Author Aaron J. Johnson covers a lot of ground in Jazz Radio America, detailing the rise and fall of stations and their changing formats, the careers of important DJs, and some of the regulatory activity surrounding the radio industry.
Understanding the relationship of any art form to mainstream media in America means looking at the push-pull between commercialism and art and the book links the relative presence or absence of jazz on radio with the rise and fall of its popularity. Although Johnson considers financial exigencies, he analyzes format changes through a lens that is politically and racially infused. I found the book’s value to be in its historical scope, so that even if one doesn’t necessarily agree with his analysis, one still gets an excellent overall view of the long relationship between radio and jazz.
Johnson, himself a musician and former radio person, counts anti-black sentiment as an important element in programming decisions. No doubt this was true and parallels the segregation that held sway through much of the 20th century. However, at times he overdraws the point. For example, he says “Black music could be used as a boogieman whenever needed to support a decision…”—for example, the decision to not program rock and roll. However, there was as much
