Engaging, Provocative, Upbeat

For Jazz and AAA stations that creatively and thoughtfully stretch their format's boundaries, this show is worth strong consideration.

This is A MUSIC SHOW: there's a tuned-in and appealing host (Daniel Frankl) and smart production crew (Manon Miessen, Radio Netherlands and Murray Street Productions), but they're in the background. Anyone interested in hearing the music and story telling integrity of a program with a 90 - 10 Music-to-Talk ratio will not be disappointed.

Overall -- intoxicating.

Jazz via the "Electric Band" and "Jazz Fusion" can be an acquired taste, an occasional treat where a little goes a long way. Not everyone succeded like Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock or Weather Report. Many have fallen short.

You'll get a quick jolt of where you stand with the genre with the Electrified: The North Sea Jazz Festival program from European Jazz Stage 2008, and I think your listeners will like this particular sampling of jazz fusion. There's an organic pull to the show's music; you're never too far from home, even in its more obtuse and free form moments. And this music always resolves and comes home in a big way.

This electric themed program includes John Scofield, Medeski, Martin and Wood and Trumpeter/Band Leader Rob van de Wouw, plus a heart-warming (seemingly) acoustic ballad performed by the Esbjorn Svensson Trio (known as EST).

N.B. The show is listed as 59:34. It's actually 58:30 - with two :30 promos at the end. Other shows from the European Jazz Stage 2008 series are available with a different musical edge, and might resonate as well with your listeners.

David Srebnik , Listener Directed Productions, Inc.
Alexandria, VA
August 18, 2008

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