Smooth Jazz

Instrumental pop music that emerged in the 1970s is often labeled "contemporary" jazz and reflects some of the same influences found in fusion music. Artists including saxophonists Grover Washington Jr. and David Sanborn developed a lighter, funkier approach, with a radio-friendly style that was even more accessible than the fusion movement's supergroups. Chuck Mangione, John Klemmer, Earl Klugh, Spyro Gyra, and George Benson each had commercial success on pop radio. Benson's hit, "Breezin'", produced by Tommy LiPuma, became a landmark recording, creating widespread acceptance of contemporary jazz and selling millions.

The '70s was a period of major transition in jazz. Prior to this time, many jazz recordings focused on capturing live performances created in clubs. Musicians like Cannonball Adderley, John Coltrane, and Horace Silver preferred recording in the club setting in an attempt to capture the spontaneity and excitement of performing before live audiences. By the late 1960s, Creed Taylor began creating highly produced jazz records within the controlled environment of the recording studio. No longer attempting to recreate the club scene, Taylor's approach was to record jazz artists within a studio setting while retaining the elements of improvisation. By combining jazz artists like guitarist George Benson and trumpeter Freddie Hubbard with arrangers Don Sebesky and Bob James, Taylor's concept proved commercially successful. In 1982, Dave Grusin and Larry Rosen launched GRP Records. With Grusin's formidable background as a composer and arranger and Rosen's interest in developing recording technology, GRP created an approach to record production similar to Creed Taylor's studio recordings.

In the '80s, with the post-disco record industry in a slump, many major record labels dropped their jazz rosters, creating opportunities for GRP to sign artists including keyboardist Chick Corea, and guitarist Lee Ritenour. By combining contemporary jazz artists with digital recording technology, GRP gained widespread acceptance as one of the first labels to release recordings in the CD format. Open to the concept of integrating elements of pop music with jazz, Grusin and Rosen reacted to popular musical trends and successfully broadened the appeal of jazz to a wider audience. Vocalists Patti Austin, Angela Bofill, and Diane Schuur rounded out what later became known as the "GRP sound." In the '90s, a commercial radio format evolved under the name "smooth jazz" which continues to feature many of the innovators of contemporary jazz.