Jazz for Drive Time

Masland, Tom, Chang, Yahlin, Newsweek

LAST MONTH SAXOPHONIST GARY Bartz made a jazz record the old way. After a couple of afternoons rehearsing his band, he spent three days in the studio with them blowing long, cathartic solos that invoked the spirit of John Coltrane. It's the kind of record jazz critics will love. College and public radio stations will probably play it heavily for a few weeks--and Bartz will be lucky to sell 15,000 copies. Across town, another saxophonist, David Sanborn, was making an instrumental record the new way. He had a month of studio time. When the record comes out, Sanborn's vibrant, bluesy solos will reach another audience: the millions of radio listeners who tune in to commercial FM stations that play what they call "smooth jazz." The disc could well go gold. And jazz critics will ignore it.

Who made the …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Jazz for Drive Time. Contributors: Masland, Tom - Author, Chang, Yahlin - Author. Magazine title: Newsweek. Volume: 127. Issue: 21 Publication date: May 20, 1996. Page number: 76. © 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.