94Q "Jazz Flavours" WQXI - program tapes 1986
We are used to thinking of fusion as a niche genre for collectors, but the connoisseur in the field knows full well that, especially in the '80s and early '90s, fusion could count on dedicated radio stations and many fusion artists sold in droves. The records themselves were often packages, because we’re not just talking about Revered Masters like Chick Corea (preferably in Elektric Band version) or Herbie Hancock, but a myriad of lesser-known names that today are hardly considered, if at all, except by a small group of connoisseurs from America and Japan. One of these is Mr. KJCM, who during those wonderful eighties nights had nothing better to do than turn on the radio, tune in to 94Q in Atlanta, and record entire cassettes of glossy, bland, generic fusion, mostly anonymous and absolutely dispensable. At the border of smooth jazz and even new age. The "beautiful sound," "virtuosity," and "ability to play" were fundamental, more than the quality of the pieces. The atmospheres conjure up an easy exotic imagery from film and TV of the time. Thirty years later, those cassettes still sound so good that Mr. KJCM decides to upload them, one after the other, to his YouTube channel. And fans of shoulder synthesizers and the most anonymous, bland, generic fusion thank him.
We are used to thinking of fusion as a niche genre for collectors, but the connoisseur in the field knows full well that, especially in the '80s and early '90s, fusion could count on dedicated radio stations and many fusion artists sold in droves. The records themselves were often packages, because we’re not just talking about Revered Masters like Chick Corea (preferably in Elektric Band version) or Herbie Hancock, but a myriad of lesser-known names that today are hardly considered, if at all, except by a small group of connoisseurs from America and Japan. One of these is Mr. KJCM, who during those wonderful eighties nights had nothing better to do than turn on the radio, tune in to 94Q in Atlanta, and record entire cassettes of glossy, bland, generic fusion, mostly anonymous and absolutely dispensable. At the border of smooth jazz and even new age. The "beautiful sound," "virtuosity," and "ability to play" were fundamental, more than the quality of the pieces. The atmospheres conjure up an easy exotic imagery from film and TV of the time. Thirty years later, those cassettes still sound so good that Mr. KJCM decides to upload them, one after the other, to his YouTube channel. And fans of shoulder synthesizers and the most anonymous, bland, generic fusion thank him.
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