JAZZ SHOW BREAKS INTO NASHVILLE

It doesn’t surprise Art Good in the least that jazz is big in Nashville, Tenn., where Johnny Cash is thought of as a national hero and the most popular tourist attractions are the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

After all, it was Good’s nightly “Lites Out Jazz” show on adult-contemporary radio station KIFM-FM (98.1) that turned San Diego on to the mellow pop-jazz sounds of artists like David Sanborn, Chuck Mangione and Pat Metheny in March, 1982.

With the subsequent pop-jazz explosion that rocked--or, rather, soothed--the nation’s record stores, concert halls and airwaves, Good considers it nothing more than a sign of the times that the latest radio station to subscribe to his new syndicated pop-jazz show is WTMG-FM (96) in Nashville, which signed up May 11.

“The music is so good that once people hear it, they like it,” said the 32-year-old Good. “And with all the new artists entering the pop-jazz field, there’s plenty of music to keep the interest going.”

Since Good decided to go national in September with “Art Good’s Jazz Trax,” 12 radio stations throughout the country have signed up to carry his show, including ones in Buffalo, Seattle and Phoenix.

Each weekend, Good records three six-hour shows in his home studio: one for broadcast Saturday night, another for Sunday morning, and a third for Sunday night. Subscribing stations must purchase at least two hours of jazz, although most take more and some buy the entire 18-hour package.

Good charges each station a $50-a-month production cost along with three minutes of commercial air time per hour, which he may then sell to a national sponsor--once he finds one.

Until that happens, Good said, he’s operating in the red, supporting himself by hosting the morning drive and weekend jazz shows on KIFM and by emceeing live jazz nights during the week at such local clubs as Lehr’s Greenhouse and the Catamaran.

But by year’s end, Good said, he hopes to have signed 100 stations around the country--and that should make his search for a sponsor a lot easier.

“The first thing you have to do, in any new syndication project, is build a chain of stations,” Good said. “And once you have enough stations that carry your show, you begin to look for a sponsor.

“I’m at the point now where all I need is a few more stations before I begin approaching beer companies, soft-drink firms and car manufacturers.

“But I’m certainly not worried--jazz caught on in San Diego almost the day I began my show here four years ago, and I’m confident the same will happen elsewhere in the country.”

Even Nashville.