"Mellow Jazz" Internet Radio Channel Celebrates Art of the Jazz Ballad

[AccuJazz]

To celebrate the softer side of jazz, AccuJazz Internet radio has introduced a new channel called "Mellow Jazz." Playing over 1,000 recordings of ballads by great jazz musicians, the channel is completely free to use and available 24 hours a day at AccuJazz.com.

Throughout its history, jazz has first and foremost been a music of explosive, infectious rhythms. It was the syncopated, "hot" rhythms of the first New Orleans jazz bands that heralded a revolutionary new style, not any new chords or innovative instrumentation. While swinging rhythm is a defining characteristic of jazz, there has always been a flip side to the music's insistent pulse: romantic, soul-searching balladry, presented at slow tempos. The focus in this style is more about creating a mood and telling a story than provoking a visceral physical response in the listener (though there are certainly countless instances of slow jazz ballads that swing like mad -- Oscar Peterson trio, anyone?)

Golden-toned tenor saxophonists like Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster were early masters of the style, and every great jazz musician since them has incorporated ballads in to their repertoire. The relaxed, soulful, and romantic sound of a well-delivered jazz ballad has long been a hallmark of smoky jazz clubs, elegant dinner parties, and makeout sessions. Now, listeners wanting to create that mood need look no further than AccuJazz.com's "Mellow Jazz" channel.

Despite its seemingly narrow focus, the "Mellow Jazz" playlist is far from monotonous. Jazz musicians are never lacking in inventiveness, and their treatment of slower tempos is no exception. There's the sensous bossa nova of Stan Getz and Joao Gilberto, the ornate pianism of Erroll Garner and Ahmad Jamal, big band ballads by Basie and Ellington, and romantic vocals from Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Dianne Reeves and many more.

"Mellow Jazz" brings the total AccuJazz channel tally to 46, including such popular channels as "Piano Jazz," "Decade: 50s," "Straight Ahead," and "Jazz Fusion." As with all AccuJazz channels, listeners can customize their experience by pausing, skipping songs, and "deselecting" artists they would rather not hear. Listen now at AccuJazz.com.

[Pete C]

I just tried to try AccuJazz for the first time. Regardless of what station I try, it launches a player, says it's playing, nothing plays, and the time display says 00:00. Hitting the play button doesn't work. Your FAQ talks about certain workarounds for firewalls, etc., but I have absolutely no problem with Pandora or pretty much any other streaming media with proprietary popup players (I also tested Spinner/AOL radio, which works, though doesn't have anything I'd want to listen to). So, to be honest, if your tech people can't get it right, I'm not wasting my time trying to make your player work.

[Uli]

It works fine for me (with my apparently not updated IE).

[Pete C]

It works fine for me (with my apparently not updated IE).

I don't know if it's Firefox or some other settings I'm using, but as I said, other systems work for me, and it's the responsibility of the content provider to make it work on as many platforms and configurations as possible if they want the traffic.

[CraigP]

I don't know if it's Firefox or some other settings I'm using, but as I said, other systems work for me, and it's the responsibility of the content provider to make it work on as many platforms and configurations as possible if they want the traffic.

Hey, mellow out, Pete!

[Uli]

Sure, Pete. I like accu radio. So for me it would probably not be time wasted. But as it works fine for me, I don't even have that theoretical problem.

[Pete C]

Hey, mellow out, Pete!

Web design issues often make me angry!

[Gary Sisco]

The other day I saw a smooth CD calling itself "urban jazz." Is that as opposed to rural jazz or what?

[AccuJazz]

Pete,

Lucas from AccuJazz here. I'm quite dismayed to hear of your troubles. It is indeed our responsibility to make AccuJazz work on as many platforms and for as many users as possible. I haven't heard any other complaints recently. Have you tried lately, in case it was some insidious glitch right around the time you first tried? If it still ain't working, I will further investigate with the AccuRadio master tech guru.

Apologies,
Lucas

[Pete C]

Pete,

Lucas from AccuJazz here. I'm quite dismayed to hear of your troubles. It is indeed our responsibility to make AccuJazz work on as many platforms and for as many users as possible. I haven't heard any other complaints recently. Have you tried lately, in case it was some insidious glitch right around the time you first tried? If it still ain't working, I will further investigate with the AccuRadio master tech guru.

Apologies,
Lucas

Hi Lucas. Mellow Jazz still isn't working for me (that was the only one I tested before IIRC)--I get a message that stays at the bottom of the player that says "transferring data from 3393.voxcdn.com" Piano Jazz-same thing as does vocal jazz.

Modern Mainstream plays nothing and says "done" at the bottom, as does Modern West Coast and Big Band, after first displaying the above message.

Decade: '90s works fine however.

Some random others don't work either. Of the stations I tested just now only '90s delivers.

Firefox w/ Verizon DSL.

With IE, different problem--hung up trying to launch player, message at bottom of blank player says waiting for player.slipstreamradio.com, including '90s.

I appreciate your response, so I decided to do these further tests. Could there be some issue between your servers and my ISP or Zone Alarm? Zone Alarm isn't prompting me for rights.

[AccuJazz]

I just forwarded your whole post to our tech guy. Hopefully he'll have some solution up his sleeve. I'll be sure to let you know!

-Lucas