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Smooth Jazz is Jazz
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Acoustic blues
Bluegrass
pretty much everything in New Orleans
Bebop/straight-ahead jazz
Swing jazz
American Folk
Classical Western music
Classical Indian music
Rockabilly
Prog Rock
Classic Rock
Afrobeat
Ska
Calypso
Bossa nova, Samba, several other Brazilian forms
I'm sure there are others...
Genre borders are always fuzzy. That's why discussions about genre can be, how shall I put it... inconclusive and endless.
Anyway. The borders are fuzzy, but the center is solid. I.e. no one should have a problem saying that Wayne Shorter is a Real Jazz Musician, and Kenny G is... not.
I don't see how being played on a "smooth jazz station" actually means it is "Smooth Jazz." It just means some station programmer (or more likely, algorithm) thought it might appeal to listeners of that station.Here's one that is pretty definitely "real" jazz (I mean, it's Joe Pass, ffs). But if I heard it on a smooth jazz station I think it would fit right in.
I pretty directly did NOT deem it to be smooth jazz. Just used it as an example of some badass playing that could fit with smooth jazz programming, ie, the boundary is not a mile high and set in stone.
It's kind of funny. I've known of some guys who try to imitate Sanborn's playing, and they did the same side-of-the-mouth thing that he does without knowing why...presumably because they thought it looked cool.
Yeah, in Dave's case it's because of polio.
In Kenny G's case it's so he can play and smile at the same time.
And this, is not smooth jazz, but I think it still fits in here.
That’s, Bob James, who wrote the theme to the show, Taxi, and that’s, Nathan Watts on bass.
Nathan East.
Let’s not fall into the trap where we feel superior because we like this and don’t like that. All kinds of people make all kinds of music for all kinds of reasons. No-one is the arbitrator of creative validity. None of us gets to bestow kudos on our own particular taste in music.
Smooth Jazz is ok. I prefer Fusion Jazz myself. Traditional Jazz is more challenging for me to understand...
Just like all other genre labels it can hard to pigeon hole songs or bands into a specific flavor.
Just like all other genre labels it can hard to pigeon hole songs or bands into a specific flavor.
..............watered-down instrumental versions of innocuous pop............
I'm with you, though in a less diplomatic way. Once people get into this judging music as, 'for people less evolved than me', or who see some sort of musical pecking order toped by the 'we advanced, more knowledgeable about music, lucky few', then I've got to think they've missed the whole point of making music.
It's as a certain judge said once upon a time, maybe lightly paraphrased:
"I know it when I hear it"
"I know it when I hear it"
Yes, smooth jazz is jazz.
That doesn't mean it doesn't suck.
Within any genre you can name, a very high percentage of the music sucks.
Liking or disliking entire genres is for children.
That doesn't mean it doesn't suck.
Within any genre you can name, a very high percentage of the music sucks.
Liking or disliking entire genres is for children.
You need to get out more!
Classical music in the widest sense has probably evolved more than all of the others put together. Some may not be to everyone's taste, and some may not be easily recognised as music by the more casual listener. But contemporary classical music is anything but a re-hashing of the music of the past. It really has moved on since Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Stravinsky. And the is the point - modern composers respect the past, and sometimes even quote from it, but not to the point of blind deference. Can the same really be said of Jazz?
I like it when I need to be soothed after a hard day. It helps me to relax and some of the playing is excellent in that genre. Just because it is "easy listening" doesn't make it trash. Another thing it's good for is jamming to. Like a backing track with extra solo instruments to compete with. 
This is not meant to replace other forms of jazz, it is just another option that fills a niche nicely.
This is not meant to replace other forms of jazz, it is just another option that fills a niche nicely.
Whatever Spyro Gyra does...... Whatever Brian Culbertson does......
Seriously, no other popular form of music has endured like this and always sounded contemporary.
