Contemporary Jazz Music

The Structure of Contemporary Jazz:
On an average, a track of smooth jazz is considered to be on a down-tempo side, which layers the lead, instrument playing melody over a backdrop that has a tendency to include the programmed rhythms as well as various other pads or samples. Even though most of the contemporary jazz that is played is played under the smooth jazz banner radio format, it contains vocals, which is normally not the case for the music that is recorded with the actual intent of categorization as the smooth jazz music genre. Instead, the stations that are in question will pull all of their vocals from the work of the artists like Luther Vandross and Simply Red, which are normally considered rhythm and blues or soul.

Even though many record companies and people group contemporary jazz and smooth jazz together, both of these genres are slightly different in the way that they serve the listener. Generally, smooth jazz is considered to be background music, whereas the serious jazz is viewed as demanding the undivided attention of the listener.

The Origins of Contemporary Jazz:
In the latter part of the sixties is where the roots of smooth jazz rest. Creed Taylor, the producer, worked along side of the guitarist known as Wes Montgomery on all three of the popular records which consisted of instrumental versions of the pop songs that were familiar. Many of the jazz performers that are established recorded for CTI. The records that were recorded under the guidance of Taylor were generally aimed to the pop audiences just as much as the jazz fans, with some ornate arrangements of string sections and an emphasis on the melody that was a lot stronger than it was in typical jazz. There were some critics as well as jazz fans that expressed a sincere distaste for the CTI releases, however the output of the label is generally regarded good.

During the mid to latter part of the seventies, the smooth jazz music genre became commercially established as a viable genre and it was pioneered by several of the artists like Grover Washington Jr., Lee Ritenour, George Benson, David Sanborn and Bob James. Looking back through contemporary jazz history, you will find that this is an ever changing genre that is sometimes found to be controversial by some.