Smooth Sale-ing Ahead in the Contemporary Arena

The music that is grouped under categories with names such as “smooth jazz,” “contemporary jazz” and “new adult contemporary” is generally viewed with skepticism by fans of mainstream jazz. Considered little more than pop-oriented, instrumental wallpaper by most jazz critics, it nonetheless sells records in very large numbers.

The skepticism about the creative quality, despite the music’s commercial popularity, is understandable. Some of the most successful music represented in the categories--Kenny G and John Tesh come immediately to mind--bears only a remote relationship to the essential elements of jazz. But there are bands, as well as individual players, within the groupings that play with style, imagination and rhythmic drive.

Is it comparable to the work of the better mainstream players? The truth is that such comparisons don’t make a lot of sense. In traditional mainstream jazz, the primary transaction that takes place is between the musician and the music: How successfully has the player engaged the challenges implicit in the music? In the smooth jazz categories, the transaction is primarily between the musician and the audience: How successful has the player been in producing listenable, purchasable music?

So the measure for this selection of current albums is based on the latter: Is this music that is listenable and commercially appealing?

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In the case of the Urban Knights, the answer is yes. The first Urban Knights album combined the talents of Grover Washington Jr., Victor Bailey and Omar Hakim under the direction of Ramsey Lewis in an ensemble aimed, according to Lewis, at “playing the kind of music that appeals to the urban contemporary crowd, but with performers whose roots go back to the great jazz traditions.”

With the release of “Urban Knights II,” the concept has evolved into a generic title that can encompass “great musicians of high visibility,” but not necessarily the same musicians for each album. This time out, the principals include saxophonists Gerald Albright and Najee, guitarist-singer Jonathan Butler and drummer Sonny Emory. The music that results can perhaps best be described as rhythm & jazz--bits and pieces of improvising from Lewis and the horn players juxtaposed against insistent, funk-driven rhythms. South African Butler, especially on the tracks in which he sings (“South African Jam” and “Brazilian Rain,” especially), brings a seductive world-music ambience to the proceedings.

The name that comes to mind while hearing trumpeter Chris Botti’s moody collection of melodic sounds is Herb Alpert. Like Alpert, Botti positions long, lyrical lines above simmering rhythms. Vocals by Paul Buchanan and Jonatha Brooke underscore the shadowy emotional quality of music that provides the perfect soundtrack for a late night in front of a fireplace.

Like many smooth jazz saxophonists, Walter Beasley has listened closely to the playing of Grover Washington Jr. In his debut for Shanachie, he too serves up a turn-the-lights-down-low set. But the program is also enlivened by some engaging covers--”Killing Me Softly,” “Let’s Stay Together” and a novel, dark-toned rendering of the classic “My Girl.”

Spyro Gyra has been one of the defining groups in instrumental pop jazz for nearly two decades. There’s nothing in this latest release that will startle their longtime fans: Jay Beckenstein’s colorless-sounding alto and soprano saxophones take the lead on most tunes, with Julio Fernandez’s acoustic guitar and Dave Samuels’ vibes and marimba adding some much-needed timbral contrast on several of the tracks. On a few tracks, a horn section adds some extra punch, and there are the obligatory smooth background-style vocals on two tracks. But the inclusion of a stodgy reading of James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” is so out of context that one can only assume it is present for purely commercial purposes.

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Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to four stars (excellent).