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Topic: Smooth Jazz |
Larry Behm
From:
Mt Angel, Or 97362
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 4:10 am |
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Been listening to SJ for over a month now, wow I have been looking for this for 40 years, and just did not have a station in my area I could sink my teeth into.
Buddy use to say he listened to horn players well I can tell you this could make a difference in your playing. A non traditional steel approach to music, single notes with lots of soul.
Larry Behm |
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Darvin Willhoite
From:
Roxton, Tx. USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 6:10 am
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I have been a smooth jazz fan for years. It is mostly instrumental, with lots of guitars, and occasionally a steel guitar part pops up. I have an XM radio PCA on my computer at work and listen to channel 71 all the time. They play a couple of Earl Klugh songs occasionally that Lloyd Green played on, and Dave Koz has an album out with Greg Leitz playing steel on it. Larry Carlton is one of my all time favorite guitar players, and they play a lot of his stuff too.
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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 7:50 am
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I love this stuff, too.
I once read that Carlton himself was less-than delighted with some of his own recordings, dismissing them as 'happy jazz' (  ), but I find that I learn so much about progressions that had not occurred to me before. Our local 'SJ' station sometimes pushes the envelope a bit and includes some blatant 'pop', but it's still infinitely preferable to any other music stations in our area.
107.1 represents a free music lesson for me...
RR
These |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 8:36 am
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I'm an old school "progressive jazz" fan, and the Earl Klugh material sounds too rehearsed to fit in that category. Of course I've never heard him live, only on CD.
I guess that's where the "smooth jazz" category of Klugh and others of his era comes from. To my generation, if it "ain't" improvised...it ain't jazz....even if it is smooth and pleasant to listen to.
Discussion and opinions???? |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 8:45 am
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There's something about smooth jazz that bugs us old mainstream jazz fans a little bit, but just as long as there are two seperate jazz formats on the radio dial, I'm cool with it.
Real jazz lovers just don't want their music to be confused in any way with the more pop genre.
Anything that requires overdubbing in the studio is somehow not quite what I think of as "jazz".
It sure beats alot of other stuff on the radio though. IMHO.
I've played a few SJ festivals around here lately, and the steel guitar goes over really well![This message was edited by Rick Schmidt on 12 October 2006 at 09:47 AM.] |
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Bill Hatcher
From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 9:27 am
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The word "Jazz" really means nothing these days. It has been hijacked.
If you want to hear "real" jazz then you have to search for it either live or on the radio.
The Smooth Jazz radio thing is just nice grooves that your average folk can cruise down the street and groove to and use as background music for parties. |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 9:56 am
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I'd have to agree with Gene and Rick - this 'smooth jazz' needs another name (even if categorizing music IS a pretty pointless pursuit!)
It is, however, of interest to me because of the level of musicianship; there's still a great deal left for me to learn, and I'm always hearing stuff that gets me thinking.
I'd have to agree that the essence of jazz is absent is there's too much 'advance planning'....
RR |
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John Macy
From:
Rockport TX/Denver CO
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 10:55 am
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It's like the old one about Kenny G and John Tesh getting on an elevator together and Tesh says to Kenny "Man, this place is happening...".  |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Dave Burr
From:
League City, TX
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 11:48 am
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| Rick ~ That cracked me up!!!! |
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Stephen Gregory
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 12:53 pm
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| Most Jazz "purists" would compare "Smooth Jazz" to "Traditional Jazz" as, "New Country" is to "Classic Country",or Kenny G. to Parker or as Kenny Chesney to the "Possum". |
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Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 1:34 pm
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There's lots of great players playing "snooze" jazz, but to me it's just improvisation over a rock or funk beat. No swing beats allowed on all of it I've ever heard. Isn't that one of the essences of jazz?
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Mullen RP, Webb 6-14E, Peavey NV112, Hilton volume.
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Craig Stock
From:
Westfield, NJ USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 5:19 pm
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I used to listen to alot of "Newer Jazz" or Instumental Stuff back in the early eighties, Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Crusaders, and went to lots of shows, then Commercial radio got hold of it and watered it down too much for my taste.
I still like alot of the older stuff, but most of the new stuff is full of fluff. I mostly listen to our local Jazz station WBGO-FM who play more straight ahead Jazz. They can be heard on the web at:
www.wbgo.org
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Regards, Craig
[This message was edited by Craig Stock on 12 October 2006 at 06:20 PM.] |
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Darryl Hattenhauer
From:
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 5:35 pm
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John,
That joke is knee-walking hilarious.
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"Time flies like an arrow. Fruitflies like a banana." -- Groucho
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Jim Phelps
From:
Mexico City, Mexico
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Posted 12 Oct 2006 10:48 pm
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| . [This message was edited by Jim Phelps on 13 October 2006 at 04:16 PM.] |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 5:21 am
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If Miles can cover Cindy Lauper's Time After Time,
then all bets are off for "What is real jazz".
I like most aspects of the umbrella genre jazz,
as long as it is good music, then it works for me.
Larry Carlton, Lee Ritenour, Crusaders, yep these cats were still making intelligent music,
from a funkier perspective,
versus hard swing, or bossa.
I agree with the watered down comments.
Then again Jobim is still considered jazz,
and he is watered down in contra-position
to
say, Anthony Braxton or Cecil Taylor,
[This message was edited by David L. Donald on 13 October 2006 at 06:25 AM.] |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 6:41 am
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Thanks, David!
I've enjoyed a lot of what I guess is 'pseudo jazz' (Ritenour, Klugh, Carlton, Benson et al) - 'intelligent music' is a satisfactory tag for it all, and it's a darn sight better than anything on country music radio!
RR |
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Michael Haselman
From:
St. Paul
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 6:55 am
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| Like I said, there's a lot of great music in this genre. It just seems like the radio programmers listen, and if there's any hint of a swing beat it doesn't get played. |
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Gene Jones
From:
Oklahoma City, OK USA, (deceased)
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 8:47 am
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| For most of contemporary music, it is only the lyrics that are important....the musicians kind of provide a "frame" for the picture! [This message was edited by Gene Jones on 13 October 2006 at 02:49 PM.] |
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David L. Donald
From:
Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 9:09 am
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One thing less considered in this smooth jazz,
is the fact, that these players are so good
they make it seem easy....
Try copying Ritnour some afternoon.
His limited pressing, direct to disc (LP) back in the 80's, was killer stuff.
Live, one take.. for the WHOLE album side.
Most all these players can play serious bop if called on.
But they are eating and feeding their families,
without playing pure crap...
Which is the state of much of the working gigs
that don't do purely originals. |
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Rick Schmidt
From:
Prescott AZ, USA
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Posted 13 Oct 2006 11:46 am
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That's true David. As it should be.
Heck even Charlie Parker did an album with Mitch Miller. |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 14 Oct 2006 8:43 am
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| It's hard for me to think of it as jazz. I like it okay, though. |
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David Doggett
From:
Bawl'mer, MD (formerly of MS, Nawluns, Gnashville, Knocksville, Lost Angeles, Bahsten. and Philly)
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Posted 14 Oct 2006 1:52 pm
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So, I'm not sure, was Pat Matheny saying he didn't like Kenny G? 
But seriously, I don't think smooth jazz players, including Kenny G are technically as bad as Pat says. But it is elevator drek. It's not sit-down-and-listen-seriously music. A good portion of classical music, especially chamber pieces, was intended to be "program music", meaning background for parties and dinners, in its day. And in this electronic age, I don't see anything wrong with overdubbing music from the past, as long as there is an up front attribution. It's not really sacred, it's all just music - why not have fun with it. And let's face it - the masses are never going to come around to Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor, or even Stravinsky and Schoenberg. Even among country pickers, a lot of them love to play jazz - Western Swing to Bebop - but they do it after hours and among themselves, not to the audiences that put their dinner on the table. |
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Craig Stock
From:
Westfield, NJ USA
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Posted 15 Oct 2006 2:28 pm
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Yes David, I have that Direct to disc record, in fact I think there were two.
One is "Sugarloaf Express" JVC Direct Disc, the other is "Friendship", also JVC DD.
Each side played straight through, no stopping or remixing.
Lee's newest CD reunites alot of the same guys and is very excellent. It is titled "overtime".
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Regards, Craig
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Henry Nagle
From:
Santa Rosa, California
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Posted 15 Oct 2006 9:38 pm
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I don't mean to offend anyone, but that music reminds me of the waiting room at the dentist's office.
To me it is strictly background noise. It seems like the mainstream portion of any genre has gone smooth(bland). Rock, jazz, R & B, country.
I believe this stuff is created to offend the fewest possible listeners and therefore winds up saying nothing and doing nothing new or even noticable. It's music for people who don't particularly care about music.
Just my opinion and you know what they say about those! [This message was edited by Henry Nagle on 17 October 2006 at 11:35 PM.] |
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