Welcome to the website for Forever Cool, the Internet radio station that plays the coolest jazz on the net. I concentrate on jazz that's more relaxed and laid-back...great for sipping cocktails on the patio or to help you get through your work day. I like to consider my station the jazz purist's alternative to Smooth Jazz. Most of the selections represent a style of jazz prevalent in the 50's and 60's known as Cool and West Coast Jazz, with some Bossa Nova thrown in for good measure.
According to Down Beat Magazine, "The heat and urgency of bebop began to relax with the development of Cool Jazz. Starting in the late 1940s and early '50s, musicians began to develop a less frantic, smoother approach toward improvising modeled after the light, dry playing of swing-era tenorist Lester Young. The result was a laid-back and even-keeled sound bearing a facade of emotionally detached "coolness."
"Like Cool Jazz, West Coast Jazz was much more subdued than the frantic bebop that preceded it. Most West Coast Jazz was scored out in great detail, and it often sounded a bit European with its use of contrapuntal lines. However, the music left wide-open spaces for long, linear solo improvisations." The main artists are Miles Davis, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Chet Baker, Ahmad Jamal, Barney Kessel, Kenny Burrell, Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, and Wes Montgomery.
In the early 60's, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd were exposed to Brazilian music through figures such as Antonio Carlos Jobim and Laurindo Almeida. The resulting blend of jazz and samba became known as Bossa Nova. Bossa Nova had the same 'cool' style as Cool and West Coast Jazz but with a Brazilian beat. It is for this reason that it has found its way into 'Forever Cool' as well.
I hope you enjoy listening to the station, and being a part of 'Forever Cool'. Please email me with any requests, suggestions, or comments. I update the playlist regularly every week and have a library of over 6500 individual tracks that is expanding all the time. Thanks for listening and stay cool.....