What song was the beginning of smooth jazz?

[jerrythek]

I was thinking of the recordings, not the supporting live performances. Drum loops were common, and lots of parts were sequenced, for sure. But you are correct, that became more prevalent in the '90s and beyond.

 

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

MIDI did kill Funk and R&B bands but it gets a pass in this thread.

 

While the DX7 was definitely the powdered sugar on the Smooth Jazz funnel cake, during the 1980s, bands and musicians were responsible for the content.  Sequencers and drum machines didn't heavily infiltrate the music until the 1990s through 2000s.

 

Still, most Smooth Jazz artists perform with live bands which provided musicians with work.  They didn't go down the road of using MIDI sequencers and pre-recorded tracks on DAT tapes and CDs like artists in other styles of music. 😎

 

[jerrythek]

I agree that drum machines and drum loops played the biggest part.... I was offering it up in response to the Rhodes.

 

53 minutes ago, Reezekeys said:

 

 

As far as midi & dx7s and smooth jazz, those tools were getting used in every genre starting in the 1980s. I would say the drum machine had a lot more impact on smooth jazz tracks than DX7s, but that's my own personal observation/opinion.

 

[Al Quinn]

For me it was Breezin’ which I still enjoy listening to. I also remember Spyro Gyro’s Morning Dance early on. Tom Schumann is a great keyboard player who I don’t see mentioned much around these parts.

 

Yeah, of course Pat Metheny is right about Kenny G. But it’s probably worth mentioning (or admitting?) that I enjoyed Kenny’s playing when he was a member of Jeff Lorber fusion.

 

Taking the word smooth literally Paul Desmond was so smooth so long ago. 

 

It’s kind of a shame that some mediocre music (of course that’s a subjective comment) has been successful in Smooth Jazz thereby giving the genre a bad rap. There’s certainly no shortage a great players in the genre: Grover Washington Jr., Joe Sample, David Benoit, Bob James, Micheal Brecker, David Sanborn, Larry Carlton, and George Duke are a few that immediately come to mind. I heard Kenny Barron on a Micheal Franks smooth jazz recording (Tiger In The Rain) the other day that was fantastic!

[rogs]

2 hours ago, Al Quinn said:

For me it was Breezin’ which I still enjoy listening to. I also remember Spyro Gyro’s Morning Dance early on. Tom Schumann is a great keyboard player who I don’t see mentioned much around these parts.

 

Yeah, of course Pat Metheny is right about Kenny G. But it’s probably worth mentioning (or admitting?) that I enjoyed Kenny’s playing when he was a member of Jeff Lorber fusion.

 

Taking the word smooth literally Paul Desmond was so smooth so long ago........ 

 

 

Spyra Gyra are great -- although I do wish at times that Jay Beckenstein's tone was bit more in the direction of Paul Desmond !  

 

I think Tom Schumann is brilliant -- and it's nice to sometimes find something where he can show off his own talent to a greater extent..

I thought this was really excellent: 

 ...Although not really what you'd call 'smooth jazz' -- so apologies for the slight thread hi jack!  

[funkyhammond]

You guys made me look up Jeff Lorber. Yup, I can get into that and Kenny G's more sophisticated playing. But Kenny's solo stuff... 🤮 

 

But, hey, whatever floats your boat. It was designed to be more accessible. At least some of the early influences still had some cool groove or other sophisticated element.

 

[Reezekeys]

9 hours ago, rogs said:

I think Tom Schumann is brilliant -- and it's nice to sometimes find something where he can show off his own talent to a greater extent..

I thought this was really excellent: 

 

Ha! Is that a Roland RD-1000? That video was from 1995, over 25 years ago, and the RD was old even then! It sounds pretty good in those capable hands. I still have my MKS20, the rack version.

[hurricane hugo]

gotta get Deodato's name in here:

 

 

[o0Ampy0o]

I cannot say what the first song was but the last songs of Smooth Jazz were muzak instrumentals of hits.

 

I liked the melodic flowing grooves of Smooth Jazz. It was great music to be productive with in the background. Enjoyed many miles driving to Smooth Jazz. I would much rather listen to a Smooth Jazz station, if there was one in my area, than a Classic Rock station (puke!)
 

 

[o0Ampy0o]

On 5/24/2022 at 8:10 AM, MathOfInsects said:

I hadn't clicked that, but guess what? It says the precursors were the "beautiful music" stations of the 1950's through 1980's. Guess what they played? Yep..."Sweet jazz."

 

Anyway, the radio stations didn't invent "Smooth Jazz" as a genre, they invented a genre name to aggregate some sounds that were already out there, and that created a market that labels then catered to. Same as any other genre. Remember "New Age"? [barf]

Rock n roll was also named by a DJ and united as a genre by radio stations. "Blues" was a record-label designation. So was "old time" (aka country). They still all have "precursors" and lengthy conversations among nerds about what the "first" rock 'n roll song or blues song or country song might be. 

BTW I did not read this until after my previous post, (your “barf” and my “puke”). “New Age” there was a station of just that. I was somewhere in which the station had a booth. I tried to convey how that genre was best suited to virginal ears and all their attempts to market “hits” were undermining its virtue. In this area some DJ’s have been all over the map at various stations of different genres. It was just a different radio gig to them. Sometimes I like to listen to soundscapes. Familiarity can be the enemy to the freeing up that such music encourages. This station tried to popularize something that benefitted from being fresh and unknown.