Style recipe for Suno v5

Smooth Jazz

Smooth jazz from the 1980s: soprano sax, electric piano, fretless bass, warm and seductive in feel. A name-free Suno recipe that reproduces the signature sound without tripping the artist-name filter.

History

Smooth jazz is jazz with the risk sanded off: a commercial crossover that grew out of 1970s fusion, kept the polish and the electric instruments, and traded long improvisation for melody, light R&B and pop. A typical track moves at a relaxed 90 to 105 BPM, with a soprano or tenor saxophone, or a soft legato guitar, carrying the tune over programmed rhythms and synth pads. Early landmarks include Hugh Masekela's "Grazing in the Grass" (1968), Bob James's "Nautilus" (1974) and Grover Washington Jr.'s "Mister Magic" (1975), while George Benson's "Breezin'" (1976) was among the first big sellers; in 1981 Washington cut "Just the Two of Us" with Bill Withers. In the mid-1970s it was known as smooth radio, and the phrase smooth jazz was coined by a participant in an industry focus group in the late 1980s. The 1980s and 1990s belonged to Sade, Al Jarreau, Anita Baker and Kenny G, who outsold every other jazz instrumentalist in history, peaked with the 1992 album Breathless and became the favorite target of critics who heard the whole style as bland. The radio format faded in the 2000s, and by 2009 stations in New York, Washington and Boston had dropped it.

The recipe

Smooth jazz, 1980s, warm, seductive, dre…

This recipe breaks down into 33 distinct style tags spanning 534 characters, tuned to 80–110 BPM and rooted in the 1980s.

Artists in this style

• George Benson
• Kenny G
• Kirk Whalum
• The Crusaders
• Shakatak
• Ben Tankard

Similar styles

• Gospel Jazz1960s · 80–130 BPM
• Smooth Fusion1990s · 90–115 BPM
• Crossover Jazz1980s · 90–120 BPM
• Contemporary Jazz2000s · 90–140 BPM
• Soul Jazz1960s · 90–130 BPM
• Brazilian Jazz1970s · 100–150 BPM
• Fuzak1980s · 85–115 BPM
• South African Jazz1960s · 100–150 BPM