Is it me?

[spiltcoil]

Or is there a very fine line between "smooth jazz" and "jam band" these days? I remember playing downtown Albany, NY about 7 yrs ago, immersed a vibrant jam/fusion scene. It was exciting and rewarding to play with alot of the folks I did and I still follow some of the bands that epitomized the "scene".

Then I got older. Had a kid. Steady job. House.


Why is it that the line just blurred over time? When I turn that stuff on now (and it's only by accident, on the radio as I never really owned more than a couple Scofield/Phish cd's) it sounds overdone, strained, contrived, immature and cliche? How did it become the opposite of what I thought it was? Or did I become the opposite of what I thought I was?

[AlvarHanso]

I wouldn't say Scofield is a jamband. The closest he came to that was playing with Phil & Friends in 2006, and even then, people remarked how it made for jazzier takes on the Dead. I don't think Phish sounds anything like smooth jazz. And where do you turn on a radio and hear Phish or other jambands? If you want to hear what contemporary fusion sounds like, check out Abstract Logix's New Universe Music Festival double-cd set culled from last November's 2 day festival.AbstractLogix :: Just Released :: July 2011 :: John McLaughlin and 4th Dimension|Zakir Hussain|Jimmy Herring Band|Lenny White|Wayne Krantz|Alex Machacek|Human Element|Ranjit Barot: Abstract Logix Live 2010 (2 CD) It features Alex Machacek with Jeff Sipe and Neal Fountain; Ranjit Barot and Bala Bhaskar and Wayne Krantz; new fusion supergroup Human Element (Scott Kinsey, Matthew Garrison, Arto Tunçboyaciyan, Gary Novak) in their debut performance with Ranjit Barot filling in for Gary Novak on drums; the Jimmy Herring Band; Wayne Krantz with Anthony Jackson; Lenny White's Anomaly featuring Jimmy Herring; and John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension. There's no "smooth" jazz here, just balls to the wall fusion. There's amazing guitar and amazing bass guitar along with amazing drumming and fantastic keyboards. As far as jambands sounding like "smooth jazz", I don't know what you're listening to that would sound like that...