Pureplay of the Day: Somehow Jazz

Let’s talk about Smooth Jazz. We know what you’re thinking. But the problems with Smooth Jazz — the sugary coating, the lascivious saxophone licks, the percussion chimes sprinkled like fairy dust over cadences, the pseudo-funk, the quasi-cool — all that becomes problematic through accumulation of relentless genre flogging. What happens when you blend tasteful Smooth Jazz with articulate Straight Jazz?

Go to Somehow Jazz to find out. (www.somehowjazz.com) Yeah, you’ll get Everette Harp and Joe Sample. You’ll find contrast with Maceo Parker and Brian Bromberg. The juxtapositions will illuminate one and the other.

Like most pureplays featured in this series, Somehow Jazz is supported entirely by listener donations. You can kick in any amount; suggested gifts range from ten bucks to 500 dollars. That’s what we call patronage!

A pop-out player makes web listening easy and controllable. Bit rates go up to 320k mp3, so put this stream through your best speakers. And wear your most comfortable shoes for day-long foot-tapping.

Brad Hill