Smooth Jazz

Never have I really liked the term "Smooth Jazz."  Vaguely I remember it seeping into the public consciousness in Columbus Ohio back in the late l990's.  It's major artist was trumpeter Rick Braun.  Having played cruise ship in Australia, I am familiar with the Sydney pop opera scene.  I have played piano for scores of these artists, and I understand the repertoire.  There is a sentiment present in the music that is used as a vehicle for music performance.  If the artist taps into that potential, the success of their show is assured.  In this way the term "standard" can be understood.  There is a standard repertoire in varying styles of music.  In Motown inevitably you will play "My Girl,"  "I'll Be There," "Can't Help Myself," and others.  In Pop Opera inevitably you will play "Nessun Dorma," "Granada," and others.  In Swing you will play the Rat Pack's repertoire.  It's not rocket science.  Aside from these mainstream and reliable sources, there are other styles of music.  I would call these radio styles, because they are recognized by Billboard Magazine and other record labels.  It is rare to hear this music on a ship, unless a particular artist is guesting on a charter cruise.  Where does "Smooth Jazz" fit in? This term was coined specifically to promote careers in music.  It's roots are in music that is more developed and sophisticated than itself.  It is a derivative.  Derivative.  Pop is derivative.  It seems that taking an artistic product and dumbing it down for the public has become vogue in America.  There was a time when this was not necessary, but then again America used to be an adult country.  Now we are a nation of adolescents, and adolescents living in the year 2014 because of the failure of public education have no knowledge of America's art music.  Perhaps to play music it is necessary to dumb down what once was an acceptable level of performance.  What I object to in Smooth Jazz is that the value of the music is secondary to the Razzle Dazzle.  While in most instances the music is good enough, it as an amalgam of songs from varying artists that satisfy a chosen need.  The need is that the music must be a vehicle for a particular performer.  While this obviously is not uncommon in the music business, traditionally songwriters and arrangers were much more involved in the process.  This is not the case with most Smooth Jazz.  It is interesting to contrast Smooth Jazz with two leading jazz fusion bands that have been pioneering in music.  What is the difference?  The difference is their repertoire.  Both the Jeff Lorber Fusion and Spyro Gyra each play their own original material.  Not only do they play their own original material, that original material is skillful and highly developed.  It is what has ensured their successes as bands in America.  This nugget of information clarifies my ongoing rant against pop music in America.  The once thriving and supported venue of songwriting has dissipated.  Musical composition and arranging has taken a backseat to an army of wannabe performers who have circumvented the processes necessary for becoming an artist.  When I listen to the Jeff Lorber Fusion, which I have done since 1980 I hear a highly developed compositional sense that is coming from a specific place in Jeff Lorber's mind and soul.  He crafts songs, verses, choruses, and solos that compositionally all fit together like a sonata.  His songs simply are not merely vehicles for personal gratification.  While he enjoys playing them they owe a debt to other entities in this world besides selfish performers.  We live in an artificial age in America that has been ushered in by Steve Jobs.  Effectively he shifted our consciousness as a nation from humanity to cyborg.  We have fused with our machines rendering the real humanities extinct.  What is going to happen when the electromagnetic vortices in the earth erupt disabling our electronic systems?  While bells, whistles, and apps are entertaining they in no way ever will be able protect mankind from the world's destiny.  In my eyes just as I have changed my opinion about Barry Gordey's Motown, it makes the survivalists of America a little more respectable.  Are you going to entrust the security of your future life to a microprocessor?  As well musical artists should not entrust their careers to cheaply made and produced children's lullabies.  The composition lives in the time it takes to compose it.  This is what life is, yet we have been programed as an attention deprived, violent, and sexually confused child.  Adult life as we know it is over in America, and I don't like it much.