Smooth jazz

Smooth jazz is generally described as a genre of music that utilizes instruments (and, at times, improvisation) traditionally associated with jazz and stylistic influences drawn from, among other sources, funk, pop and R&B. Since the late 1980s, it has become highly successful as a radio format; one can tune in to a "smooth jazz"-themed station nearly everywhere in the United States. Despite its apparently large following, there has been something of a backlash against the genre, mostly from jazz purists who consider its recordings bland and overly commercial.

Origins

Smooth jazz as it is known today first emerged in the mid- to late-1970s, pioneered by such artists as Grover Washington, Jr., Spyro Gyra and Pieces of a Dream, stemming from a number of extant styles including jazz fusion. Unlike that form, however, smooth jazz tends to emphasize melody and deemphasize improvisation.

The genre's roots, however, can be traced to some time earlier: in the late 1960s famed record producer Creed Taylor worked with guitarist Wes Montgomery on three widely popular records (1967's A Day in the Life and Down Here on the Ground and 1968's Road Song) consisting of instrumental versions of familiar pop songs such as "Eleanor Rigby", "I Say a Little Prayer" and "Scarborough Fair".

From this success, Taylor founded CTI Records. Many established jazz performers recorded for CTI (including Freddie Hubbard, Chet Baker, George Benson and Stanley Turrentine) though the records they recorded under Taylor's guidance were typically aimed as much at pop audiences as at jazz fans; critic Scott Yanow writes that "Taylor had great success in balancing the artistic with the commercial."[1]

Description

The average smooth jazz track is on the "downtempo" (most widely played tracks are in the 90-105 BPM range) side, layering a lead, melody-playing instrument (saxophones are the most popular, with guitars a close second) over a backdrop that tends to consist of programmed rhythms and various pads and/or samples. (Though much of what is played under the banner of the "smooth jazz" radio format contains vocals, this is not usually the case for music recorded with the intent of categorization as smooth jazz. Rather, the stations in question pull their vocal tracks from the work of artists like Simply Red or Luther Vandross, who are normally considered "soul" or "R&B".)

Radio

Smooth jazz as a radio format has its roots in the construction of what were once called "beautiful music" stations, which generally played fifteen-minute sets consisting of instrumentals bookending a vocal song or two.

The incubators of the format were specialty shows at night or on the weekends, in places such as Atlanta (WQXI-FM) and San Antonio (KTFM). The first jazz radio station to attempt to reach an audience beyond hardcore jazz fans full-time was New York's WRVR-FM, which was acquired by Sonderling Broadcasting in 1976. Under its new management, WRVR more than tripled its audience by emphasizing artists like George Benson and Pat Metheny that were crossing over to more popular formats. After WRVR was switched to country format WKHK in 1980 (it is now Adult Contemporary station WLTW) it was just a short time before WPIX-FM was switched to WQCD, under the auspices of consultant George Burns, to take over the "mass-appeal" jazz mantle. In Detroit, traditional jazz station WJZZ (now WDMK) went through a similar transition to a more mainstream sound in the late 1980s and also saw its ratings improve.

After programmer Frank Cody gave birth to "The Wave" KTWV in Los Angeles and the simultaneous success of KIFM (San Diego) and the eclectic KKSF (San Francisco), another wave of "Smooth Jazz" stations banking on "The Wave's" softer sound grew quickly. Those included "Breezin' 100.7" in Milwaukee and KHIH in Denver programmed by consultant Gary Guthrie, WNUA (Chicago) consulted by Cody and the re-launch of WQCD (CD101), New York. It's Cody who made "Smooth Jazz" a household name, giving rise to its nationwide proliferation through the firm Broadcast Architecture, the widely syndicated “The Jazz Show with David Sanborn” and his association with saxophonist Dave Koz.

"Smooth jazz" has gone on to be recognized as a successful radio format, first emerging in name in the mid- to late-1980s (often, they would be transitioned from existing "new age" stations) and subsequently spreading into most radio markets within the United States and many without. Currently prominent smooth jazz stations include Miami's WLVE-FM, Seattle's KWJZ, Denver's KJCD, Los Angeles' KTWV, Chicago's WNUA, Detroit's WVMV (which has often been ranked as the top-rated music station in the market and routinely outperforms its mainstream Adult Contemporary competitors), www.baysmoothjazz.com (Online Internet Radio), Memphis Smooth Jazz Radio(Memphis' Only Smooth Jazz Station), and New York's WQCD (which experimented with a Chill Music-based format for a time but soon returned to its focus on Smooth Jazz).

The majority of major-market smooth-jazz radio stations are heavy on soft R&B vocals from artists like Luther Vandross, Sade, Anita Baker and Stevie Wonder, and crossover Adult Contemporary hits from pop artists like Celine Dion and Mariah Carey. Many stations, under the derivitive format known as "Quiet Storm" -- including San Francisco's KBLX and Northampton's (Mass.) WEIB -- also feature classic soul music heavily, particularly softer Motown gold such as "My Girl" and "Just My Imagination" by the Temptations and "I Heard It Through The Grapevine," "Let's Get It On" and "Sexual Healing" by Marvin Gaye. For the most part, today's smooth-jazz stations give little airplay to the vocalists originally featured as part of the "new age" format, such as Enya and Basia, although there are exceptions, such as [2]SmoothJazzWeb.com, XM Satellite Radio's smooth-jazz channel, called "Watercolors," and the smooth-jazz format delivered to radio stations via satellite by the Jones Radio Network. Among the stations carrying programming from the Jones Radio Network include the simulcast duo WJSJ-FM/WSJF-FM in Jacksonville, Florida; WASJ-FM in Panama City Beach, Florida; KSKX-FM in Colorado Springs, Colorado; KMGK-FM in Glenwood, Minnesota; and WJZL-FM in Lansing, Michigan. Jones has also begun to integrate Chill material into its music mix, although not nearly as heavily as New York's WQCD did during its short-lived experimentation with Chill.

The popularity of smooth jazz in major American radio markets has led to a proliferation of station-sponsored music festivals around the country where a number of the genre's performers play shows on the same stage throughout a day. They are usually held at high-profile locations such as resort hotels or wineries.

Because of an aging demographic and a dearth of strong material (and some might say because of a lack of programming imagination) the format has been less commercially viable in the early 21st century than it was in the mid and late nineties. A majority of former smooth jazz radio stations in the US have changed format in recent years, leaving just a few survivors.^{[citation needed]}

Several smooth jazz artists, including Chris Botti, Dave Koz, Ramsey Lewis and Gerald Veasley, host nationally syndicated smooth jazz radio shows. More recently, comedienne Whoopi Goldberg launched a daily morning show, "Wake Up With Whoopi," on San Francisco's KKSF.

And at least one non-commercial FM station, the community-based WGDR in Plainfield, Vt., broadcasts a weekly "Quiet Storm" program that's a mix of smooth jazz and soft R&B, presented in "Triple-A" (Album Adult Alternative) style, with a strong emphasis on "B" and "C" album tracks that most commercial smooth jazz stations often ignore. Hosted by Skeeter Sanders, "The Quiet Storm" is the only radio program of its kind in northern New England.

• see also:

smoothjazz.com,The Vox, WNJL.com Radio, Smooth & Soul, radiojazzplus.com, smoothjazzdenver.com, Smooth Jazz & Music Festival in Temecula, WQCD FM (CD 101.9),[3]Memphis Smooth Jazz RadioBay Smooth Jazz,[4]("The Quiet Storm" on WGDR)

Popular artists

The groups or recording artists that rise to the top of the smooth jazz charts tend to play their instruments in a distinctively melodic fashion such that they are recognizable within just a few measures; this category includes names like saxophonists David Sanborn, Warren Hill, guitarist George Benson and pianist Joe Sample. Some performers, such as Dave Koz, Bob James and Nathan East, attain fame via their numerous collaborations with many other of the genre's big names. Grammy award winning Fourplay is one of the most successful smooth jazz recording groups with sophisticated roots in jazz.

While the world of smooth jazz has thus far been relatively male-dominated, the successful female performers -- Keiko Matsui, Joyce Cooling, Mindi Abair, Candy Dulfer, Sade, Brenda Russell, Regina Belle and Anita Baker, for example, tend to be very much so.

Development

A popular recent development is urban jazz, which incorporates aspects of hip-hop. This style is aimed at audiences who would normally listen to urban contemporary radio stations that play a mix of hip-hop and R&B. Among the musicians who frequently perform urban jazz are Dave Koz, Boney James, Paul Jackson Jr., Bobby Perry, Urban Jazz Coalition, Streetwize, Tha' Hot Club and former NBA player-turned-bassist Wayman Tisdale.

To sure remember for importance in the style development artists which Michael Lington, Brian Bromberg, Fattburger, Daniele Caprelli, Peter White from the techniques abilities that expressive indeed remarkable.

Another nascent trend involves the fusion of smooth jazz and electronica, the results of which are similar to what has, among electronica enthusiasts, come to be called "chill." Radio stations such as New York's WQCD, SmoothJazzWeb.com Smooth Urban Jazz and DJs such as Rafe Gomez have pioneered the usage of playlists that blend tracks from both genres. Norman Brown is also popular.

Criticism

"Smooth jazz" is a controversial term. Traditional jazz purists contend that smooth jazz is, in actuality, not jazz of any kind, regarding it as a misleading marketing buzzword that represents an attempt to hijack the ostensible prestige of jazz in order to sell what is really a form of "elevator music". They consider the smooth jazz genre uninspired, lacking the depth of expression, harmonic and rhythmic sophistication, and complex improvisation that are hallmarks of traditional jazz. Recurring accusations charge smooth jazz with offering a watered-down sound whose aim is to appeal to a larger, mainstream, middle class white audience, though, notably, radio demographics have indicated that middle- and upper-middle class African Americans constitute what may be a significant percentage of smooth jazz listenership. Smooth jazz is still played (though decreasingly) on Muzak-style background music systems as well as telephone music on hold services, which many artists try to distance themselves from as they are seen as degrading to music. Jazz fusion enthusiasts also point to smooth jazz as having confused many listeners as to the meaning of fusion music, with fusion enthusiasts being some of the most vocal in appreciating a high level of virtuosity, improvisation, extended track lengths and soloing, all of which are rarely present in smooth jazz.

Others contend that smooth jazz is indeed a viable jazz subgenre, positing that attempts to maintain jazz music as a kind of museum exhibit are narrowminded, presenting over a century's continued cross-pollination between jazz and R&B as evidence. Furthermore, they point out that the music of such widely respected musicians as Pat Metheny, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Sting and others are often classified as smooth jazz, and that many of these artists are capable of performing well in multiple styles.

Especially intense vitriol has been directed toward saxophonist Kenny G, whose hit singles dominated smooth jazz radio in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is one of the most successful artists in the field; however, his detractors claim that his music is uninspired and boring and often extrapolate these opinions to others in the smooth jazz sphere. Enthusiasts of the smooth jazz style however, argue that G's music is no longer representative. To many Kenny G's music represents the extreme pop end of the smooth jazz genre. Pat Metheny has been long known as a forceful critic of Kenny G's music.

Smooth jazz albums generally considered to be genre-defining

• Tourist in Paradise by The Rippingtons
• Double Vision by Bob James and David Sanborn
• Rise by Herb Alpert
• Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra
• Breezin' by George Benson
• Collaboration' by George Benson and Earl Klugh
• Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione
• Festival by Lee Ritenour
• Fourplay by Fourplay
• Rapture by Anita Baker
• Winelight by Grover Washington, Jr.

Major smooth jazz-producing record labels

• GRP
• Heads Up
• Higher Octave
• Instinct Records
• Narada Productions
• Native Language
• Peak Records
• Windham Hill
• A&M
• Narada
• Blue Note - specializes in traditional jazz, although several of its artists, most notably Norah Jones, Anita Baker, and Van Morrison, have garnered heavy airplay on Smooth Jazz radio.

See also

• List of smooth jazz performers
• Category:Smooth jazz albums
• Sophisti-pop

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