By now there’s close to a foot of snow on the ground and a cold wind out of the north.  I put another log on the fire before glancing through photos of some of my favorite smooth jazz shows.  As I look, a common theme begins to emerge.  I see sunny days, shorts, sun glasses and sweat.  Ahhh… but to have one of those days this week!

What other music industry is as seasonal as smooth jazz?  Look at the release schedules for the winter months and it is usually fairly bare.  Except for a couple of cruises, the concert schedule is the same way.  Is it because of the warm weather concerts, or lack of venues for the winter shows?

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes in preparation for a great season.  I see that Rick Braun and Richard Elliot are going to work on a new duets disc.  Mindi Abair has new work coming in April, and Steve Cole is working on yet another release.  But, as earlier stated, it’s all in anticipation for the “jazz season.”

So when does “jazz season” begin?  Lots of fans look forward to the first festival of the year in March at Berks.  It is a multi-day and multi-venue event, but it’s still the first gathering of talent and fans.  That leads into the Seabreeze Festival in April, where there is warm Florida sun and a single outdoor gathering.   From that time on, the shows and releases hit full stride the rest of the spring and on through the summer.  The tours are usually packed through the Labor Day weekend and begin winding down with the temps.  Should we have an official opening and closing of “jazz season”?  After all, we have baseball, basketball and football seasons.  We could promote it and have a “countdown to kick-off” or “opening day” shows and releases to draw attention!  How about March 1st until October 1st?  Then when we’re going through our winter jazz withdrawal, we could look at the calendar and see that there is only 23 more days until “jazz season.”

The snow is tapering off now, and the fire is dying down.  Last summer’s favorite releases are randomly playing.  It’s time to make travel plans and circle dates for shows and releases.  Winter will be over soon, and we’ll be right back in “jazz season” before you know it.

- Harvey Cline