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White Plains workshops pair young musicians with pros

2010-05-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

WHITE PLAINS — Shaunice Alexander is focused on college at the moment — but a career on the stage definitely is in her sights.

Musician Bob Baldwin shows students how to record music to their computers during a New Urban Jazz mentoring session at the Arts Exchange in White Plains. The program pairs young musicians with professionals to teach them about the music industry. (Frank Becerra Jr./The Journal News)

And now she's got an edge.

The 18-year-old aspiring performer has been among dozens of local students to take part in the New Urban Jazz mentoring workshops, a pairing of professional artists and young musicians designed to teach teenagers the music industry from the inside out.

For Alexander, that has included a dose of music history, lessons on stage presence and even legal tips on how to be savvy when you land your first recording contract.

WHAT SIDE OF THE DEBATE ARE YOU ON??

2009-08-23T20:34:00.000-07:00

Groove Jazz Music Letter
From Seth Keller
groovejazzmusic@gmail.com

Which side of the debate are you on?

Groove Jazz, Smooth Jazz, Contemporary Jazz. With few exceptions the artists, labels and promoters that work in these related genres are independent. Why should radio be any different?

We at Groove Jazz Music celebrate this independence and, consequently, curate both our Mediaguide monitored terrestrial radio panel and our RadioWave monitored internet radio panel to reflect that spirit. Our goal in creating this chart and website is to give voice to an array of stations with differing programming philosophies, which, in turn, we hope will expose passionate fans to new music by established and new artists.

Some in our business believe this approach has a bias toward "local programming." We feel it is a bias toward independent thinking. In the coming weeks we'll be adding yet another group of stations to our terrestrial panel. They are all independent but what they have in common is that they make their own programming decisions. By selecting these types of independent stations, we want to expand the reach of Groove Jazz and Smooth Jazz as a format, not just the reach of the top 20 songs. We want our stations to champion that cause, and, by doing so, believe they'll help labels and artists sell more music and merchandise, promoters sell more tickets and everyone-including the stations themselves--make more money.

Media is becoming more niche and targeted every day. Cable is usurping broadcast. Online news sites are decimating newspapers; and peer to peer sharing along with fan to fan promotion is killing traditional label publicity and marketing campaigns. But in spite of that, more people are listening to more music than ever before...not a bad thing.

The fact that we as a format are niche, that most of us are independent, makes us poised to thrive in this new self-serve media environment. But to do that we must embrace our independence, innovate and leave the status quo behind. We must remember to make the focus of what we do about the music that appeals to our fans, not corporate focus group research that appeals to potential advertisers.

Our fans are unique by virtue of the fact that they embrace instrumentals and vocals outside the pop pantheon. We need to embrace them in return by catering to their musical interests, which may not be the same in Phoenix as they are in Detroit. Our genre is small but it is diverse. We can't serve the same meal to everyone regardless of his or her taste and expect return customers and new devotees.

Look at the Billboard Top 200. Ask network TV execs about ad revenues. The old media world is crumbling. Let's not just be part of the new one that's emerging. By reveling in our independence, let's create it.

Seth Keller Groove Jazz Music

Lovin' Jazz!!

2008-12-20T19:47:00.000-08:00

I'm a little biased, but I love music. Jazz, Funk, Urban, Brazilian, Latin and more. I'd be curious to know your thoughts about this. How does the world view Smooth Jazz, Traditional Jazz and more? Where to you think the music is going in 2009 and beyond? Looking forward to hearing your comments and don't forget to visit us at http://www.newurbanjazz.com/.

Your friends at The NewUrbanJazz Lounge

Welcome to the New Urban Jazz Lounge Blog

2008-12-20T18:55:00.000-08:00

Greetings, Jazzheads.

In the spirit of stepping outside of the box, we thought it was necessary to understand the depth of jazz, from the beginning to the current, from Traditional to Smooth to NewUrbanJazz, from all walks of life. It's important to know what's on your mind so those who share the story of jazz keep you, the reader/listener in mind.

No one's right and no one's wrong, except of course, if you are disrespectful to yourself or others in the universe. There are plenty of mediums which display negativity and emotional/mental destruction, or denegrate genders of people, creeds or colors....this is not the place for that.

If there's nothing constructive to add, don't add it. Just sit back and read from a distance. We thank you for your input.

Your friends aटी नेवुर्बंजज्ज़!

NewUrbanJazz.com