"Boston's Real Jazz" WZBR 1410 on air

[Rob Landry]

On Sat, 21 Dec 2013, A Joseph Ross wrote:

> I wonder where he gets a revenue stream for this.  There have been a number 
> of efforts to have a jazz station on FM, and it's never taken off.  Who would 
> advertise on a jazz station on AM?

The "Real Jazz" format came about when WZBR was operating from its 
temporary site in Brockton, which was in a residential neighborhood. The 
landlord agreed to host a transmitter in his basement and a longwire 
antenna across his back yard on condition tht the format be in English 
with a clearly identifiable way to contact the station in case any of his 
neighbors had RFI complaints.

So, I was asked to come up with a solution. I had an old computer in my 
closet loaded with Rivendell, so I dragged it out, copied about 5,000 jazz 
cuts into it, and created "Real Jazz 1410" on a Sunday afternoon. I then 
drove the computer down to the landlord's house in Brockton and installed 
it next to the transmitter in his basement. When the transmitter moved to 
Hyde Park in October, my computer moved with it. It's now running in one 
of the former WKOX/WVBF studios in Framingham. When WZBR's permanent 
format debuts, the computer will go back in my closet.

A real "Real Jazz" format would be done more elegantly, taking into 
account that some styles of jazz are more popular than others, with "hit" 
songs in tighter rotation, and incorporating news, weather reports, and 
other features. The present format only crudely distinguishes different 
styles, and plays everything in the library more or less at random.

There is, after all, only so much one can accomplish in one afternoon.


Rob