Herb Sundays 135: Smooth Jazz (chosen by Michael Cina)
A reclamation of "chilled jazz-on-ice" and other variants of the Smooth Jazz canon.
Herb Sundays 135: Smooth Jazz (chosen by Michael Cina)
Playlist: Apple Music / Spotify
Art by Michael Cina
In 2024, when we say “coworker music,” we describe the productive banality of surface area media recommendations, the thin gruel of our colleagues’ tastes. In previous decades, where retail didn’t have corporate-approved playlists, this term may have meant something else. Indeed, most office workers lived and died daily by the receptionist’s control over the office radio, which dominated the ceiling-installed flush mount speakers. The Adult Contemporary and Smooth Jazz radio formats had the era in a chokehold, offering relief from “polarizing” rap, hard rock, and productivity-dampening morning zoo-type chatter.
Michael Cina is one of my regular go-to for Jazz recs and he blessed us last year with a ‘50s/’60s Jazz mix (Herb 79) as well as a special Easy Listening playlist the prior year, so when he offered to tackle arguably the least cool genre of the 20th century, I was thrilled. Smooth Jazz takes me from the dentist’s chair to late nights doing homework listening to Detroit Quiet Storm radio, and now somewhere bizarrely powerful. Dismiss this as dreck at your own peril; this is air-tight stuff. - SV4
Michael Cina on Smooth Jazz
As jazz entered the 1970s, the genre stood at a dynamic crossroads between its roots and the desire for mainstream $uccess. The allure of broader appeal led many jazz musicians to experiment with crossover sounds that would connect with radio audiences. In the late 1960s, artists like Wes Montgomery—working with Creed Taylor at A&M Records—were fusing jazz with popular lush easy-listening string arrangements, which helped broaden jazz’s reach beyond its established audience.
Creed Taylor was an influential force behind this movement. In 1970, he launched CTI (Creed Taylor Incorporated) and its sub-label Kudu in 1971, both of which brought a contemporary Afrocentric perspective to major-label jazz, incorporating funk and soul while still occasionally weaving in orchestral strings. This distinct approach laid the groundwork for what would soon be known as "smooth jazz," positioning jazz to captivate new audiences.
By 1976, this shift reached a seminal turning point with George Benson’s rendition of "Breezin’," a cover of an instrumental 1971 jazz tune (not pop) by Bobby Womack and Gábor Szabó. Benson’s version layered easy strings over a breezy funk groove, creating a sound that crossed effortlessly into pop radio and dominated pop charts. “Breezin’” had not only made Benson a star but also cemented a new jazz aesthetic that resonated with mainstream listeners. This trend wasn’t exclusive to jazz; other genres like rock (AOR) and soul (Quiet Storm) were also refining their sounds to appeal to broader audiences and achieve greater commercial success.
The success of “Breezin’” also marked a shift: jazz was rapidly evolving and morphing. In 1977, Weather Report’s “Birdland” became another milestone, melding complex jazz-rock (Fusion) with catchy, accessible melodies (Pop). Chuck Mangione’s 1978 platinum hit (its album peaked at No. 2, one spot behind Saturday Night Fever), “Feels So Good,” brought jazz to the world with its smooth infectious melody and light funk undertones, further proving jazz’s profitability and popular appeal. Jazz bands like Birthright put down their avant-spiritual leanings to form fusion groups like Spyro Gyra and Bobby Caldwell dropped his monumental LP What You Won’t Do for Love.
Jazz’s momentum continued to rapidly polish and morph into the early 80s, with labels like MoJazz and TBA alongside artists like Grover Washington Jr. (previously on Kudu) breaking into the pop charts and influencing jazz’s next wave. His hit “Just the Two of Us” (1981), featuring Bill Withers, reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. By 1987, smooth jazz finally took it’s rightful spot in popular culture as an over-polished caricature of itself, but reached the masses by cross-pollinating with other genres. Some “defining moments” came with Kenny G’s “Songbird,” a track that climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. That same year, KTWV "The Wave" launched in Los Angeles as the first official smooth jazz station, curating a mix of instrumental and vocal jazz-pop tracks. This format quickly spread to stations nationwide, helping to define and solidify "smooth jazz" (the term was birthed directly out of a radio marketing focus group at this very time) as an accessible genre and fodder for influence. It would be impossible to not recognize its strong influence in music from the 80s. Think Steely Dan, Stevie Winwood, Simply Red, Michael McDonald, George Michael, Phil Collins, Toto, Sade, and eventually Seal, etc.
This tale can bring up debates around artistic purity vs purposely reaching a wider audience or if both can be done at the same time. I like it all. As you will hear in this mix, Kenny G started out as a “80’s funk with a side of jazz” artist under the masterful direction of Kashif. My mix mainly concentrates on late 70’s chilled jazz-on-ice with a few glimpses of the future. My favorite periods in music are normally when genres shift. Truth be told, I am not a huge fan of where it went in the 90s. There are some gems and artists genuinely doing interesting things, but it became an embalmed corpse (extra Potpourri) of what it used to be.
I can hear it in the air again, oh Lord. Maybe we are looking to find the sublime escape that smooth jazz delivers. Maybe it’s a response to changing dynamics in American culture, including the rise of new technologies, and the ever-increasing “importance” of mass media, similar to the 80’s. I don’t care what it is, it makes for good music. - MC
Cina’s Bonus Beats (Smooth Jazz Edition)
Chuck Mangione on King of the Hill
KTWV (94.7 MHz) "The Wave” has an Internet Archive
Special shout-out to Numero Group with their NuLeaf playlist and compilation
Editor’s note: The kind friends at Numero have offered a Herb Subscriber 20% discount code on three key Smooth Jazz adjacent titles: The magnum opus NuLeaf: Smooth Jazz Underground compilation, Tony Palkovic’s 1985 heater Born With A Desire, and the ultra-cosmic REACH compilation, all with our highest recommendation.
Use code HERBSUNDAY at checkout: NumeroGroup.com
Bonus Beats (Rugged Neva Smooth Edit) by SV4
On the discount tip, Ghostly side we’ll Added a ton of first and second wave Ghostly/Spectral CDs and 12” singles to $5 markdown, not cause its worth that (they are worth more as Discogs tells us) but to encourage some discovery, and finding new homes, cars, and crates. Happy digging.
Ghostly Office circa 2005 by Will Calcutt (Herb 69/70) Also re: Ghostly, we announced a long-overdue reissue of Studio’s West Coast, the 2006 Swedish electronic rock odyssey on vinyl, CD, Cassette, MiniDisc, and digital. If you missed them the first go-round, here’s a nice blog post to catch up. In spirit,
made a Swedish Balearic playlist that hits just right.
I was interviewed for AdHoc’s lovely
newsletter about good friction, existing as a student, lossy living, and much more.
👏👏👏
I don't think it's online, but Francis Gooding (LRB) penned a really great argument a few years back on the radicalness of "smooth." I quoted some of it in this listicle: https://theshfl.com/guide/Smooth-Jazz