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Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented style crossover jazz music. Although often described as a “genre,” it remains a debated and sometimes controversial topic among jazz musicians and critics. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to easy listening music on radio station programming from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s.
Smooth jazz may be thought of as commercially-oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1980s, displacing the more venturesome jazz fusion from which it emerged. It avoids the improvisational "risk-taking" of jazz fusion, emphasizing melodic form, and much of the music was initially "a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B."
During the mid-1970s in the United States, it was known as "smooth radio"; the genre was not termed "smooth jazz" until the 1980s.
The term itself seems to have been birthed directly out of radio marketing efforts. In an industry focus group in the late 1980s, one participant coined the phrase "smooth jazz" – and it stuck.
The popularity of smooth jazz as a radio format grew in the '80s and '90s, but gradually declined in the early 2000s. By 2009, many stations including in NYC, Washington, DC, and Boston had switched away from the format.
Smooth jazz was arguably pioneered in the early 1970s, with notable songs and artists including: "Grazing in the Grass" (1968), by trumpeter Hugh Masekela, "Nautilus" (1974) by keyboardist Bob James, and "Mister Magic" (1975) by saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.
Other early popular releases include guitarist George Benson's 1976 cover/version of "Breezin'" and flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good" in 1977. Others are "What You Won't Do for Love" by Bobby Caldwell in 1978, jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra's 1979 instrumental song "Morning Dance" and the 1981 collaboration between Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers on "Just the Two of Us".
Smooth jazz grew in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s as Anita Baker, Sade, Al Jarreau, Grover Washington Jr. and Kenny G released multiple hit songs.
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Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a commercially oriented style crossover jazz music. Although often described as a “genre,” it remains a debated and sometimes controversial topic among jazz musicians and critics. As a radio format, however, smooth jazz radio became the successor to easy listening music on radio station programming from the mid-1970s through the early 1990s.
Smooth jazz may be thought of as commercially-oriented, crossover jazz which came to prominence in the 1980s, displacing the more venturesome jazz fusion from which it emerged. It avoids the improvisational "risk-taking" of jazz fusion, emphasizing melodic form, and much of the music was initially "a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B."
During the mid-1970s in the United States, it was known as "smooth radio"; the genre was not termed "smooth jazz" until the 1980s.
The term itself seems to have been birthed directly out of radio marketing efforts. In an industry focus group in the late 1980s, one participant coined the phrase "smooth jazz" – and it stuck.
The popularity of smooth jazz as a radio format grew in the '80s and '90s, but gradually declined in the early 2000s. By 2009, many stations including in NYC, Washington, DC, and Boston had switched away from the format.
Smooth jazz was arguably pioneered in the early 1970s, with notable songs and artists including: "Grazing in the Grass" (1968), by trumpeter Hugh Masekela, "Nautilus" (1974) by keyboardist Bob James, and "Mister Magic" (1975) by saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr.
Other early popular releases include guitarist George Benson's 1976 cover/version of "Breezin'" and flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione's "Feels So Good" in 1977. Others are "What You Won't Do for Love" by Bobby Caldwell in 1978, jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra's 1979 instrumental song "Morning Dance" and the 1981 collaboration between Grover Washington Jr. and Bill Withers on "Just the Two of Us".
Smooth jazz grew in popularity in the 1980s and 1990s as Anita Baker, Sade, Al Jarreau, Grover Washington Jr. and Kenny G released multiple hit songs.