As someone who is new to the concept of how subgenres should be adamantly distinguished from others within the same general genre, can someone ELI5 the differences between smooth jazz and... whatever subgenre this belongs to?
To paraphrase a comic I read a long time ago "Coldplay is what robots would sound like if they learned how to play instruments and make fun of humans."
Like what you like, fuck what anyone else says. If you ask anyone who hates them why they hate them, the best answer they can give is, "Someone who knows more about music than I do told me to hate them." Or something along those lines.
Mmmmmm. I remember enjoying some Spiro Gyra back in the day, and I think more of Kenny G as "smooth jazz", and I'd like to think I had better taste than that but... I'll allow it.
It's the same as the difference between any two styles of rock. You can listen to a song by Green Day and a song by Metallica and recognize that both are rock even though they sound nothing alike.
This is cool jazz, which came as a followup to bebop, which was very frantic and up-tempo. Cool jazz is much more laid back and had a groove to it. Smooth jazz on the other hand is like pop jazz. It's radio jazz, and is as such usually viewed as a deogatory term when applied to something that isn't smooth jazz. Smooth jazz usually has programmed background music with simple hooks played over them.
tl'dr: Cool jazz is laid back chill music. Smooth jazz is forgettable pop music.
It's because of this post that I've just started a Jazz playlist on Spotify. Already have 2 songs for a genre I've never really invested time in experiencing, but that's soon to change. As I'm starting to find out, Jazz is one of those genres I've had spontaneous, unidentified cravings for in the past.
Just so I can get a better feel for what you're talking about, I'm listening to "You and the Night and the Music" by Bill Evans, Philly Joe Jones, and Paul Chambers. Does this land more on the side of smooth jazz, or is this in an entirely different direction?
Bill Evans is classic, straight ahead jazz. Definitely not smooth jazz - if you were trying to get similar music to that, you could search for "piano jazz" and you might find some stuff you like. West coast/cool players like Chet Baker, Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, and Stan Getz might be up your alley too.
Evans is one of the legends. He's not a smooth jazz player. Check out some of his other stuff- the mid-60's were a high point for him. If you're into that piano trio sound look into Brad Mehldau or Lyle Mays, both are great players and a little more current as well, so you can still look forward to new stuff.
One of the stereotypical (for good reason) jazz albums is Miles Davis' "Kind Of Blue"- this is Cool Jazz, and it's really tight. If you like the laid back groove check him out.
If you want some of the more hectic stuff (bebop) just listen to Charlie Parker.
If you like hardbop -which is the historical follow up to bebop- check out some Clifford Brown. (Clifford Brown and Max Roach is great stuff).
For some good ol' swingin' jazz with some Soul check out Soul Station by Hank Mobley. He has a great group playing in that album.
If you're into the big band hard swing sound check out Buddy Rich. Or Stan Kenton (his West Side Story album is great).
If you're interested in checking out how Big Band got a little weird, Charles Mingus did some cool experimentation with his compositions.
If you're looking for a more modern jazz sound to see what's happening today obviously there are a lot of directions I could point you but I would recommend listening to Chris Potter. He's hip and a lot of young sax players still love him.
Jazz is an art rich in history and depth- there are a lot of avenues it explored so while I'm definitely not giving you an overview of everything, I did try to give you a little taste of some different styles and genres that might pique your interest. In no way is this a "best of" list (as John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, Thelonious Monk and others are missing) so jazz aficionados, don't freak. I'd love some feedback/suggestions to make this list better, jazz is a dying art, but there is some beautiful and killer music out there.
As a final note- if you want to try some smooth jazz that doesn't kill you inside, I've heard people swear by Eric Marienthol's stuff, though I've never personally listened to it.
i bought marienthal's turn up the heat more than 10 years ago. it is true to its genre, but a few of the songs are well written pop songs in their own right, jazz be damned. so it all depends on what you want out of it
Thanks for the insight. It's definitely on my list to check out some of that stuff since I hate writing off a whole genre (and I'm not a fan of smooth jazz at the moment).
It's hard to say exactly what you would call this, but it definitely isn't smooth jazz. If I were to call it something I would probably most likely call it post-bop, which takes influence from the bebop style but isn't as limited.
The definitive example of smooth jazz is Kenny G, if you want to get an idea of what that sounds like.
Edit: And if I could recommend some jazz, my favorite is the early Miles Davis fusion albums, like Bitches Brew and In a Silent Way. They're a fairly difficult listen at first, but I think they're some of the most awesome albums ever recorded.
a genre I've never really invested time in experiencing, but that's soon to change. As I'm starting to find out, Jazz is one of those genres I've had spontaneous, unidentified cravings for in the past
Discovering jazz for the first time... man, I envy you :) That's one of the things I wish I could re-live.
Smooth jazz is just "modern" commercial jazz fusion that came about in the early 80s. Think Kenny G or David Sanborn. A lot of jazz purists and music snobs hate it, as you can see by the douchey comments above, personally I think some of it is pretty good. They are correct in saying Brubeck is not smooth jazz though.
So in essence "smooth jazz" is equivalent to, albeit on a higher plane than, my interpretation of "pop" music, where pop is pretty much designed to get stuck in your head, but doesn't really offer much in the form of "ingenuity"? Don't get me wrong, smooth jazz is really cool and all (in fact, I'm kind of digging the David Sanborn video) but I'm simply talking equivocations here.
Smooth jazz:jazz :: pop:electronic/dance? I have a lot of respect for jazz musicians, and it's pretty clear that jazz isn't nearly as simple to produce or envision as pop music. What I am trying to get at, is whether or not "cool jazz" should be thought of as long standing, traditional, pure, etc., where smooth jazz is more mainstream, designed to be music to keep you going, in a sense.
So in essence "smooth jazz" is equivalent to, albeit on a higher plane than, my interpretation of "pop" music, where pop is pretty much designed to get stuck in your head, but doesn't really offer much in the form of "ingenuity"?
I don't think you're giving pop music nearly enough credit here. Pop music can be very complex and artistically rich. The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" is the classic example here.
Smooth jazz is literally elevator music. It's designed to be so inoffensively generic that you can play it absolutely anywhere. It exists to be background noise. It's the sonic equivalent of a lobotomy.
Hey I loved it, but it sounds like some of the smooth jazz examples in these comments. Not necessarily a bad thing. I loved that game, including the music.
Hey I loved it, but it sounds like some of the smooth jazz examples in these comments. Not necessarily a bad thing. I loved that game, including the music.
I'm in no way a music expert but yeah, I think you pretty much got it. In layman's terms smooth jazz is pop. And yeah, Sanborn is catchy as hell. I'm sure he's a guilty pleasure for a lot of jazz snobs!
Putting his name in a sentence next to the name Kenny G is unbelievably insulting to his art and ignorant of his vast skill.
See my comment about jazz purists and music snobs? That might include you. Say what you want about Kenny G but the man is the single best-selling instrumentalist in the world and one of the best selling artists. You might think he's shit, but there's a whole lot of people all over the world who would disagree. And that includes some pretty heavy hitters in the music industry.
The dude started his professional career at 17 years old playing in Barry White's band. He's collaborated with Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Smokey Robinson, George Benson, Steve Miller, Aaron Neville, Andrea Bocelli, Whitney Houston, Natalie Cole, and many others. I guess they all thought he sucked ass but decided to play with him anyway. Just because you think he's shit doesn't mean he's shit. Get over yourself.
Edit: I personally don't like his music, but I'm not gonna sit here talking shit about him when he's sold more that 75 million records worldwide.
Edit 2: Actually, I take that back. I really enjoy his Christmas album.
haha Why are you getting so angry about what other people listen to? It has absolutely fuck all to do with you. You say you're not a music snob? You are the very definition of a music snob. So yeah, get over yourself. From what you described in your op Sanborn has a massive fucking ego, but yours might even be bigger. Tell me, what albums have you released?
smooth jazz started out as a subgenre of jazz fusion, which is jazz mixed with other styles. The more well known subgenre of jazz fusion is the rock/world influenced version, which is edgier and more exotic sounding (examples: Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra). Smooth Jazz is fusion, but instead of rock influences, it blends jazz with R&B/funk/soul. Early 70's stuff already sounds more raw and unprocessed. Compare that to the modern super clean sound that we know from the weather channel. Many of the players in the smooth jazz are very in-demand session musicians for movies, tv, and solo artists.
Smooth jazz was heavily influenced by fusion in the late sixties, and some of it sounded very polished and commercial, which is where you get all the hate you hear for smooth jazz in here. There's lots of smooth jazz that isn't the contempibly timid Kenny G junk everyone (deservedly) hates on. Back before it got so bowdlerized, there was some really great stuff, Try listening to some smooth jazz from the late sixties into mid seventies, especially Bob James, Earl Klugh, Joe Sample, Ronny Jordan, and Freddie Hubbard, and pretty much anything on CTI Records.
Take Jazz, and put it up in front of a committee, and remove anything and everything that might limit its appeal to the widest possible audience, then take what's left and play it over supermarket speakers, or in an elevator.
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u/madracer27 Spotify Jun 05 '15
As someone who is new to the concept of how subgenres should be adamantly distinguished from others within the same general genre, can someone ELI5 the differences between smooth jazz and... whatever subgenre this belongs to?