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Smooth Jazz is Jazz

#21
Dr. Cheese said:
Dude can play when he wants. He started out with Jeff Lorber and was solid. Successful musicians are usually capable of playing more than they let us hear on their popular music.
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I know man, was just fooling around to see replies ;)
One of the *shocks* I had was seeing Marcus on a serious jam session. If It wasn't enough of him to groove hardest slap lines that inspired multiple generations(I'm not a slap fan).. he is hiding his awesome bebop language and playing his "role". Dude can seriously swing hard and complex stuff with totally different tonal and rhythmic pallete he is known for.
 
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#24
bassliner50 said:
This is jazz yet one might describe it as smooth. Use of space, beautifully phrased, non cluttered etc. It is all there, though, a minimalist approach.
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Ever since I was introduced to the music of the Vince Guaraldi Trio through "A Charlie Brown Christmas" as a kid, I've loved this kind of jazz.
 
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#25
Dr. Cheese said:


This video illustrates something that has been on my mind lately. Smooth Jazz is often dismissed as formulaic are simply background music, but the same can be sound about acoustic Jazz or Classical, which are often employed for atmosphere at swank events. I am not saying a fair amount of Smooth Jazz is not lightweight, what I am saying is that all music should be listened to seriously before making any judgement.
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That's fair. I sit more on the Coltrane side of the argument, but there's no less validity or artistry in music that doesn't curb stomp its listeners. :)
 
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#26
I wonder if monster jazz players with a wealth of talent and chops sometimes tire of playing music that's mostly accessible to other monster musicians and a small percentage of the public. Maybe sometimes they'd rather play music that's more accessible to the average listener. I'm not talking about totally "dumbing it down," so to speak; I mean not always playing music that's too "out there" for most people.
 
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#27
TL;DR entire thread

I turned 40 last year and it was like someone went and flipped the "now you like smooth jazz" switch on in my brain. I still can't take the rrreeeaaaaallllyyyy loosely-connected trippy "acid-jazz" type stuff, but man... holy crap. Some great playing and writing. I love that many smooth jazz tunes go on a real journey or adventure, rather than just V, C, V, C, C, Bridge, V, C, etc.

I've followed one guy pretty closely, Cory Wong. He's a guitar player (but he was a bass player first!) that has played with Vulfpeck (Joe Dart, for all you lover and haters of the man), Dave Koz, Cody Fry, Ben Rector, Dirty Loops, and so many others. He has really taken his clean funk style and applied it to many different things. I am in LOVE with solo/collaborative self-produced albums, especially.

This track encapsulates so much of what I love about Cory. From the full-orchestral arrangements to an electric bass solo, it's just beautiful. His drummer, Petar Jancic, absolutely blows my mind. Every now and then I just put this tune on repeat and let it go while I focus on a woodworking project or something... it doesn't get old.



Since turning 40 I also now think Publix (Southeastern grocery chain) has the best playlist of any place, ever. Goerge Benson, early Lenny Kravitz, Journey, The Police, Chuck Mangione.... YES (them, too) PLEASE! Like... walking through Publix is now just as great of a musical experience as it is a foodie's delight! I am reveling in my age, having let go of caring what other people think and just enjoying what I enjoy. I even rock crocs with socks sometimes! They're comfy and easy.
 
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#29
musicman556 said:
TL;DR entire thread

I turned 40 last year and it was like someone went and flipped the "now you like smooth jazz" switch on in my brain. I still can't take the rrreeeaaaaallllyyyy loosely-connected trippy "acid-jazz" type stuff, but man... holy crap. Some great playing and writing. I love that many smooth jazz tunes go on a real journey or adventure, rather than just V, C, V, C, C, Bridge, V, C, etc.

I've followed one guy pretty closely, Cory Wong. He's a guitar player (but he was a bass player first!) that has played with Vulfpeck (Joe Dart, for all you lover and haters of the man), Dave Koz, Cody Fry, Ben Rector, Dirty Loops, and so many others. He has really taken his clean funk style and applied it to many different things. I am in LOVE with solo/collaborative self-produced albums, especially.

This track encapsulates so much of what I love about Cory. From the full-orchestral arrangements to an electric bass solo, it's just beautiful. His drummer, Petar Jancic, absolutely blows my mind. Every now and then I just put this tune on repeat and let it go while I focus on a woodworking project or something... it doesn't get old.



Since turning 40 I also now think Publix (Southeastern grocery chain) has the best playlist of any place, ever. Goerge Benson, early Lenny Kravitz, Journey, The Police, Chuck Mangione.... YES (them, too) PLEASE! Like... walking through Publix is now just as great of a musical experience as it is a foodie's delight! I am reveling in my age, having let go of caring what other people think and just enjoying what I enjoy. I even rock crocs with socks sometimes! They're comfy and easy.
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I am all for being comfortable in your own skin.
 
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#30
musicman556 said:
I've followed one guy pretty closely, Cory Wong. He's a guitar player (but he was a bass player first!) that has played with Vulfpeck (Joe Dart, for all you lover and haters of the man), Dave Koz, Cody Fry, Ben Rector, Dirty Loops, and so many others. He has really taken his clean funk style and applied it to many different things. I am in LOVE with solo/collaborative self-produced albums, especially.

This track encapsulates so much of what I love about Cory. From the full-orchestral arrangements to an electric bass solo, it's just beautiful. His drummer, Petar Jancic, absolutely blows my mind.
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I also love Cory Wong, his experiments with genre blending are awesome. This one is my favorite:
 
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#31
This is my main genre, and it's grossly overlooked, by virtually everyone. My wife calls it "elevator music," and I don't care. Smooth jazz (or "contemporary jazz") has something for everyone, just like rock does.

The genre is full of amazing stuff. Bob James "Three" album is mandatory listening (specifically "One Mint Julep" and "Westchester Lady," but the others are fantastic), those old Grover Washington Jr. albums (and yes, a surprise from a young 20 year old Marcus Miller on "Winelight"), the George Benson stuff, Wes Montgomery's middle era, all the way up to the current generation with the likes of Norman Brown, Jeff Lorber (both solo and as "Fusion," with none other than Jimmy Haslip on the most recent ones), Chris Standring, David Sanborn, Nils, Dave Koz, Boney James, Kim Scott, Jeff Golub, Euge Groove, Brian Culbertson, Peter White, Wayman Tisdale, and the group acts too: Yellowjackets, Rippingtons, Spyro Gyra (Scott Ambush is one of my favorite bassists), Fourplay (Nathan East too), 3rd Force, Fattburger, Acoustic Alchemy, etc. The list goes on and on.

It's incredible stuff. And there's something for everyone.
 
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#32
Giraffe said:
It rarely ends well when art collides with commerce.

Ella Fitzgerald was still a force of nature when she recorded "A Tisket A Tasket", but crap is crap no matter who birthed it!
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A fair amount of crap has been birthed by great musicians who have no ear for Pop. The Herbie Hancock’s, Bob James, and Marcus Millers of the world are not that common.
 
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#33
Dr. Cheese said:


This video illustrates something that has been on my mind lately. Smooth Jazz is often dismissed as formulaic are simply background music, but the same can be sound about acoustic Jazz or Classical, which are often employed for atmosphere at swank events. I am not saying a fair amount of Smooth Jazz is not lightweight, what I am saying is that all music should be listened to seriously before making any judgement.
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Good post as always dear Doctor.

There are obviously good and bad examples of ANY kind of music. Just check out a recording of Beethoven's "Wellington's Victory" (opus 91). It is a good example of one of the world's greatest classical composers dropping some truly mediocre (at best) music in a normally highly respected genre.

By the way, this smooth jazz kind of of thing ain't exactly new. Only the term seems new to me. You don't have to look hard to see commercial "light" crossover music much earlier in the recording industry.Try for example this short version of "Mr Lucky" from the mid late 60's. It is light, only 2:25 minutes in length and contains some music you can tap your foot to while still including some decent playing from a guy who has been criminally underrated as a Jazz guitarist in modern times. The great Wes Montgomery did this same kinda thing as well. Pan it if you want (just like so many do to modern jazz) but it is decent music nonetheless and a great introduction to the jazz style.
 
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#35
Altitude said:
On Cory Wong specifically, Vic Wooten is touring with him right now. So there.

I’d argue smooth jazz reaches a much larger and more diverse audience than straight ahead - so despite personal preference I take it 100% seriously.

But - what about the Yellowjackets. Smooth jazz or not?
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I would just say the Yellowjacket’s are electric Jazz.
 
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#38
Altitude said:
So would I, but curious why you wouldn’t call them smooth jazz. What are the elemental differences you hear in what they do versus, say, the Rippingtons?

To be clear I’m asking curiously, not combatively.
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Yellowjackets' older stuff has that creamy keyboard layering to it that Russ uses with the Rippingtons, a lot of sax-forward tunes, and similar tempos and key sigs. To me they're very similar, though I hear Russ' rock roots more in the Ripps (he covers Hendrix tunes sometimes at his shows), whereas the Yellowjackets sometimes fall back on more traditional patterns and chord choices. To my ears, anyway. I'm more of a Ripps guy, but I think the Yellowjackets' debut album is among the best in the genre.
 
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