Smooth jazz

Smooth jazz is generally described as a subset of jazz that combinines instruments (and, at times, improvisation) traditionally associated with its parent genre and stylistic influences drawn from, among other sources, funk, pop and R&B. Since the late 1980s, it has become highly successful as a radio format; one can tune in to a "smooth jazz"-themed station nearly everywhere in the United States. Despite its apparently large following, there has been something of a backlash against the genre, mostly from jazz purists who consider its recordings bland and overly commercial.

Criticism

"Smooth jazz" is a controversial term. Some jazz lovers contest that smooth jazz is, in actuality, not jazz of any kind, regarding it as a misleading marketing buzzword that represents an attempt to hijack the ostensible prestige of jazz in order to sell what is really a form of "elevator music". Recurring accusations charge smooth jazz with offering a watered-down sound whose aim is to appeal to a larger, more mainstream, middle class white (though, notably, radio demographics have indicated that middle- and upper-middle class African Americans constitute what may be a larger percentage of smooth jazz listenership) audience.

Related Topics:
Jazz - Buzzword - Elevator music - Middle class - Upper-middle class - African Americans

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Others contend that smooth jazz is indeed a viable subgenre, positing that attempts to maintain jazz music as a kind of museum exhibit are narrowminded, presenting over a century's continued cross-pollination between jazz and R&B as evidence. Furthermore, they point out that the music of such widely respected musicians as Pat Metheny, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller and others are often classified as smooth jazz, and that many of these artists are capable of perfoming well in multiple styles.

Related Topics:
Subgenre - R&B - Pat Metheny - David Sanborn - Marcus Miller - Styles

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Especially intense vitriol has been directed toward saxophonist Kenny G, whose hit singles dominated smooth jazz radio in the early 1990s. Because he is one of the most financially successful artists in the field, his detractors' claims that his music is uninspired or boring are often extrapolated to the rest of the smooth jazz sphere as well, though some smooth jazz enthusiasts argue that G's music is no longer representative of the style.

Related Topics:
Kenny G - 1990s

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