Jazz on XM Satellite and Sirius Satellite - Anyone Listen?

makpjazz57 · December-29th-2006, 12:29 PM

Hi All,

I was just curious to get opinions. I have a subscription to Sirius satellite radio and listen to Gary Burton's Sunday show, as well as Les Davis' show. Does anyone have any opinions on either XM or Sirius and their jazz programming (or other satellite radio providers for that matter).

I still have my favorites on traditional FM - I listen to my hometown jazz station, WGBH in Boston and from time to time, listen via the internet to other stations such as WBGO in Newark, as well.

Thanks in advance to anyone who might have an opinion!

Marla

stonemonkts · December-29th-2006, 01:13 PM

I have XM as part of my Directv package. I find their "Real Jazz" station unbearable. Way too many scatty vocal tracks for my taste.

Their classical station is excellent, however.

makpjazz57 · December-29th-2006, 06:41 PM

I'm guessing the satellite radio stations are much more focused on news and sports, but glad you find the classical station to your liking!

Marla

stonemonkts · December-29th-2006, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makpjazz57

I'm guessing the satellite radio stations are much more focused on news and sports, but glad you find the classical station to your liking!

Marla

Actually every radio station I get via satellite is all music all the time. Not a word of news or sports.

Enforcer · December-30th-2006, 09:39 AM

I get XM and my experience is different than stone's. I like the Real Jazz station and don't hear much vocal music. Maybe it's the hours I listen to it. But I listen to a bunch of other stations, too. The Beyond Jazz stretches into some different territory. The sports coverage is great if you're into that. I listen to hockey games and have the Home Ice show on all the time. Talk radio devoted to NHL hockey 24/7. I'm a hockey nerd.

I just like the variety. There are just a lot more stations to listen to, and you can find the unedited tracks that leave in the instrumental parts and the profanity.

makpjazz57 · December-30th-2006, 10:18 AM

For me, Sirius has worked well, because they now allow you to listen via internet minus radio purchase. There are less show selection options, but the jazz shows I enjoy are part of the package.

While nothing can replace a great jazz station on FM radio, this has been a bit of a fun alternative for me. I may even get the car radio for listening to Sirius on long drives when I'm out of range of jazz stations and need a change from my MP3 player. I've found when I drive from the Boston area to visit friends/family in NJ, there are pockets of areas in each state where there just isn't any jazz radio programming, mostly during the daytime hours.

Marla

shrugs · December-30th-2006, 02:03 PM

the jazz stations on XM are no good.

ADino · December-31st-2006, 12:31 PM

I have xm on my direct tv also, find I listen to beyond jazz more often than the real jazz station, the real jazz jazz selections could use some work. In CA not too long ago, the car I was using had Sirus, I thought it to be much better than xm. They had If memory serves, something like 5 jazz channels, Jazz Cafe? I may be wrong, but that one was simply great. I wanted to keep the Sirus when I had to give the car up.

makpjazz57 · December-31st-2006, 02:30 PM

Sirius has:

"Pure Jazz," which features the shows of folks such as Gary Burton and Les Davis. Also, I believe Michael Cuscuna does a Blue Note Records show on this station.

There's a "new age" station and a "modern jazz/fusion station," too.

To give you an idea of what Burton plays, as he is on now - so far this a.m., some of the stuff I've listened to:

- Nat King Cole
- Steve Turre
- Les McCann/Eddie Harris
- Miles w/Trane
- Joe Williams
- Gary with his group, "Generations"
- Stan Getz
- Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Smith
- Red Garland

So, pretty straight ahead stuff. Les Davis basically follows the same path - playing straight ahead jazz. Haven't tuned in yet to the Blue Note records feature broadcast; have to find out what times/dates it is offered. All in all, I'm pretty happy with Sirius as another option - meaning I also listen to FM and to my CDs.

Marla

clinthopson · January-1st-2007, 12:15 PM

We had Sirius jazz stations when we had Dish satellite. I liked the Burton program. We switched to DirectTv and have been getting XM. The only jazz channel worth a shit is "Real Jazz." They need to upgrade their library.

Lois Gilbert · January-1st-2007, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makpjazz57

Sirius has:

"Pure Jazz," which features the shows of folks such as Gary Burton and Les Davis. Also, I believe Michael Cuscuna does a Blue Note Records show on this station.

There's a "new age" station and a "modern jazz/fusion station," too.

To give you an idea of what Burton plays, as he is on now - so far this a.m., some of the stuff I've listened to:

- Nat King Cole
- Steve Turre
- Les McCann/Eddie Harris
- Miles w/Trane
- Joe Williams
- Gary with his group, "Generations"
- Stan Getz
- Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Smith
- Red Garland

So, pretty straight ahead stuff. Les Davis basically follows the same path - playing straight ahead jazz. Haven't tuned in yet to the Blue Note records feature broadcast; have to find out what times/dates it is offered. All in all, I'm pretty happy with Sirius as another option - meaning I also listen to FM and to my CDs.

Marla

Hi Marla
Actually it Bruce Lundvall not Michael Cuscuna on Sirius. Oscar Castro-Neves will also be doing a Brazilian show on XM.

There are also some of the jocks from BGO on Sirius like Rhonda Hamilton and I believe James Browne (who runs Sweet Rhythm now) does a show on Sirius.

I think in the next 2 years the landscape for Sirius and XM will change dramatically - I forsee a merge, esp if they want to get into Canada and go globally

I went to a private taped for broadcast show at XM 2 weeks ago with Maxx Myrick and Wynton and his group performing. Apparently they have a weekly show together. It was quite fun!

makpjazz57 · January-2nd-2007, 08:58 AM

Hi Lois,

Thanks for the Lundvall correction.

I also think that satellite radio might be an alternative for those folks who have (or are about to) sadly, lose their am and/or fm jazz radio station. I think Chicago might be one of those cities where the main jazz station is about to change format. Of course, there's a little thing call money and there is a monthly charge for satellite radio, as well as the cost of the car and/or home satellite radio.

Also, thanks for the heads up about Rhonda Hamilton on Sirius. When I was living in NJ, she was a favorite of mine and I didn't know she had a program on Sirius!

Marla

clinthopson · January-2nd-2007, 11:24 AM

I noticed that when we had the Dish sattelite that I would hear Rhonda Hamilton and Michael Bourne every so often.

Of course, I hear them all the time now with streaming WBGO.

Tom 1960 · January-2nd-2007, 03:26 PM

I just received XM radio as a Christmas present from my brother. He payed up to 6 months of programming also. So far, pretty cool. If I get tired of hearing one particular format, I have many others to choose from. So far I've focused my attention to Real Jazz, Bluesville and the Classical station. I dig it. Will I keep the service after the 6 month period expires? Probably. Between that, the internet radio stations and my cd library I have a ton of music to listen to.

stonemonkts · January-2nd-2007, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry Nagel

I get XM and my experience is different than stone's. I like the Real Jazz station and don't hear much vocal music. Maybe it's the hours I listen to it.

I checked it out during hours I normally don't tune in to it (afternoons), and they played mostly stuff I like (Bud Powell, Art Farmer, Thad Jones, Monk).

But I have to say as a jazz station it pales in comparison to the classical counterpart (relatively speaking), which played the complete Goldberg Variations (Gould, 1980) shortly after I switched back to it.

Enforcer · January-2nd-2007, 04:50 PM

Fixed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

I checked it out during hours I normally don't tune in to it (afternoons), and they played mostly stuff I like (Bud Powell, Art Farmer, Thad Jones, Monk).

But I have to say as a jazz station it pales in comparison to the classical counterpart (relatively speaking), which played the complete Goldberg Variations (Gould, 1980) shortly after I switched back to it.

Also, where's the Sounds From Porn Movies Of The 70s station? Wait, you're telling me THERE IS NO SUCH STATION? What kind of operation is it they're running over there at XM? Uh, yeah. Thanks, but no thanks, XM Satellite Radio.

stonemonkts · January-2nd-2007, 05:06 PM

SEJ · January-2nd-2007, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by makpjazz57

Sirius has:

"Pure Jazz," which features the shows of folks such as Gary Burton and Les Davis. Also, I believe Michael Cuscuna does a Blue Note Records show on this station.

There's a "new age" station and a "modern jazz/fusion station," too.

To give you an idea of what Burton plays, as he is on now - so far this a.m., some of the stuff I've listened to:

- Nat King Cole
- Steve Turre
- Les McCann/Eddie Harris
- Miles w/Trane
- Joe Williams
- Gary with his group, "Generations"
- Stan Getz
- Kenny Burrell/Jimmy Smith
- Red Garland

So, pretty straight ahead stuff. Les Davis basically follows the same path - playing straight ahead jazz. Haven't tuned in yet to the Blue Note records feature broadcast; have to find out what times/dates it is offered. All in all, I'm pretty happy with Sirius as another option - meaning I also listen to FM and to my CDs.

Marla

I'm sure that's all wonderful music, but isn't it predominantly very old? Out of nine pieces, probably only two are less than (at least) three decades old. (And you know what? The reissues of the other seven artists outsell the new recordings of the others.) I don't care if it's real, straight ahead jazz; you'd better flip that ratio before I'll even think of listening.

Andy Traxel · January-4th-2007, 10:13 PM

I like Sirius from a practical standpoint but have come to find the jazz programming pretty narrow.

I got Sirius 2 1/2 years ago because of the miserable state of commercial radio in Milwaukee. Especially the syndicated jazz programming that WYMS was using. I bought what they call a plug & play unit with docks for the car and the house. I pay about $12/month for the subscription.

In the house about the only Sirius channel I listen to is the Real Jazz channel that features Burton, Lundvall, Davis, etc.. In the car I channel surf the blues and classic rock stations as well. I like Sirius enough that I've essentially stopped listening to commercial radio anytime and anywhere.

But I've found the playlist on Real Jazz to be disappointing over time. Too much like jazz greatest hits programming. Too many songs by the dearly departed. And the same songs by them over and over. I already own that stuff. I'd like to get turned on to something new (to me).

As far as artists still with us, there's way too much by Monheit, Krall, Allyson, etc. for my tastes and not enough by contemporary instrumentalists. I'm not expecting them to get real out. But for example, why don't they ever play anything by Lynn Arriale? And why only one song each by Brian Lynch and David Hazeltine a few times? (gotta root for the home folks) I can't remember ever hearing anything by Steve Slagle, Dave Stryker, inside James Carter, Dave Holland's big band or the current Gerald Wilson orchestra for example either.