BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

itions and covers into rotation, and the listeners who have
scooped up more than a million copies of his discs, including his most
recent effort, "To Love Again: The Duets."

Botti tries to be understanding. "To about 98 percent of the general
public, if you put an instrument on the top and they can sort of figure
out 'Well, you're playing in a little tiny club and it sounds like a
math test' or 'You're playing bigger venues and it's pleasing,' then
the second one is always going to be smooth jazz," he says. "It doesn't
matter what's going on underneath."

Indeed, a glance at smooth jazz radio playlists reveals a much wider
collection of artists than you might guess. Of course, instrumentalists
such as Botti, saxophonist Dave Koz, and keyboardist Brian Culbertson
are staples. But so are plenty of vocalists and singer-songwriters:
Norah Jones, Corinne Bailey Rae, India.Arie, Michael McDonald, Anita
Baker, Alicia Keys, Luther Vandross, and Botti's former employer Sting.
And the fact is, some of those artists - especially those who'd never
be mistaken for jazz musicians - have no problem being adopted by the
smooth jazz community, so long as it gets people listening to their
music. Radio play is radio play, after all.

And yet, regardless of the music's popularity, or how many big-selling
acts now fall under the genre's umbrella, many artists and fans,
especially those who fancy themselves jazz purists, bristle at the very
mention of smooth jazz. Others are simply resigned. George Benson -
the virtuoso guitarist with unimpeachable straight-ahead jazz bona
fides has, over the years, achieved a certain equanimity about the
label. "It's here," the 63-year-old says with a laugh, "and you can't
do nothing about it."

Smooth jazz's background

Music fitting the description of smooth jazz existed long before the
term ever did. Serious jazz musicians such as Benson, Bob James, David
Sanborn, Herb Alpert, and Chuck Mangione played what would now be
labeled smooth jazz as far back as the'70s. And, yes, fans ate it up.

"The music just got more and more popular and so a whole radio format
formed around it and they had to call it something because people like
labels," Culbertson says. "You couldn't call it a traditional jazz
station because it's not. They couldn't call it pop because there's not
a lot of vocals. So it was like, 'Hmmm, the music's kind of smooth
sounding and there's jazz influence - hey, let's put those two words
together.'"

That's exactly what happened, according to Frank Cody, a former radio
consultant who deserves the credit - or the blame, depending on your
viewpoint - for the term "smooth jazz."

"It was actually a listener," Cody concedes. In the early '90s, as a
member of consulting firm Broadcast Architecture, Cody conducted focus
groups. One Chicago woman strung together the infamous words when
grappling for a description of a song snippet. "At that moment," Cody
says, "light bulbs went off over everybody's heads." A format was born.

Around the same time, Billboard instituted its "Contemporary Jazz"
chart to separate popular smooth-jazz artists and harder-edged fusion
groups from straight-ahead, or traditional, jazz artists. The reason?
Smooth jazz sales were beginning to dwarf the traditional stuff. "The
concern was that it would be easy for a smooth jazz artist such as
Chuck Mangione or a Spyro Gyra to outsell traditional artist Dexter
Gordon," says Billboard's director of charts and senior analyst Geoff
Mayfield.

But what is smooth jazz? Ask 10 different people, you'll get 10
different answers.

"It's almost like the Supreme Court justice's definition of
pornography: I know it when I hear it," says Mayfield with a laugh.

The fundamental difference between smooth jazz and traditional jazz
lies in the chief instrumentalist's approach to improvisation.

Typically, at least on record, smooth jazz musicians just don't
improvise. They often prefer to serve as a surrogate voice, "singing"
the melody line over a simple pop or R&B groove. Play Kenny G's
"Songbird" followed by John Coltrane's jazz classic "My Favorite
Things" back to back and you'll get the picture. When it comes to
vocalists, it's the difference between the mellow phrasing and textures
of a Sade or a Norah Jones versus the energetic scatting of, say, Ella
Fitzgerald. As the artists found on smooth jazz playlists make clear,
the "smooth" is usually more important than the "jazz."

"There's a quality to the vocals, a soulfulness to the vocals and an
equal soulfulness to the instrumentals," Koz says. "Whether it's a
vocal song or an instrumental song, it's melody driven and generally
has some sort of rhythmic pulse on the bottom."

However it's described, almost all of the artists now loosely included
in the category would tell you that they didn't set out to make smooth
jazz. They created music from the heart, and the format abducted them.

Which is exactly what smooth jazz programmers have been doing since the
format's inception: gradually adopting artists and songs that dash the
conventional image of smooth jazz as that blissed-out instrumental
tootling you hear during massages or root canals.

So while Kenny G's lyrical yet much maligned "Songbird" may be one of
the most well-known smooth jazz songs ever recorded, appropriated
smooth jazz hits now include pop and R&B songs with vocals such as
Benson's "On Broadway," Sade's "Smooth Operator," and Steely Dan's "Hey
Nineteen."

Convincing listeners that if they like these songs then, by default,
they like smooth jazz is an uphill battle, however. And musicians
usually take one of three approaches: resist, tolerate, or embrace.

"I could say to someone my last two CDs are

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all done basically live with an orchestra and it's way more coming from
Miles Davis and Chet Baker than smooth jazz," says Botti, a resister.
"But all people know is that it's smooth, so it translates into 'makes
them feel relaxed.' " Because of that, listeners don't associate it
with the more complex forms of bebop or fusion. "Most people think Sade
is a badass jazz musician, and I love Sade. But is she a jazz musician?
Heck no. So what do you do?"

Embracing the genre

Koz, meanwhile, embraces the genre. Known as the "ambassador of smooth
jazz," he started a cottage industry to promote it. In addition to
recording a half-dozen successful albums, Koz headlines popular summer
and holiday tours with simpatico artists, co-founded the Rendezvous
Entertainment record label with Cody - home to smooth jazz stars such
as Wayman Tisdale and Kirk Whalum - and hosts a morning radio show
and weekly syndicated program devoted to the music. He's mounting his
second smooth jazz cruise to the Mexican Riviera - on which Botti has
played in the past - this November.

"Maybe about 10 years ago I stopped letting that bother me," Koz says
of dismissals of the genre as "elevator music." "For a lot of jazz
critics, anything that is outside of that traditional box is not good
or not worthy of attention. I recognize where that lives, but the most
important critic to me is the listener."

These days, it seems that the less jazzy an artist is, the more likely
he is to accept his inclusion in the smooth jazz pantheon.

Pop singer Michael McDonald says he was thrilled when smooth jazz
stations starting playing cuts from his two recent collections of
Motown covers.

"It's a wonderful thing," says the former Doobie Brother, who has
toured with Koz and Culbertson. "I mean, anytime that somebody's
playing your music for an audience that's out there it can only be -
I mean, thank God for smooth jazz radio for artists like myself."

British newcomer Corinne Bailey Rae is also grateful that her new
single "Put Your Records On" - acoustic soul in the vein of Erykah
Badu or India.Arie - has already made a splash stateside on the
smooth jazz charts. In her home country, she gets spun on the rock and
soul outposts of the BBC.

"Wherever you go, people seem to hear things differently according to
what culture or place it is," says the 27-year-old chanteuse. "I'm
happy just to get played."

Of course, getting played can mean the difference between selling
records or not. Smooth jazz artists typically outsell traditional
artists, usually because they get more airplay on more stations.
Traditional jazz outlets have shrunk over the years while smooth jazz
outlets have expanded.

"I will say we definitely sell a lot more than straight-ahead jazz,
that is true," says Culbertson with just a touch of gloating. "We're
selling 100,000 or more, they're not even coming close. They're lucky
if they're selling 15,000."

And the fans don't just buy albums, they come out to hear the music
live.

"Straight-ahead jazz is a harder sell," says Fred Taylor, entertainment
director of Sculler's Jazz Club in Cambridge, Mass. "All of the artists
that we presented in the early years of smooth jazz I keep rebooking,
and they are all big sellers," he says of acts such as Foreplay,
Richard Eliot and Koz.

Taylor, known as a hard-core jazz purist himself, says that he tries to
instruct the jazz police to be less elitist about the format since it
helps subsidize the traditional acts that he brings in.

Tinkering with style

Benson, who's at work on an album with fellow smooth jazz star Al
Jarreau, certainly is. In fact, he admits that he tinkered with his
style over the years to make himself more commercially viable.

"There was a time when in the jazz world I didn't have a solid identity
for the jazz masses," he says. "I couldn't fill up the clubs. So I had
to do something that would. ... And when I started getting hit records,
they were records that were oriented on the pop thing and the R&B thing
and I used my jazz experience to enhance those, to give them some
pizazz."

But even when the music has pizazz, as much of it does - especially
live when the instrumentalists engage in more inventive improvisation
- the smooth jazz label itself is still a turn-off to some.

"If we could change the name from smooth jazz to something that had a
little bit more of a hip quality to it that would get the critics off
our back, I think all the artists that have been around for a while
would say let's do it!" Koz says with a laugh. "The problem is that
radio stations have spent millions upon millions of dollars over 18 to
20 years branding themselves as smooth jazz stations, so you can't walk
away from that."

Even Botti grudgingly admits that "ultimately smooth jazz is a radio
format that began with a lot of narrowness and in the last few years
has opened substantially to other kinds of music that embraces jazz."

"Even Slash has a smooth jazz hit called 'Obsession Confession' - so
there," Koz says of the Guns N' Roses guitarist's surprise 1996 hit.
"We are an equal opportunity employer in the smooth jazz community. If
you're Slash and you're wearing that big top hat and you've got a good
song, we'll take you."Fourplay - Smooth Jazz Supergroup Releases Tenth Album

Wednesday July 19, 10:00 am ET

FOURPLAY X Breaks New Ground in Creative Interaction
Michael McDonald Featured On First Single, 'My Love's Leavin'

LOS ANGELES, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Fifteen years of Fourplay seems
too good to be true -- yet with FOURPLAY X the world's top smooth jazz
ensemble makes clear that the ple

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

br /> +

Johnny Asia, Guitarist from the Future



"I say play your own way. Don't play what the public wants. You play what
you want and let the public pick up on what you're doing even if it does
take
them fifteen, twenty years." - Thelonious Monk



--
Posted via a free Usenet account from On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:19:04 -0400, wrote tom walls:

> In article <>,
> says...
>> On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 07:57:13 -0400, wrote tom walls:
>
>>
>

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

imately smooth jazz is a radio
> format that began with a lot of narrowness and in the last few years
> has opened substantially to other kinds of music that embraces jazz."
>
> "Even Slash has a smooth jazz hit called 'Obsession Confession' - so
> there," Koz says of the Guns N' Roses guitarist's surprise 1996 hit.
> "We are an equal opportunity employer in the smooth jazz community. If
> you're Slash and you're wearing that big top hat and you've got a good
> song, we'll take you."

"Smooth jazz's Background"

Couldn't have said it better: Smooth jazz is background music. What
muzak or Montavani was to classical music, "smooth jazz" is to real
jazz. It's not serious music of any sort. If I want pop music, I'll
listen to Eric Clapton or Sting or Steely Dan, not watered down jazz,
except in exceptional circumstances (great jazz players who still bring
it when they play more smoothy jazz. Like the occasional Benson
instrumental or Wes's albums on Verve/AM/CTI).

Half the smooth jazz guys are jazz players, and the other half are rock
guys who play mellow. Since there's little need to improvise well,
people don't care.

But it's not a "form of jazz". It's a form of instrumental pop music.

Botti is one of those that can play jazz and can improvise. But if he
had to compete with the Tom Harrell's and Jon Faddis's, who knows if he
could have done so, musically? It's kind of the easy way out. He
might have been able to.

I don't blame him for playing pop music, just as I don't blame Wes. He
had to feed his family. But Wes would never have said his version of
"Windy" was his best work."pmfan57" <> wrote in message
news:

> Botti is one of those that can play jazz and can improvise. But if he
> had to compete with the Tom Harrell's and Jon

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

Faddis's, who knows if he
> could have done so, musically? It's kind of the easy way out. He
> might have been able to.
>
> I don't blame him for playing pop music, just as I don't blame Wes. He
> had to feed his family. But Wes would never have said his version of
> "Windy" was his best work.

I happen to like Botti's smooth jazz stuff. I think it's closer to art than
most of the smooth jazz stuff. And his tone is beautiful. Sounds like he's
listened to a lot of Roy Hargrove.

Speaking of real music, has anyone heard Roy's ballad's CD where he plays
Metheny's "Always and Forever"? That's a wonderful CD and in my opinion a
must-have for all jazz fans, regardless of the absence of guitar...On Fri, 21 Jul 2006 11:05:35 -0400, tom walls <>
wrote:

>>
>You're talking double stops, or two notes in sequence?

Tom:

Double stops -- 2 notes at a time. I use 3rds sometimes, 4ths, 5ths,
whatever. It's fun (and challengin) to vary the interval that you
use. Sometimes

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

r it.
As for the defence that it is popular - so is crack cocaine - so is
gambling: they're still bad for you.

Am I an elitist? You'd better believe it!Jack

I agree, and am enjoying it greatly.............

Ken P



"Jack Zucker" <> wrote in message
news:
>I j

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

tions play nothing but Oldies and Country.
peace :-)
John

"Gardner" <> wrote in message
news:EXpwg.78018$
> We once had a British jazz station called 'Jazz FM'. It is now 'Smooth
> FM', and apart from a few token jazz slots, it could now be aptly renamed
> 'Crap FM'
>
> But I must be tolerant - the cloth ears must have their music - I just
> wish they wouldn't call it jazz. Is it just a matter of taste? Yes, it
> is - good taste and bad taste. The latter is a terminal condition -
> there's no remedy for it.
> As for the defence that it is popular - so is crack cocaine - so is
> gambling: they're still bad for you.
>
> Am I an elitist? You'd better believe it!
>
>"John Holmes" <> wrote in message
news:642a0$44c2427d$d0662eed$

> Correct me if I am wrong

You're wrong.

> but hasn't Jazz taken many different
> forms

No, there's just the one.

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

/>
> it's

its

> conception?

inception


> Wasn't there Dixieland,

Huh?

> Bigband,

WTF?

> Bop

Now you're just making stuff up.

> Fusion

That's physics silly.

> Cool

Neato!

> West Coast

I wouldn't advise it, it's full of mellow extroverted assholes in Bermuda
shorts

> and maybe many other styles I don't know about?

Something you don't know? I highly doubt it.


> Why not Smooth Jazz ?

Why not indeed.

> In my opinion some of you are lucky to have radio station's that play
> anything that could be associated with Jazz. You could be in a city like
> Cincinnati where 95% of the stations play nothing but Oldies and Country.

What about WKRP? Are you telling me Venus Flytrap plays country music?

> :-)

; / <--------------The happy guy after he has a stroke.Post removed (X-No-Archive: yes)In article <>, charles
robinson <> wrote:

> When they called they said jazz mambo and salsa so that is where all
> of the confusion

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

> Everything else is really bullshit in the end.
--Larry CarltonJack A. Zucker wrote:
> I'd love to see a similar lesson from Pat Metheny...

Yeah. What's neat is listening to George talk about how he develops
ideas. That's what I want to know, not the modes of the chromatic
minor.That must have been a gas. I think if Tom ever decides to move north he'll
be playing with guys like Liebman on a regular basis. ....joe

--
Visit me

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

t; In my opinion some of you are lucky to have radio station's that play
> anything that could be associated with Jazz.

smooth can only be associated with jazz by people that don't know jazz.

You could be in a city like
> Cincinnati where 95% of the stations play nothing but Oldies and Country.

adding 50 smooth stations won't change that.I even downloaded Tito and Cal Tjader to listen to on the way to get me in
the right mood. Oh well today is straight Bird bop.Thanks again to all of
you for your suggestions, that was quick!
Charlie
"Gerry" <> wrote in message
news:220720060849557269%

" target="_blank">1153608760.187945.79990@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
> > "slot" <> wrote:
> >
> > > pmfan57 wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Couldn't have said it better: Smooth jazz is background music.
> > >
> > > I could take you into a number of bars and restaurants that play
> > > John Coltrane as background music.
> >
> > "Smooth jazz" really can' tbe anything but background music.
>
> Of course, it can - and is. Go to a concert sometime and check out
> the audience "listening" to the music.

You mean like Kenny G? Sorry, I have too much respect for myself.

> > > Who is this "people" to whom you refer? Smooth jazz fans? If
> > > so, I say right on. Who cares about the players' pedigrees so
> > > long as they make great music.
> >
> > The music is indeed what counts.
>
> Case closed.

There was a case? Hardshell instead of gig bag?At first I was somewhat put off by the video. However, I was drawn to
watch it numerous times and really enjoy it. My take on it is GB is a
no BS genuinely nice guy and I would love to have just the talent in is
pinky finger. He is so much more than a guitar player - not that being
guitar player is a bad thing. The way I see the video is if you
knocked on GB's door and asked him what his take on p

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

" target="_blank">1153546929.971586.111010@i3g2000cwc.googlegroups.com> ,
> "slot" <> wrote:
>
> > Love it or hate it, smooth jazz is here to stay By Sarah Rodman,
> > BOSTON GLOBE
> >
> > CALL HIM POP. Call him jazz. Call him, if you must, a smooth
> > operator. But whatever you do, don't call the music that trumpeter
> > Chris Botti makes smooth jazz.
> >
> (snip)
>
> Hey pal,
>
> What's your actual connection to SAXOPHONES, besides posting these
> vapid media regurgitations about "smooth jazz", and then defending
> them.
>
> Do you get paid for that?

Can you say "troll?" wrote:
> Sent this as an email reply to someone and they suggested I post it
> here. So I will.
>
> Just got home from the fest, saw some really great music while I was
> over there. We played two nights of the festival, actually. They booked
> us on the "American Folk" stage, with

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

08760.187945.79990@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com" target="_blank">1153608760.187945.79990@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
> > > "slot" <> wrote:
> > >
> > > > pmfan57 wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > Couldn't have said it better: Smooth jazz is background music.
> > > >
> > > > I could take you into a number of bars and restaurants that play
> > > > John Coltrane as background music.
> > >
> > > "Smooth jazz" really can' tbe anything but background music.
> >
> > Of course, it can - and is. Go to a concert sometime and check out
> > the audience "listening" to the music.
>
> You mean like Kenny G?

No. But if you prefer Kenny G, then so be it.The great thing about the technological advance in computers is everyone has
a voice on the internet. The terrible thing about the technological advance
in computers is everyone has a voice on the internet.

Maynard, BTW, was played by Bob Denver (AKA Gilligan)icarusi wrote:
> "Joey Goldstein" <> wrot

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

you know nothing . you're a troll. you can't even play.
it would be foolish to consider anything you have to say about jazz.Great stuff. I love Doug's voice. Sooooooooooooo soulful. Love the groove
too. Doug's the real deal...

--


"pmfan57" <&

Re: BOSTON GLOBE: Smooth jazz is here to stay

lifetime. There
> > are literally thousands of recordings where the players do nothing but
> > play their parts.
>
> you're wrong. you know nothing . you're a troll. you can't even play.
> it would be foolish to consider anything you have to say about jazz.

Zoot, I know we've our differences in the past, but man, I gotta say, I'm
digging you more each post I see :-)


FionaIn article <>,
"slot" <> wrote:

> Tim McNamara wrote:
> > In article <1153611455.134727.92550@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> > "slot" <> wrote:
> >
> > > Tim McNamara wrote:
> > > > In article
> > > > <>,
> > > > "slot" <> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > pmfan57 wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Couldn't have said it better: Smooth jazz is background
> > > > > > music.
> > > > >
> > > > > I could take you into a number of bars and restaurants that
> > > > > play John Coltrane as background music.
> > > >
> > > > "Smooth jazz" really can' tbe anything but background music.
> > >
> > > Of course, it can - and is. Go to a concert sometime and check
> > > out the audience "listening" to the music.
> >
> > You mean like Kenny G?
>
> No. But if you prefer Kenny G, then so be it.

(sung to the tune of "Rawhide")

Trollin' trollin' trollin'
Keep those posts a-rollin'
Troll on!

Keeping that flame war on
Look for fuel to pour on
Prove that you're a moron-
Troll on!

Trollin' trollin' trollin'
Keep those posts a-rollin'
Troll on!Way cool seeing his wang bar work up close!

But how is it that my hair is mostly gray and his is... not.

Maybe he isn't really 8 years older than me (I'm 54...).

Gantt

pmfan57 wrote:
> The performance Doug Wamble mentioned seems to have been video'd and is
> already on the Internet! Doug, let me know if this is the set you saw.
>
>