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.

Smooth jazz albums generally considered to be genre-defining

• Tourist in Paradise by The Rippingtons
• Double Vision by Bob James and David Sanborn
• Rise by Herb Alpert
• Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra
• Breezin by George Benson
• Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione
• Festival by Lee Ritenour
• Fourplay by Fourplay
• Rapture by Anita Baker
• Winelight by Grover Washington, Jr.