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Crossover Jazz

 
 

Description of Crossover Jazz

 
In the wake of fusion's decline in the mid-1970s, jazz artists who sought commercial viability began incorporating a variety of popular sounds, forming a group of accessible styles that became known as Crossover Jazz in which rock played only a very small part. Influential saxophonist Grover Washington and guitarist Wes Montgomery incorporated elements of Funk and R&B into a sound based in Hard Bop, while singer Al Jarreau blurred the lines between jazz, pop, and Soul. Other artists, such as the Rippingtons and Spyro Gyra, injected their pop-flavored instrumentals with Latin rhythms and electronic keyboards. Unlike the related genre Smooth Jazz, Crossover Jazz retains an emphasis on improvisation but attempts to make that improvisation commercially successful by couching it in a variety of marketable formats.
 

Filed Under

 
Jazz  >  Pop-Jazz  >  Crossover Jazz
 

Crossover Jazz Key Artists

 
Brecker Brothers

Michael (tenor sax) and
Randy Brecker (trumpet)
started "skunk funk" in the
'70s, which was their own
brand of jazz fusion.

Chuck Mangione

Playing bop or pop,
Mangione's lyrical
flugelhorn "Feels So Good."
He has a recurring cameo
on "King of the Hill." In 197...

Dave Samuels

This vibes player excells at
smooth sounds with Spyro
Gyra and at sultry Latin Jazz
and Post Bop on his own
recordings. Samuels is on...

David Axelrod

Tracing the roots of Acid
Jazz back to the '60s, you
will find Axelrod's
sample-friendly cinematic
sound. David Axelrod rec...

Deodato

Donald Byrd

Byrd's trumpet has blown
everything from Hard Bop
to gold-selling Funk and he's
now a revered Acid Jazz
Godfather. Byrd came to...

Gato Barbieri

George Benson

From Soul Jazz guitar
innovator to Crossover Jazz
star to Smooth Jazz elder
statesman, George Benson
has done it all. Benson's e...

Grover Washington, Jr.

This pioneering Smooth
Jazz saxophonist was also a
dedicated and talented
Hard Bopper who always
gave back to the commun...

Hank Crawford

Crawford's soulful sax
sound has made him a major
part of jazz, R&B and pop
music for the past four
decades. Crawford was a...

Herbie Mann

This flutist kept serious jazz
chops while continuing to
score on the pop charts
deep into the rock era. This
flutist shifts from Bop to C...

Hubert Laws

This versatile flutist has real
Hard Bop chops, but he
made his name in Crossover
Jazz and smoother jazz
styles. Famed jazz and so...

Joe Sample

One of jazz's most
accessible pianists, this
soulful Hard Bopper led the
Jazz Crusaders before going
solo. Sample's tasty ivory...

Les McCann

McCann excels at playing
deep, extended jazz piano
ballads and funked-up
dancefloor jams. He's a
soulful vocalist. In the yea...

Maynard Ferguson

Pat Metheny

While his Fusion guitar
playing has been much
copied, Metheny is just as
amazing playing mainstream
jazz and folk.

Peter White

This English gentleman
brings so much snap and
verve to Smooth tunes that
fans of all kinds of jazz will
dig his style.

Quincy Jones

Q's done it all: big band
jazz, funked up
soundtracks, sweet soul,
record label honcho and
muse to Austin Powers.

Wes Montgomery

Jazz guitarist Montgomery's
rich, rounded tones and
stunning solos are still
studied and copied.
Montgomery's early recor...

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