[JPL] Smoove Story

[Bill Barton]

The sinking of smoove has also been a hot topic on the jazz bulletin
boards.  At Jazz Corner's Speakeasy, French hornist Mark Taylor (who has
played with Henry Threadgill, Warren Smith and Taylor Ho Bynum among many
others in the "edgier" realms of jazz) had this to say:


Actually, that's EXACTLY how I came to jazz. Prior to hearing Grover
Washington, Jr., Spyro Gyra, Bob James (and his adaptations of classical
pieces I'd actually played before) and others, I wanted to be Barry
Tuckwell, Hermann Baumann and Dennis Brain all rolled into one. Of course,
at that time there was more "jazz" and less "smooth" in the music (at least
that's how I choose to remember it), but it was those Hubert Laws flute
solos in the middle of James' arrangements of pieces *I already knew* that
got me asking, "why is it never the French Horn player who gets to do that
bit? Sounds like it'd be fun!"

*********

My sister once came to me for listening recommendations and when I asked her
what was up, she told me about going to see one of her favorite smooth
artists at the Atlanta Jazz fest. At some point in the concert, she realized
that she felt that he was wasting her time! I had to chuckle a little at
what that must have been like. Anyway, she figured she'd outgrown that music
and decided to check out some new stuff.

So that's at least two people who came to "real jazz" via smoooove music.

<<From: "Philip Booth" <philipbooth at tampabay.rr.com>
To: <jazzproglist at jazzweek.com>
Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2008 22:51:56 -0400
Subject: Re: [JPL] More on Smooth Jazz
R.I.P. smooth jazz (I'm crying on the inside)

re: Kenny G's comment: "Maybe they'll open up and
find an old Sonny Rollins or Charlie Parker record after that."

Has anyone on this list ever met someone who actually made that magical
crossing over, from smooth-jazz pap to the real thing? Why does this myth
persist?

Over the years, I've met people who had once been avid listeners of rock,
blues, world music, funk, Americana and a variety of other styles, but later
expanded their listening to include bebop and straightahead jazz.

But I've not once met someone who has told me that he or she used Kenny G or
another smooth-jazz personality as a stepping stone to Rollins, Parker or
the like.

I've always thought that the natural progression for fans of Kenny G and his
ilk would be from that music to some sappy MOR ballad singer, or maybe to
some sappy hard rock power-ballad singer.>>