"A legend has ceased to exist!" screamed my inner spirit as my Dad answered the question with the words I didn't want to hear. "It's gone," he said from the back of the van. Smooth Jazz 105.9 was no longer on the radio. Some oldies station had replaced it. I left my hand on the nob for a second as I was driving down 66. I was on my way back to DC and all I wanted to do was relaxed but I couldn't. The sweet sound of a jazzy saxophone had been replaced with the whine of the Beach Boys. I scoffed and thought about WHFS 99.1 becoming El Zol, I think a little part of me died that day too.
Smooth Jazz was gone! It was almost more shocking then finding out last weekend that the huge pine tree that I climbed as a kid had fallen over and covering one forth of the backyard. (Yeap, $1000 to have it removed.) Honestly, I can't even tell you how many times we drove home from Grandma's to have Smooth Jazz playing in the background. The first sign of being home from a road trip was to have that station break through the white static. My love for sweet Sade and the excellent voice of Luther Vandross all came from watching my parents jam out to Smooth Jazz. Even as I grew older these past 14 years, whenever I couldn't take the rock/pop noise of the other stations Smooth Jazz was my way to freedom.
It's sad. Very sad. I don't think the oldie station that replaced it could ever make 14 years even if it wanted to. I just want to say thanks for being apart of my childhood, "Smooth Jazz 105.9"