Theo Verelst Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hi, I was wondering if some people here would have instant associations with being asked for which smooth Jazz acts/albums should be considered "top". Clearly I mean Jazz and smooth, not something of the new kind that makes claims to replace the style. I liked to listen to smooth Jazz radio (in Amsterdam mostly) years ago, but I think there was no presenter calling out the titles of the songs or the performers. I know it's possibly cheesy, but I kind of like a well done SJ production and was planning on doing one "in the Kurzweil" or at least using some of the recovered sound I've worked on in a multi-track recording. Maybe in certain senses there'd be a "smooth Jazz" epiano preset and example song with some of those double bass lines coming out of the auto-accompaniment, but as it is I don't have that, or would wonder what New Age wonderfulness would be part of thus sounds, rendering them unusable.. So if I'd like it a bit funky and not too afraid of Jazz chord changes, what example music is there ? Thanks. T.V. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe P Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 There is Spyro Gyra, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Yellowjackets, I suppose. Rippingtons maybe. I would include Steps Ahead, but their music fails to put me to sleep, so I don't know if they can be classified as smooth jazz. Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthizen2 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Yellowjackets. Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffLearman Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 For a great CD of actual jazz that might qualify as mostly "smooth", try Stolen Moments by Lee Ritenour. It's jazz that jazz enthusiasts can appreciate, but also listenable to people who aren't immersed in jazz. It's one of my "starter kit" CDs for folks who think they might be interested in jazz, or people who'd like to drag someone else along into it. Oops, I mean, "inspire". I'm not a big fan of Ritenour's fusion (or much any fusion, other than the early masters like Weather Report, Herbie, etc.) But I really like this CD, especially the title cut. It's a bunch of often overlooked "standards", lovingly arranged and performed by some pretty hot young turks. But it's not the kind of stuff that airs in the US "smooth jazz" radio stations, which is mostly stuff that makes me nauseous anyway (epitomized by Kenny G). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midinut Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 I would include some Sade in there. Even if it is a bit more "poppy", I still hear it in smooth jazz playlists. Also, David Sanscious, David Arkenstone, David Lanz, Vangelis, JMJ, and many others ... but my tastes are weird too. lol Kronos 88 | MODX7 | Wavestate | Crave | KeyLab 61 | CPS SSv3 | MacBook Pro | MainStage | More VSTs than I'll ever figure out www.thehenrysmusic.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ABECK Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Jeff Lorber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Certainly CTI era stuff: Bob James, George Benson, Seawind, Grover Washington Jr. Some consider Pat Metheny's "American Garage" & "Offramp" stuff as smooth jazz - just don't mention that to Pat. Generally notable "smooth jazz" guys were legit jazzers who could genuinely play. A shout out to my piano instructor, Peter Horvath, who had a #1 smooth jazz record on the radio in 1995 (back when there was terrestrial smooth jazz programming) - and he's a legit badass. There is of course a large collection of flotsam and jetsam, which is to be avoided at all costs. Push play on drum machine, noodle some faux bluesy licks over two chords, insert ii-V-iii-Vi as bridge, lather, rinse, repeat, and bounce track to publish. Sigh. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted October 31, 2014 Author Share Posted October 31, 2014 Right. I stand corrected a bit, I played Stolen Moments (the song, not the album) in the past, Sade is good, I got a CD with decent Benson songs,. Probably I'm not experienced or interested enough to take Metheny or Yellowjackets to a proper smooth jazz level, I need to think about that. I just thought of another one I did know (and played): David Sanborn. That should tie down loose ships and cover the genre with enough Jazz knowledge ! A bit more thinking, and maybe just settle with a Jazz song I like in a "cool" version with some pop-y production on the rhythms. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burningbusch Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Rick Braun has some catchy tunes. [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lklbuEBpitE Busch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 All those mentioned, plus I liked the Tom Coster solo albums. Great musicians and high-level playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobadohshe Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 For smooth jazz with quality changes and heavy grooves played by church cats, check out Everette Harp. Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37 My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 When people say "smooth jazz" I've always felt they are referring to the radio format, not a real style of music that developed organically. Once the format took hold and turned into an income stream for musicians (and record co. executives), of course it took off. It's just a variant of r&b done with more jazz sensibilities (more sophisticated harmony mostly). Unlike jazz, you could scribble bluesy clichés over hackneyed drum machine beats and get airplay with not much effort, leading to a lot of IMO pretty lame stuff out there. But you also had bands like Fourplay and guys like Lee Ritenour & Dave Sanborn who could really play, so there is quite a lot of very tasty stuff out there that happens to qualify as "smooth jazz." (Please assume a big "IMO" plastered across this post!!). Some of the previous examples cited in this thread Tom Coster, Yellowjackets, Pat Meth are to me nowhere near "smooth jazz", certainly in terms of what the radio format honchos demanded (and they did demand, thanks to Broadcast Architecture). Yellowjackets in particular went with a much freer and jazzier sound and writing style. Now that the radio format has died, you see a lot of the smooth guys touring as "packages" i.e., one rhythm section backing up multiple artists. There still seems to be touring work for those guys, but I'm guessing that the budgets for recording are not what they were back in the day. Sorry for the blathering... we now return you to the Theo thread at hand... good luck with your "smooth" project my friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Reezekeys - I agree with what you've written. There's a special place in my heart for smooth jazz...a smooth jazz band convinced me to pick up my instrument again after my brutal divorce. The problem with vocabulary is of course the need to clarify definitions. Music genre labels are notoriously ambiguous. Miles' "Human Nature" was in rotation on smooth jazz radio with Fourplay's "Bali Run", right along with Kenny Gorelick. So what's in a label? Certainly a large bit of the genre today can be described as "instrumental R&B". But you could spin Chris Potter's "Invisible Man" or Kenny Wheeler's "Ma Belle Helene" and either would offer Theo a good challenge for his "smooth" project. .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Larry Carlton, Dan Siegel, Bob James The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz1642606857 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 JOE SAMPLE !!! [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrUf4cdaI8s Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and also helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Harry spends his time teaching jazz piano online and playing solo piano gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazz1642606857 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 WE LOST THE KING OF SMOOTH JAZZ. [video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DcXg-uMjXc Harry Likas was the Technical Editor of Mark Levine's "The Jazz Theory Book" and also helped develop "The Jazz Piano Book." Harry spends his time teaching jazz piano online and playing solo piano gigs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reezekeys Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 The problem with vocabulary is of course the need to clarify definitions. Music genre labels are notoriously ambiguous. Miles' "Human Nature" was in rotation on smooth jazz radio with Fourplay's "Bali Run", right along with Kenny Gorelick. So what's in a label? Certainly a large bit of the genre today can be described as "instrumental R&B". But you could spin Chris Potter's "Invisible Man" or Kenny Wheeler's "Ma Belle Helene" and either would offer Theo a good challenge for his "smooth" project. IMO it's useless for anyone to try and define "smooth" jazz or even jazz in general. Everybody is going to have an opinion. To a bebopper, smooth jazz might be any kind of instrumental music with a backbeat. "Jazz" can mean anyone from Al Hirt to Albert Ayler depending on who you ask. For me, as I said, "smooth jazz" connotes the radio format and its fairly restrictive musical parameters. I remember hearing that Broadcast Architecture had a list of "dont's" if you wanted to get the tune played on smooth jazz radio. Human Nature happened to fit their parameters, as did a few Pat Metheny tunes. I feel safe in saying neither of these artists consciously tried to tailor their music for this radio format while a lot of other true "smooth jazzers" did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 David Benoit, guitarist Norman Brown have some pretty good stuff. Live: Korg Kronos 2 88, Nord Electro 5d Nord Lead A1 Toys: Roland FA08, Novation Ultranova, Moog LP, Roland SP-404SX, Roland JX10,Emu MK6 www.bksband.com www.echoesrocks.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted November 1, 2014 Author Share Posted November 1, 2014 Right, thanks. I got 6 or 7 names to check out for a few days, some of it is good (I checked some). T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMcM Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Fourplay Wm. David McMahan I Play, Therefore I Am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morizzle Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Snarky Puppy. It's not a clone, it's a Suzuki. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Don't forget George Duke AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 See, now we are running up against what the definition of smooth jazz is. To me the main definition is "insubstantial." Some of these artists are WAY too good to fit that definition. Moe --- "I keep wanting to like it's sound, but every demo seems to demonstrate that it has the earth-shaking punch and peerless sonics of the Roland Gaia. " - Tusker http://www.hotrodmotm.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenElevenShadows Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 See, now we are running up against what the definition of smooth jazz is. To me the main definition is "insubstantial." I don't have a good association with the phrase "smooth jazz" at all. The first phrase I pair with that is "Oh jeez, I just threw up in my mouth a little." Ken Lee Photography - new book available! Linktree to various sites Instagram Nightaxians Video Podcast Flickr The Mercury Seven-cool spacey music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brettymike Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 This is the best way to smooth jazz > http://images.dailytech.com/nimage/30877_large_Steamroller_Wide.png Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synthaholic Posted November 1, 2014 Share Posted November 1, 2014 Earl Klugh, Michael Franks, Grover Washington, Steve Kahn, David Sanborn, Brecker Brothers The fact there's a Highway To Hell and only a Stairway To Heaven says a lot about anticipated traffic numbers People only say "It's a free country" when they're doing something shitty-Demetri Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 Anybody know any Latin influences ? (Of most above examples I've got a youtube song on a browser window with many tabs...) T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 Anybody know any Latin influences ? (Of most above examples I've got a youtube song on a browser window with many tabs...) T. Brazilian love affair album by George Duke AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theo Verelst Posted November 5, 2014 Author Share Posted November 5, 2014 That's hard ! Just like Yellowjackets, which I can play some of, and maybe it would be great idea to play some on a smooth radio or internet broadcast, but that's not what most people should associate with smooth jazz, I think! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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