One of the last remaining stations to proclaim themselves as “Smooth Jazz” is in the process of joining the multitude to shy away from the moniker. Clear Channel’s 95.5 KYOT Phoenix has shed its traditional saxophone logo and Coyote moniker as it steers the station towards Smooth AC as “The New 95.5 KYOT”
What’s the difference? Much less instrumental music, more R&B from the likes of John Legend, Toni Braxton, and R. Kelly, and the AC gold that have been shunned from Mainstream AC as it got more current: Hall & Oates, Sting, and Michael Jackson. The format has seen a boost at KTWV Los Angeles and could help remake Smooth Jazz viable as an Older leaning AC.