Opinion

Whenever the BBC makes changes to the sacred rituals of Radio 3, howls of protest follow. New scheduling introduced in February did bring the usual cries of 'dumbing down'. Personally, the changes didn't bother me very much because I'd got so much into the habit of time-shifting my radio listening.

I'd already got over the shock I felt in October 2023, when, after 60 years of broadcasting on Saturdays, Jazz Record Requests was moved to Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, it hasn't been moved again, and thanks to BBC Sounds, I can listen to it on Saturday if I want.

Jez Nelson and Chris Philips of new jazz radio station One Jazz

A New Era

There have been times when it seemed that JRR was mainly for oldies. Radio 3 has long sought to engage younger jazz listeners with other shows, but from February a welcome new era began with Soweto Kinch presenting Round Midnight, five nights every week. But jazz fans (especially the younger ones) don't have to rely on Radio 3. They can turn to Jazz FM (which, despite its name and convoluted history, is a digital station for the UK and Malta) or to specialist streaming service Jazzed.

But in May 2024 came news of a new online, 24/7 global jazz radio platform. It's the work of two very long-established and hugely successful presenters in the field, Jez Nelson and Chris Philips. And by the time you read these words, One Jazz should be well established.

Before its launch I was able chat with Jez and Chris, and was told One Jazz is a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organisation. As Jez says, 'It sounds a bit crass, but I guess really the only thing we look for is quality. We don't have to compromise'.

Though reflecting the heritage with music from the mid-to-late 1950s onwards, One Jazz will be focused on new and current jazz, says Jez: 'Seventy per cent-ish of the music on the network will be new, new meaning things that have been recorded in the last year or so'.

Sticking With It

As Chris Philips puts it, 'This is not so much a business venture as an altruistic venture. We're going to try and challenge people's comfort zones with the music and be as broad as possible within reason. However, the broad sense of jazz music that's applied these days in some parts - by including soul and R&B, maybe even blues - is not our remit. We're not going to touch that. We are sticking to the idea and the feel of jazz music, veering away from the straight and narrow stuff that occupies the space elsewhere'.

This would certainly set One Jazz apart from, for example, Jazz FM, which embraces soul and blues as part of the mix. As does the service Jazzed, in fact, which was launched with an intention to become 'the global go-to destination for everyone that loves jazz'.

Pirate Radio

But with an array of keen international contributors already on board, One Jazz looks perhaps more likely to achieve something approaching true global coverage. It seems to have successfully cut through the restraints of the commercial radio world.

'We could have spent years writing a business plan', says Jez, 'and going out and trying to raise investment and stuff. But we decided to actually launch it, get it out there, and get people's feedback - it's not going to be the finished thing when it launches - and then to start generating revenue.

'We started off as pirates, you know. We did pirate radio 40 years ago. We actually launched a pirate jazz station, K Jazz, in 1985. And this feels a bit pirate, it's a bit like "Let's just do it!" and make it up, get it out there!'.