...we venture onto a pretty wide plateau with this subject. But I think it is an important thread as well. I can only answer in line with what I found to be true on the JCS "Smooth" board (as I'm sure you can relate to as well) and with a number of my personal friends who enjoy "smooth" music.

Many of my friends are enjoying/preferring smooth music that is popular today (Boney James, Greg Karukas, G-man, Brian Culbertson, etc.). They do not like the Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra, Dave Weckl, Yellowjackets, etc. nearly as much and are not familiar with the work of the Pat Metheny Group for the most part. They're surely not buying CDs by these latter artists. As for Fusion, it's pretty much the same with no interest in groups like Tribal Tech, Chick Corea, etc.

The JCS "Smooth" board gang reflected more variety in preference and tolerance. For instance, some preferred the Russo Yellowjackets, others the 90's Mintzer YJ's. Some praised Peter White, others Mike Stern or Buzz Feiten.

I tend to believe such variety in preference would have to mean that many would not regard fusion in a truly appreciative manner and vice versa with "smooth" music.

The inevitable debate about the term "contemporary" and "smooth" I do not see as much of a problem on this site since I believe the term "contemporary" is seen in the same context as it is with the BMG's and music charts. Actually "contemporary" means "living or happening in the same period of time." As you may remember on the JCS "Jazz Talk" board, lovers of free or avant garde argue vehemently that their music is "contemporary."  

Love it or hate it, smooth jazz is here for the foreseeable future, but what exactly is it?

The senseless title ‘smooth jazz’ (known from now on as SJ but aka jazz/funk, jazz/rock, pop & commercial jazz) was foisted upon us by a record industry that is never happy unless everything has a title and a little box to go into. One could, however, be forgiven for thinking that an industry that describes Katy Melua and Joss Stone as ‘jazz artists’ could be described as senseless anyway)

I suppose a fair description of Smooth Jazz could be ‘improvising over the popular tunes and rhythms of the day in a manner appealing to both the bank-manager and the record-buying public’. This is really no different from anything the top jazz artists in the 40’s and 50’s did in their day - but where the ‘smooth’ thing came from is anyone’s guess? - when Stan Getz and Gerry Mulligan played it didn’t get any smoother.

I find it very sad that so many people (including, it seems, 90% of the jazz critics) dismiss SJ as inconsequential background muzac. Not only can it be much more but, at its best, it’s as good as any improvised music around.

The origins of what we call SJ are not far back down the line. It stemmed from a bunch of young, jazz leaning players who grew up listening to John Coltrane, The Byrds, Miles Davis, The Rolling Stones, Duke Ellington and The Beatles.

Amongst the first records that influenced these young upstarts were those produced in the early sixties by Creed Taylor for guitarist Wes Montgomery.

Released on the legendary Verve record label Creed used a large studio orchestra and, with tunes such as the Beatles ‘A Day In The Life’ and ‘Eleanor Rigby’, proved that he and Wes could be all of commercial, popular and tasteful. The radio-length cuts were an immediate hit with the general public – and why not? Wes had been the top jazz guitarist at a time when jazz was losing the popularity it once had – the times they were a’changing and, to earn a living, musicians had to change too. Wes was (of course) hugely criticised for ‘going commercial’ or ‘selling out’ – as was George Benson in later years. It’s a strange thing that if you die in a seedy, squalid, empty club with a hypodermic needle in your arm you are a real jazz musician - but if you have the temerity to earn some real money you’ve sold out.

Other musicians were also influencing the young lions. Around the same time (mid 60’s) Cannonball Adderly had a number one hit with Mercy Mercy Mercy written by his pianist Joe Zawinal (who would later become a pivotal member of Weather Report) and before you could say ‘Kenny G’ the foundations of Smooth Jazz were laid. From Sonny Rollins to Sonny Stitt – they all brought out ‘commercial albums’ that were, for the most part, terrible.

The jump from be-bop to something more commercial was a jump to far for most of the post-war boppers, and, as the sixties slid into the seventies on a cloud of marihuana smoke and free love, a new generation of musicians took centre stage. People like John McLaughlin came to the fore.

McLaughlin (an Englishman) was originally a blues player – working with the cream of the mid-sixties British blues scene such as Alexis Korner, Graham Bond and Ginger Baker. His first solo album was ‘Extrapolation’ and, in 1969, he moved to New York, joining Tony Williams' Lifetime and appearing on two classic Miles Davis albums: In a Silent Way and Bitches Brew. In 1971 he continued his affinity with loud blues/rock music and jazz improvisation when he formed the hugely popular Mahavishnu Orchestra. In 1975 he again changed direction, switching to acoustic guitar and playing Indian music with his new group Shakti and helping to popularise the new ‘world music’ scene. McLaughlins music was loud and ‘in-yer-face – it was a great mix of old fashioned rock, blues and jazz but the joins were brilliantly hidden.

Around the same time ‘Weather Report’ were proving hugely popular. Jazz’s first real supergroup relied more on a mixture of soul/funk groves and jazz rather than rock music. The main man behind Weather Report was pianist Joe Zawinul, and, along with saxophonist Wayne Shorter, drummer Alphonse Mouzon, bassist Mirislav Vitous and percussionist Airto Moreira they set the scene for much of what was to follow. When, in 1976, influential bassist a Jaco Pastorius replaced Alphonso Johnson the band really took off and the Zawinul penned tune ‘Birdland’ (from the album Heavy Weather) became not only a chart hit but also a jazz/pop standard. The band continued, with diminishing success into the early 90’s.

Arguably one of the first albums around that would be recognisable as SJ today was the 1976 Lee Ritenour album ‘First Course’. Along with studio musicians Harvy Mason, Dave Grusin and Ernie Watts, Lee set a standard for the best in this genre. His ‘direct to disc’ series of recordings for ‘Sheffield Labs’ (recorded live in the studio – one side at a time to a master disc) with his band ‘Friendship’ (this time with Steve Gadd on drums) are real pathfinders.

Around the same time (mid 70’s) the unofficial music-director for Steely Dan was session guitarist Larry Carlton. He played, and in some cases arranged, most of Steely Dan’s best work (including the solo album ‘The Nightfly’ with Donald Fagin) and he also produced a large body of work under his own name. Writing the famous theme from the TV series Hill Street Blues opened some doors for him but his unique playing style, sound and feel was what got him the work and the attention.

There is a line of great musicians from the early sixties taking in Wes Montgomery, Jr. Walker, Grant Green, Stanley Turrentine, Jimmy Smith and Kenny Burrell. The list is endless. All of these great players were making commercial jazz recordings from the sixties onwards and now Bob James, Sergio Mendes, David Sanborn, Spyra Gyra, Dave Grusin, Tom Scott and others have taken up their mantle. The latter was Joni Mitchell’s music director for a long time before going on to a successful career in jazz and composition – the Starsky & Hutch theme was one of his.

Dave Grusin, composer (On Golden Pond/The Firm/Tootsie/Six Days Of The Condor etc.) and pianist has, along with partner/producer Larry Rosen, taken the more commercial aspects of jazz to new heights with the advent of digital technology. The catalogue of artists on their record label GRP Records) is probably the classiest around including the fabulous (and long-running) ‘Yellowjackets’.

So don’t knock ‘smooth/commercial/pop/funk jazz’ – you don’t have to like it, but don’t knock it. Why?

Most of the aforementioned musicians have been criticised for not playing jazz – but I never heard any of them say they were playing jazz. They are all hugely talented musicians playing great music – and they’ve decided that three meals a day and good schools for their kids are a really good idea.

The music we call jazz, in all its forms, has been changing since the turn of the century and will, hopefully, continue to do so. There has never been agreement on what it is or how to define it. Louis Armstrong hated be-bop for most of his life, Miles Davis was criticised for recording Jimmy Hendrix tunes and, on its release, many musicians and critics thought that John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ (and the whole avant-garde movement) was a load of pretentious nonsense.

Jazz changes with the tide and is constantly buffeted by new ideas, new musical cultures and, as it always has been, public opinion. Is smooth jazz really jazz? Does it matter – does anyone really care? Its true that much of it is bland, badly played nonsense - probably because, like country music, it’s deceptively easy to play.

Bad music isn’t restricted to the SJ genre. One could also make the argument that SJ is an ‘entry level’ for those of the younger generation who are looking for something more than that available in the pop charts. If SJ encourages them to dig deeper into improvised music, discover Coltrane and Miles and Bird then that must surely be a good thing. And even if they don’t make that journey they will probably be listening to a far higher calibre of music and musicians than that available on mainstream radio and TV. At the time of writing vocalists Diana Krall, Jamie Cullum, Norah Jones and Clare Teal all have excellent records in the mainstream charts.

Count Basie once said ‘there are only two kinds of music – good music and bad music’.

I rest my case...

Written by Phil Peoples and Mel Dean