Elevator Music & Smooth Jazz

    Last week with the review of the sophomore album of Michael Essex and Vision, the Encounter, I had mentioned how great I thought it was that they had a saxophone player in the band. I had then mentioned my dislike of what I called "elevator music." In one sense I apologize for using a blanketed mean term that is commonly applied to smooth jazz. I do not want to make blank terminology when discussing music, because that is not fair to the artists and the music itself.In another sense, everyone has music that doesn't speak to them and for some smooth jazz is just a style that they don't care for. That is just fine, just like not everybody's favorite color is pink. 
     "Elevator music" or Musak, as it is properly called, is used to set the mood in places of business. Can you today imagine a time when there was no music playing in stores as it used to be like back in the early 20th century and before. The easy listening, mostly instrumental music would set the mood for customer to be calm and have some fun when shopping, because shopping is not meant to be stressful. Musak attempts please many different people and their genres that they like by mixing the different sounds together. Jazz has its origins in both the African American Oral Tradition and the European Classical interpretation, so in this regard smooth jazz is the prime choice to play. I should also mention here that smooth jazz is not the only type of Musak out there; however smooth jazz is used a lot.
    Though many may disagree with different definitions of smooth jazz or even jazz; in general, there are key element that make up jazz like blue notes, rhythm, and improvisation. Smooth jazz comes out of Jazz Fusion, a hybrid form combining  jazz and rock. In that tradition, Musak, in the form of smooth jazz with take popular songs, remove the vocal, softens it up, and then in many cases adds a saxophone. In this regard, jazz has been commercialized and mass marketed. The end result is not so much jazz anymore, but a sound that many dislike and mock. 
     I would also argue that some smooth jazz today has lost the key element of jazz that is improvisation. To be fair, there are many artists out there that break out of the boring, synthesized pact. These are the artists who stay true to the rhythm and improvisation of jazz, while being easy-to-listen-to or as smooth as cool whip. To me Jeff Sparks' music embodies this cool jazz. He has the foundation of a steady beat of the drum and the accompaniment of the piano or guitar; this allows for him to just soar those notes. His music is not distracting, but it also doesn't put you to sleep.

     In regard to my liking of jazz and smooth jazz, I do like some artist like Jeff Sparks and Tito Charneco with their sound of complex jazz notes in an smooth setting. I do not like the watered down of jazz music, or the music that when trying to appeal to everyone appeals to no one. I always feel that when artist are not true themselves then the music is just bad. It then becomes "elevator music."