Smooth Jazz Therapy

Michael Franks - On My Way Home To You

With the wonderful LaLa Land scheduled to be on television this Christmas thoughts have turned to jazz and how to define it.  In the movie the John Legend character has a heated debate with his Ryan Gosling counterpart on the merits of jazz in the modern age.  The fact is trying to describe what jazz (or in our case smooth jazz) really is and what it means to us is a question not always easy to answer and one that forms the motivation for this occasional feature unremarkably called ‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ 

Designed to illustrate some of the most definitive examples of the genre, this latest track perhaps demonstrates better than any other the broad church from which smooth jazz draws its influences.  In addition, it spotlights a remarkable artist who’s music is, in itself, sometimes difficult to categorize.  That artist is Michael Franks and the song is ‘On My Way Home To You’.

 

Whats Smooth Jazz? Brian Culbertson - Live From The Inside

We have all been in situations where we have brought up the subject of the music we love only to be asked ‘what’s smooth jazz?’ It is a question not always easy to answer and one that forms the motivation for this occasional feature unremarkably called ‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ Designed to illustrate some of the most definitive examples of the genre, it has, up until this point, always concentrated on specific tracks. However, with the recent release of Brian Culbertson’s ‘Live From The Inside’ there is now an entire album that can be used to demonstrate how perfect smooth jazz is meant to sound.

What's Smooth Jazz? - On My Way Home To You

We have all been in situations where we have brought up the subject of the music we love only to be asked ‘what’s smooth jazz?’ It is a question not always easy to answer and one that forms the motivation for this occasional feature unremarkably called ‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ Designed to illustrate some of the most definitive examples of the genre, this latest track perhaps demonstrates better than any other the broad church from which smooth jazz draws its influences. In addition, it spotlights a remarkable artist who’s music is, in itself, sometimes difficult to categorize. That artist is Michael Franks and the song is ‘On My Way Home To You’.

What's Smooth Jazz? - Anniversary

‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ is the occasional feature designed to illustrate some of the most definitive examples of the genre and this latest example is Gerald Albright’s cover of the Tony Toni Tone tune ‘Anniversary’. Formed in 1987, Tony Toni Tone enjoyed a number of chart hits and good album sales for a considerable part of the nineties. The line up was a family affair with brothers Dwayne and Raphael Wiggins teaming up with cousin Timothy Christian. ‘Anniversary’ was written by Raphael Wiggins together with keyboard player Carl Wheeler. When they laid down the track for their 1993 ‘Sons of Soul’ project they looked around for a sax soloist and found none other than Gerald Albright. The end product was a sensation and gave Tony Toni Tone one of their very biggest career hits.

It was only a year later that Albright went into the Aire studios in Los Angeles to record his solo CD ‘Smooth’ for Atlantic. A phenomenal album, not least for the fact that it includes Albright’s own version of ‘Anniversary’, it is packed with a succession of great cuts and features guest performances from Will Downing, Vesta Williams and Lalah Hathaway. Lee Ritenour, Stanley Clarke and Paul Jackson Jr. are among the supporting musicians and a further interesting feature, at least for aficionados of liner notes, is that the comments on ‘Smooth’ were added by NBA superstar Magic Johnson.

What's Smooth Jazz? - That Somebody Was You

We have all been in situations where we have brought up the subject of the music we love only to be asked ‘what’s smooth jazz?’ It is a question not always easy to answer and one that forms the motivation for this occasional feature unremarkably called ‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ Designed to illustrate some of the most definitive examples of the genre, the tracks that have been included previously have all been instrumentals. Despite that, the use of guest vocalists has long been a facet of contemporary jazz. One notable protagonist of the art, who went on to pioneer the now popular vehicle of ‘duets’, is Kenny G. His discography is generously scattered with vocal contributions from Chaka Khan, Smokey Robinson, Aaron Neville, Michael Bolton, Peabo Bryson, Lenny Williams and Earth Wind and Fire among others yet his greatest triumph in this respect comes courtesy of his 1996 album ‘The Moment’ and the track ‘That Somebody Was You’ featuring Toni Braxton.

What's Smooth Jazz? - Maputo

When selecting a recording that could be used as an explanation of smooth jazz for someone new to the genre there could be no finer choice than ‘Maputo’ written by Marcus Miller and performed by Bob James and David Sanborn on their 1986 project ‘Double Vision’. Not only is ‘Maputo’ an excellent showcase for the smooth jazz genre it is also a great insight into the respective talents of James and Sanborn who, over the three decades it has taken for smooth jazz to establish its own identity, have undoubtedly been among the most significant players.

What's Smooth Jazz? - Wishful Thinking

When selecting an example of classic smooth jazz for someone new to the genre there could be no finer choice than the track ‘Wishful Thinking’ by Art Porter. It comes from his 1996 album ‘Lay Your Hands On Me’.

Had it not been for his untimely death in November of 1996 Art Porter would certainly have been up there in the highest echelon of today’s smooth jazz stars. Ideal for those of us who prefer our smooth jazz not to be too smooth, Art Porters hallmark thrusting sax is perfectly demonstrated on ‘Wishful Thinking’.

What's Smooth Jazz? - Love Is Like A River

The track we are using this time as another definitive example of ‘What’s Smooth Jazz’ is the outstanding ‘Love Is Like A River’ by that underrated purveyor of quality West Coast smooth jazz, Fattburger. It comes from their 1994 recording on the Shanachie label, ‘Livin Large’. Fattburger, whose music has been varyingly described as new adult contemporary, contemporary jazz, or smooth jazz, are identified by those who know smooth jazz as one of the most enduring bands around. Yet, perhaps due to inconsistent output, they have failed to match the impact made by some of their contemporaries from the late eighties and nineties. Who knows, given that the genre is by and large ruled by solo artists, it is possibly more difficult for bands, yet there is no doubt that over a period now spanning two decades Fattburger have been responsible for some fine examples of smooth jazz.

What's Smooth Jazz? - 88 Ways To Love

Readers of last month’s inaugural ‘What’s Smooth Jazz?’ will recall that its purpose is to draw up a short list of really great smooth jazz tracks that could be used to demonstrate and explain smooth jazz to someone brand new to the genre. Last time it was the Peter White / Grover Washington Jnr. collaboration ‘Midnight In Manhattan’ and equally significant is the latest choice in our quest to identify what smooth jazz really is. It is ‘88 Ways To Love’ written and performed by Marcus Johnson and taken from his 1998 album. ‘Chocolate City Groovin.’

What's Smooth Jazz? - Midnight In Manhattan

Paul Brown gave perhaps the best definition of ‘What’s Smooth Jazz’ when I once heard him explain smooth jazz as the music that Luther Vandross would play but with the vocals removed. Fact is we have all been in situations where we have brought up the subject of the music that we love only to be asked ‘what’s smooth jazz?’ It is a question not always easy to answer and one that forms the motivation for this new feature quite simply called ‘What’s Smooth Jazz.’ Imagine an episode from the hit TV show ‘Third Rock from the Sun’. Dick, newly arrived from another planet and thirsty for information, might ask ‘what is this phenomenon called smooth jazz?’ His worldly mentor Mary Albright would respond by reaching for her iPod to play a definitive smooth jazz example. The purpose of this new ‘What’s Smooth Jazz’ feature is to draw up a short list of the really great examples of smooth jazz that could be used in such a situation.