I date myself here but I remember the days of intelligent discourse on tv and radio gab fests, when Oscar Levant or Alexander King would regale Jack Parr and his audiences with tales worthy of recitation. Now, talk show guests, who are for the most part egotistical movie stars and music business icons (has anyone considered the implications of a brain transplant for Mariah Carey?) only appear to plug their latest movie or CD.

As for jazz musicians, they are as rare on major media outlets as jews at a KKK rally. (I’m sorry but BET-On-Jazz hardly qualifies as a major presence.) Sadly, there are precious few outlets for jazz musicians to broadcast their message. In the US, that means three major jazz magazines, several worthy up-and-comers, a handful of full-time jazz radio stations, and tens of part-timers. The Jury is still deliberating regarding the publicity value of content on the Web.

Concurrently, there is a glut of product in the jazz marketplace. More CDs than ever. To compound the problem, musicians are not only competing with their contemporaries, but their forefathers as well. Add to that this dilemma--how many CDs can a consumer be expected to buy in a year, given the growing number of leisure time choices?

Enter the publicist, the professional bull-horn, who helps the artist get the ink. For better or worse, when I think PR person, I immediately flash on the film "The Sweet Smell of Success," where Tony Curtis played the publicist, and Burt Lancaster, a powerful columnist. Their world, like the jazz business, was largely populated by small-time chiselers and tawdry hustlers. Interestingly, there are some publicists are in league with fiendish agents, callous club owners, tone deaf producers, egotistical critics and a score of other assorted leaches trying to make a buck from jazz. (For one artist’s perspective, read the accompanying Scam Alert.)

Major record labels employ staff publicists to try and get their artists feature articles in jazz magazines and other publications, in addition to radio and television interviews. These full-time flacks have working relationships with editors, which really helps them get press coverage for their artists. Being on a first name basis with the media decision makers is essential for a publicist. Of course it doesn't hurt that their labels also spend big bucks advertising in these same publications.

Other labels and musicians hire independent publicists and firms. The major pr firms have established reputations in the business, and editors are more likely to pay attention to their drum beating. Most of these professionals have a track record, a list of their accomplishments. However, there is no guarantee that a publicist, no matter how well connected he or she might be, can get a particular CD reviewed, or artist profiled.

And even if a new artist’s CD does get reviewed, and they are profiled or reviewed in a jazz magazine, this exposure, ideally combined with airplay, still doesn’t guarantee sales or even a positive impression in the mind of the listener. In the latest issue of Jazz Times, there are nearly 150 CD reviews. Do any of them really matter?

We are being bombarded with so many messages these days, from every conceivable outlet, that unless it’s a matter of life and death, it’s easy to miss any one supplication. In fact, there are so many artists worthy of our attention that it's simply overhwelming.

What can we do?