Pop jazz
| Smooth jazz | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | |
| Cultural origins | 1960s–1970s, United States |
| Typical instruments | |
| Other topics | |
| List of musicians | |
Smooth jazz is a popular genre of music that grew out of jazz and is influenced by rhythm and blues, funk, rock and roll, and pop music styles (separately, or, in any combination). Musicians such as Kenny G, Ramsey Lewis, Dave Koz, and Spyro Gyra have had hits with instrumental recordings, while singers such as Anita Baker, Sade, Sting and Norah Jones have found success with vocal releases. George Benson remains a popular Smooth Jazz artist as both a singer and guitar player.
Smooth jazz was once successful as a radio format. However, in 2007, the popularity of the format began to slide. Consequently, it was abandoned by several high-profile radio stations across the U.S.A., including WQCD (now WFAN-FM) in New York, WNUA Chicago (now WEBG), WJJZ in Philadelphia (now WISX), and KKSF (now KOSF) in San Francisco. Programmers say the audience for the format has aged beyond the prime demographic sought by advertisers. Despite the format's demise outside a handful of commercial radio outlets, a number of non-commercial and HD stations have taken up the music. It is still available on SiriusXM on Channel 66, known as "Watercolors" and on the Music Choice cable radio service. In addition, smooth jazz concerts, recording sales, as well as increased smooth jazz offerings on the Internet, continue to show strong fan support for the genre.
In general a smooth jazz track is downtempo (the most widely played tracks are in the 90–105 BPM range), layering a melody played on instruments such as soprano and tenor saxophone or guitar over a backdrop that typically consists of programmed rhythms and various synth pads and/or samples.
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