Smooth Jazz (Instrumental Pop, Contemporary Muzak, etc...)

I've heard many descriptions of Smooth Jazz (more negative than positive) and was part of many heated discussions that had to do whether it is a legit artform. Before I go further I'll just say that to each his(or her) own if you are a diehard fan, and the following is based on my views as a kid growing up in the Reaganomics/Crack era.

Anyway when I was growing up throughout the 1980s and early 1990s I was glued to BET (then known as Black Entertainment Television - ha ha.) Video Soul was the show to watch, but I was also a fan of Video Vibrations, a show that usually aired artists in genres that usually didn't fit into the Video Soul rotation (like House, Rock, Smooth Jazz, and others outside of R&B and Soul (and from the late 80s on, hip-hop.) But at the time a lot of Smooth Jazz artists such as Najee, George Howard, and Gerald Albright would also guest on the R&B hits at the time and would have instrumental versions of songs that originally had vocals (and most of the time background singers still sang the hooks.) I didn't know or care who was the target audience of this type of music but I would watch the music videos anyway just because I was a fan of the music video.

Anytime I would hear folks talk about Jazz, the only thing I could think of was Smooth Jazz. Even as a kid I was into whatever happened to be the rawest sound, and it happened to come out of Hip-Hop music. Smooth Jazz (and the contemporary R&B that was big at the time) didn't have enough bottom, not enough flaws, not enough of ANYTHING for me to relate to. I also didn't know anything about romance at the time so I could care less about the subject matter. It was only until I heard Public Enemy sample The JBs's The Grunt for Rebel Without A Pause and Night Of The Living Baseheads when I could tolerate the sound of a saxophone.

Now when I think of Smooth Jazz, I see it as a valid artform that serves a purpose for the millions of folks out there whose idea of music is to play in the background while they relax after work. Sadly, the tastes I have and styles of music I specialize in seem to be guilty pleasures meant to be enjoyed in small doses. If hardcore/progressive Jazz is like drinking unsweetened green tea, Smooth Jazz (and usually any pop-oriented genre) is like drinking the same tea only after it's loaded with sugar.

With that being said, cats can play what they want to play, and audiences can pay $$$$$ to see any Smooth Jazz artist or far-removed R&B legend at whatever Jazz festival around. I refuse to sugarcoat my music just to be more acceptable. I may add a little bit of sugar (or honey) to the tea from time to time, but if I'm not feeling it, it won't come out on the piano.

Once again, my Myspace Music page

...check out my Myspace music page at myspace.com/donaldcrawford.