, there were fewer instrumentals, and vocals now included Timbaland f/OneRepublic's "Apologize" and Malo's "Suavecito." – Sean Ross |