I still remember attending my first Kenny G concert, captivated by his incredible circular breathing technique on the soprano sax. He was opening for a popular R&B singer at the time, and it was my first real encounter with smooth jazz. I was hooked, soon purchasing many of his albums. Despite my love for traditional jazz—classic, vocal, instrumental, and a lot of straight-ahead—I had never really considered smooth jazz part of the same category. Artists like Brubeck, Coltrane, and Chick Corea were my usual go-tos, but smooth jazz felt like something entirely different. At the time, it didn’t even fit the description of contemporary jazz. Yet, over the years, smooth jazz evolved and became what we now often refer to as contemporary jazz.
So, when did contemporary jazz change? According to Allmusic.com, contemporary jazz is defined as:
“Essentially a catch-all term for various permutations of popular, mainstream jazz from the 1980s and ’90s. While these years were not devoid of complex, cerebral jazz recordings, contemporary jazz does not usually share those sensibilities, nor is it typically used to describe music centered around hard bop or the avant-garde. Instead, instrumental contemporary jazz is often informed by some combination of fusion—slickly produced with rock and funk rhythms, pop-jazz with a focus on memorable melodies, smooth jazz aimed at creating mellow textures, and crossover jazz blending polished production and R&B influences.” — Allmusic.com
This description reveals an interesting shift in the term “contemporary.” Historically, contemporary jazz once applied to more experimental forms of jazz that included improvisational and instrumental focus, such as jazz fusion. Artists like Miles Davis, Stanley Clarke, Bunny Brunel, and Herbie Hancock—to name a few—used traditional modal improvisation but combined it with amplified instruments to push the boundaries of jazz. This fusion style dominated the contemporary jazz scene for years. So, when did the definition change?
It seems that the shift began in the mid-1980s, with the creation of Billboard’s Smooth Jazz Songs chart. Suddenly, smooth jazz singles were dominating the airwaves, with artists rushing to be at the forefront of this new trend. As smooth jazz rose in popularity, it gradually became synonymous with the term contemporary jazz, a label that has stuck for nearly 40 years. Today, most online and offline references to contemporary jazz focus on the smooth, mellow textures that now define the genre.
Interestingly, several traditional jazz-fusion artists have embraced the smooth jazz transformation. Bobby Lyle, for instance, released his groundbreaking album The Genie, which was deeply improvisational, with complex grooves and virtuosic arrangements. It was cutting-edge for its time, combining free jazz elements with amplification. Lyle has since ventured into smooth jazz with a number of successful albums, while still maintaining his roots in improvisational jazz. His 2014 release, The Way I Feel, even revisits those earlier fusion elements.
The beauty of smooth jazz lies in its accessibility. In a way, it has opened the door for popular instrumental music, much like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller did with big band jazz in the 1930s and ’40s, when jazz was considered the “pop” music of the time. While some may claim that smooth jazz is dying, the reality is quite different. Most major jazz festivals today are heavily smooth jazz-oriented, with lineups that sprinkle in R&B, funk, and blues, but predominantly feature smooth jazz artists. It may be the only jazz style consistently present at these events.
Like many words, “contemporary” has changed meaning over time. Even the term “girl” once referred to a child of either sex, as noted in The Canterbury Tales. Similarly, today when you search for “contemporary jazz,” the overwhelming results point to smooth jazz—a clear indication of the shift. Yet, traditional jazz artists like Branford Marsalis still operate under the original definition. His album Contemporary Jazz, which won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album in 2000, adheres to a more classic jazz approach, reminding us that the boundaries between genres aren’t always so clear-cut.
In the end, it’s clear that the evolution from traditional to smooth jazz—and its rebranding as contemporary jazz—didn’t happen overnight. But one thing is certain: the genre continues to evolve, and its definitions will likely continue to shift as the music itself changes.
