You Must Hear 7

smooth jazz

Last updated: Sat Nov 01 2025 04:52:50 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Description

Smooth jazz emerged in the 1970s as a radio-friendly fusion of jazz, R&B, and pop, characterized by polished production and mellow grooves. The genre emphasizes accessible melodies over complex improvisation, creating an elegant backdrop for casual listening. Its relaxed sophistication made it popular in upscale settings and adult contemporary formats.

100 chronological releases

Place	Cover	Date	Artist	Album	Tags	Other places
35		1955	Erroll Garner	The Original Misty	jazz smooth jazz
90		1960	Gene Ammons	Boss Tenor	smooth jazz
66		1975	Donald Byrd	Places and Spaces	jazz smooth jazz
50		1976-05	George Benson	Breezin'	jazz guitar jazz	jazz guitar # 100
14		1978	Ziad Rahbani	Houdou Nisbi	disco smooth jazz sophisti-pop	sophisti-pop # 61
98		1978	Bobby Caldwell	What You Won't Do For Love	soul	soul # 94 jazz-funk # 99
76		1978	Bob James	Touchdown	smooth jazz
79		1979	Spyro Gyra	Morning Dance	smooth jazz
96		1980	George Benson	Give Me the Night	smooth jazz soul jazz
99		1980	Grover Washington, Jr.	Winelight
48		1981	Al Jarreau	Breaking Away	smooth jazz soul
93		1981	George Benson	The George Benson Collection	smooth jazz
74		1981-06-30	Al Jarreau	Breakin' Away	smooth jazz soul
23		1983	Masaki Matsubara	Painted Woman	japanese smooth jazz
37		1983	George Benson	In Your Eyes	smooth jazz
56		1984	Deodato	Prelude (CTI Records 40th Anniversary Edition)	contemporary jazz jazz smooth jazz	contemporary jazz # 71
5		1985	Bill Withers	Just as I Am/Still Bill	funk jazz motown smooth jazz soul	motown # 30
91		1985-11-16	Sade	Promise	soul	sophisti-pop # 72
83		1986	Kenny G	Duotones	smooth jazz
15		1987-07-06	David Sanborn	A Change of Heart	smooth jazz
46		1987-07-30	Larry Carlton	Discovery	smooth jazz
55		1988	Basia	Time And Tide	smooth jazz female vocalists pop
69		1988-04-29	Sade	Stronger Than Pride	soul	sophisti-pop # 78
100		1988-09-30	Grover Washington, Jr.	Anthology
80		1988-09	The Lounge Lizards	Voice of Chunk	smooth jazz
34		1990-06	Anita Baker	Compositions	smooth jazz
36		1991	Fourplay	Fourplay	smooth jazz fusion instrumental
61		1991	Larry Carlton	Collection	jazz smooth jazz
7		1991-03-26	Frank Sinatra	Sinatra Reprise: The Very Good Years	swing jazz	easy listening # 53 swing # 92
59		1991-06-11	Natalie Cole	Unforgettable: With Love	smooth jazz
30		1992-09-08	Norman Brown	Just Between Us	smooth jazz
84		1992-10-20	Kenny G	Breathless	smooth jazz
87		1992-10-23	Sade	Love Deluxe	soul	soul # 81 sophisti-pop # 88
20		1994	Corduroy	Out of Here	smooth jazz
88		1994	The Real Thing	Can't Get by Without You	smooth jazz soul
6		1994	Lee Ritenour	Rit, Vol. 1
78		1994-05-17	Norman Brown	After The Storm	smooth jazz
92		1994-08-12	George Benson	The Best of George Benson	smooth jazz jazz
81		1994-11-01	Kenny G	Miracles: The Holiday Album	smooth jazz
10		1995-05-01	Banco De Gaia	Last Train To Lhasa	ambient electronic smooth jazz trip-hop
3		1995-10-24	David Benoit	The Best of David Benoit 1987-1995	smooth jazz
22		1996-06-18	Acoustic Alchemy	Arcanum	smooth jazz
72		1996-07-23	Peter White	CARAVAN OF DREAMS	smooth jazz
52		1996-10-01	Kenny G	The Moment	jazz smooth jazz
9		1997	Rippingtons	The Best of the Rippingtons	smooth jazz
53		1997-06-24	Fourplay	The Best of Fourplay	smooth jazz
64		1998	Kim Waters	Love's Melody	funk smooth jazz
21		1998-10-20	Peter White	Perfect Moment	smooth jazz
16		1999	Stacey Kent	Let Yourself Go: Celebrating Fred Astaire	smooth jazz jazz
44		1999	Steve Oliver	First View	smooth jazz
31		1999-07-13	Richard Elliot	Chill Factor	smooth jazz jazz
33		2000-05-09	Jane Monheit	Never Never Land	jazz smooth jazz
60		2000-05-23	Acoustic Alchemy	The Beautiful Game	smooth jazz
97		2001	Casiopea	MINT JAMS(Live)	city pop instrumental jazz fusion jazz-funk smooth jazz	instrumental # 64 jazz fusion # 84 city pop # 89 jazz-funk # 95
42		2001	Fourplay	Best Of Fourplay	smooth jazz
8		2001-03-20	Wayman Tisdale	Face To Face	smooth jazz jazz
43		2001-09-11	Joyce Cooling	Third Wish	smooth jazz
70		2001-10-09	Peter White	Glow	smooth jazz
12		2002	Jeff Kashiwa	Simple Truth	instrumental smooth jazz
17		2002	Gerald Albright	Groovology	instrumental jazz new age smooth jazz
71		2002-07-23	Fourplay	Heartfelt	smooth jazz
13		2003	Mindi Abair	It Just Happens That Way	smooth jazz
25		2003	Fattburger	Sizzlin'	jazz smooth jazz
49		2003-06-03	David Sanborn	Timeagain	jazz fusion smooth jazz	jazz fusion # 3
85		2003-09-30	Chris Botti	A Thousand Kisses Deep	smooth jazz
1		2004	Soul Ballet	All The Pretty Lights	chillout lounge smooth jazz
32		2004-02-21	Paul Brown	Up Front	smooth jazz
68		2004-05-18	Michael Lington	Stay With Me	smooth jazz
67		2004-06-22	Fourplay	Journey	smooth jazz jazz
4		2004-07-13	Wayman Tisdale	Hang Time	smooth jazz
47		2004-08-24	Jeff Kashiwa	Peace of Mind	smooth jazz
2		2004-09-21	Fattburger	Work To Do	smooth jazz
89		2004-09-28	Chris Botti	When I Fall In Love	smooth jazz
39		2005	Kirk Whalum	The Babyface Songbook	jazz smooth jazz
65		2005	Richard Elliot	Metro Blue	smooth jazz
40		2005-02-15	Jeff Lorber	Flipside	smooth jazz
51		2005-06-07	Lee Ritenour	Overtime	jazz smooth jazz
24		2005-07-12	Paul Brown	The City	smooth jazz
82		2005-07-26	Brian Culbertson	It's On Tonight	smooth jazz
41		2005-08-23	Brian Simpson	It's All Good	jazz piano smooth jazz	jazz piano # 77 contemporary instrumental # 96
57		2005-08-30	Euge Groove	Just Feels Right	smooth jazz
75		2005-09-26	Boney James	Shine	smooth jazz
19		2005-10-25	Rick Braun	Yours Truly	jazz smooth jazz
54		2006	Everette Harp	In The Moment	smooth jazz
63		2006	Fourplay	X	smooth jazz
29		2006-02-21	Nick Colionne	Keepin' It Cool	smooth jazz
26		2006-10	Joyce Cooling	Revolving Door	jazz smooth jazz
11		2007	George Howard	The Very Best of George Howard	smooth jazz
18		2007	Eric Marienthal	Just Around The Corner	smooth jazz
58		2007	Euge Groove	Born 2 Groove	smooth jazz
62		2007-04-24	Norman Brown	Stay With Me	smooth jazz
86		2007-09-18	Still Going	Still Going Theme	ambient downtempo smooth jazz
28		2008	George Benson & Al Jarreau	givin' it up	jazz smooth jazz
38		2008-04-23	Shigeru Suzuki	LAGOON (Remastered 2017)	bossa nova city pop exotica smooth jazz	city pop # 64 exotica # 99
94		2011	TANUKI	Kanji Title	electronic pop future funk j-pop shibuya-kei smooth jazz	j-pop # 37 shibuya-kei # 93 future funk # 95 electronic pop # 98
73		2020-01-10	Cory Wong	Elevator Music for an Elevated Mood	funk jazz jazz fusion jazz-funk pop soul smooth jazz	jazz fusion # 41 jazz-funk # 76 pop soul # 83
95		2020-05-01	The Sweet Enoughs	Marshmallow	smooth jazz
45		2023-10-20	Ana Frango elétrico	Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua	funk sophisti-pop baroque pop boogie jazz-funk	funk # 28 baroque pop # 59 sophisti-pop # 93 jazz-funk # 93 boogie # 99
27			Casiopea	Super Flight	smooth jazz
77			Al B. Sure!	Rhino Hi-Five: Al B. Sure!	smooth jazz soul

Related genres

• jazz
• lounge
• instrumental
• chillout
• fusion
• downtempo
• soul
• funk
• jazz fusion
• bossa nova