Smooth Jazz is an outgrowth of fusion, one that emphasizes its polished side. Generally, smooth jazz relies on rhythms and grooves instead of improvisation. There are layers of synthesizers, lite-funk rhythms, lite-funk bass, elastic guitars, and either trumpets, alto, or soprano saxophones. The music isn't cerebral, like hard bop, nor is it gritty and funky like soul-jazz or groove — it is unobtrusive, slick, and highly polished, where the overall sound matters more than the individual parts
Jazz-rock may refer to the loudest, wildest, most electrified fusion bands from the jazz camp, but most often it describes performers coming from the rock side of the equation. Jazz-rock first emerged during the late '60s as an attempt to fuse the visceral power of rock with the musical complexity and improvisational fireworks of jazz. Since rock often emphasized directness and simplicity over virtuosity, jazz-rock generally grew out of the most artistically ambitious rock subgenres of the late '60s and early '70s: psychedelia, progressive rock, and the singer/songwriter movement. The latter drew from the mellower, more cerebral side of jazz, often employing vocal as well as instrumental improvisation; this school's major figures included Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, and Tim Buckley. Most jazz-rock, however, was played by higher-energy rock ensembles. Some of them were more jam-oriented, borrowing jazz harmonies and instruments for their extended, rock-flavored improvisations (Traffic, Santana). Others recorded jazz-flavored R&B or pop songs that used the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic sensibilities of jazz, but weren't as interested in improvisation or instrumental virtuosity (Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Steely Dan). Still others used jazz's complexity to expand rock's musical horizons, not just in terms of instrumental technique but in crafting quirky, challenging, unpredictable compositions (Frank Zappa, the Soft Machine). The major exception was Miles Davis, the first jazz musician since the early R&B era to covet the earthy power of rock & roll and the impact it had on young audiences. Starting with 1970's Bitches Brew, Davis' early-'70s fusion workouts — greatly inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Sly & the Family Stone — quickly became some of the funkiest, edgiest, most aggressive jazz-rock ever recorded. While figures like Zappa and $Steely Dan| continued to record jazz-rock through the '70s, the movement had essentially dissipated by the '80s, as a mellower form of fusion captured its audience.
Free Funk is a mixture of avant-garde jazz with funky rhythms. When Ornette Coleman formed Prime Time in the early '70s, he had a "double quartet" (comprised of two guitars, two electric bassists, and two drummers, plus his alto) performing with freedom tonally but over eccentric funk rhythms. Three of Coleman's sidemen (guitarist James "Blood" Ulmer, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and drummer Ronald Shannon Jackson) have since led free funk groups of their own, and free funk has been a major influence on the music of the M-Base players, including altoists Steve Coleman and Greg Osby
With the gradual decline of rock (from an artistic standpoint) starting in the early '70s, fusion (a mixture of jazz improvisations with rock rhythms) became more predictable because there was less input and inspiration from the rock world. At the same time, since it was proven that electric jazz could sell records, producers and some musicians searched for other combinations of styles in order to have big sellers. They were quite successful in making their brand of jazz more accessible to the average consumer. Many different combinations were tried, and promoters and publicists enjoy using the term "contemporary jazz" to describe these "fusions" of jazz with elements of pop music, R&B, and world music. However, the word "crossover" (which describes the intent of the performances as well as the usual results) is more accurate. Crossover and fusion have been quite valuable in increasing the jazz audience (many of whom end up exploring other styles). In some cases, the music is quite worthwhile; in other instances, the jazz content is a relatively small part of the ingredients. When the style is actually pop music with only an insignificant amount of improvisation (meaning that it is largely outside of jazz), the term "instrumental pop" is the best description. Examples of crossover range from Al Jarreau and George Benson vocal records to Kenny G., Spyro Gyra, and the Rippingtons. All contain the influence of jazz but tend to fall as much (if not more) into the pop field
Contemporary Jazz is essentially a catch-all term for the various permutations of popular, mainstream jazz of the 1980s and '90s. While those years were certainly not devoid of complex, cerebral jazz recordings, music referred to as contemporary jazz does not usually share those sensibilities, nor is the term generally used to describe music centered around hard bop or the avant-garde. Instead, instrumental contemporary jazz is usually informed by some combination of a) fusion — often slickly produced, with an emphasis on rock and funk rhythms; b) pop-jazz, with its almost exclusive concentration on memorable melodies; c) smooth jazz, with its primary goal of creating pleasant, mellow textures; and d) crossover jazz and contemporary funk, with their blend of polished production and R&B influences. Not all contemporary jazz artists completely discard improvisation and challenging experimentation, but by and large, most instrumentalists emphasize shiny production, melody, and accessibility. In the realm of vocal jazz, artists may or may not possess an improvisational flair, but in most cases, their recordings attempt to evoke an aura of stylish sophistication, sometimes drawing upon pop and R&B in addition to jazz.
Ever since Louis Armstrong introduced virtuoso-quality improvisation to the world of jazz, there has been dissent in the jazz community about whether the music should emphasize melodic accessibility, and the artistic merits of music that does so wholeheartedly. Jazz has a well-established custom of using pop standards as jumping-off points for lengthy improvisations, satisfying jazz lovers and purists who appreciate the unpredictability and constant chance-taking. However, ever since the big-band era, there has also been a long-standing tradition of Jazz-Pop — music that retains the melodic and rhythmically swinging qualities of jazz (as well as the basic chordal harmonies), but which (like pop) concentrates first and foremost on memorable melodies, usually with little to no improvisation.
In jazz's early days, dance orchestras began to adopt swing rhythms to keep in step with audience tastes. As the big band era wore on, most groups fell into one of two categories: sweet bands, which retained at least a lightly swinging feel but prized melody above all else, and hot bands, which were distinguished by greater solo improvisation, rhythmic drive, and blues feeling. Sweet bands helped pave the way for the rise of pop singers like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and Mel Tormé, who were at the very least strongly influenced by jazz.
But really, when most listeners think of jazz-pop, they think of it in the post-rock & roll era. During the '60s, two dominant strains of jazz-pop developed. The first was a mellow, smooth, almost easy-listening strain of jazzy pop epitomized by artists like the Dixieland-influenced Al Hirt and the Latin-tinged Herb Alpert. The other sprang up as a sort of middle ground between the grooving, funky soul-jazz that became popular during the decade, and instrumental soul artists like Junior Walker and the Stax/Volt combos (Booker T. & the MG's, the Mar-Keys, the Bar-Kays). In this vein, the Ramsey Lewis Trio scored a pop smash in 1965 with their catchy "The In Crowd," and the trio's rhythm section — reconstituted as Young-Holt Unlimited — repeated the feat in 1969 with "Soulful Strut."
As fusion introduced rock and funk rhythms into the vocabularies of more and more jazz artists, jazz-pop began to mirror the shifting musical landscape, in the process reaching a wider audience than ever before. Artists like Chuck Mangione, Spyro Gyra, Bob James, and George Benson became stars in the mid- to late '70s, with the balance between pop, jazz, and R&B influences varying according to the individual. Purists and many critics decried the slick polish and simplicity of the new breed of jazz-pop, plus what they viewed as commercial pandering and blandly pleasant predictability; during the '80s, their concerns came to be symbolized by the wildly popular soprano saxophonist Kenny G, who sold millions of albums and proved that instrumental jazz-pop could cross over to pop and adult contemporary audiences. During the '90s, Kenny G's success helped give rise to the smooth jazz radio format, which steered jazz-pop in a similarly polished, pleasantly soothing direction.
The word Fusion has been so liberally used since the late '60s that it's become almost meaningless. Fusion's original definition was best: a mixture of jazz improvisation with the power and rhythms of rock. Up until around 1967, the worlds of jazz and rock were nearly completely separate. But as rock became more creative and its musicianship improved, and as some in the jazz world became bored with hard bop and did not want to play strictly avant-garde music, the two different idioms began to trade ideas and occasionally combine forces. By the early '70s, fusion had its own separate identity as a creative jazz style (although snubbed by many purists) and such major groups as Return to Forever, Weather Report, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Miles Davis' various bands were playing high-quality fusion that mixed some of the best qualities of jazz and rock. Unfortunately, as it became a money-maker and as rock declined artistically from the mid-'70s on, much of what was labeled fusion was actually a combination of jazz with easy-listening pop music and lightweight R&B. The promise of fusion went unfulfilled to an extent, although it continued to exist in groups such as Tribal Tech and Chick Corea's Elektric Band.
