Crossover jazz
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In the wake of jazz fusion's decline in the mid-1970s, jazz artists who continued to seek wider audiences began incorporating a variety of popular sounds into their music, forming a group of accessible styles that became known as crossover jazz. Influential saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr. 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. Jamaican saxophonists Tommy McCook and Rolando Alphonso and keyboardist Jackie Mittoo fused roots reggae rhythm with jazz harmonies and extended improvisation. 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.
Crossover jazz artists
- Gerald Albright[1]: 1140
- Roland Alphonso
- David Benoit
- George Benson
- Claude Bolling
- Michael Brecker[1]: 1167
- Randy Brecker[1]: 1168
- Nat King Cole[1]: 1031
- The Crusaders[1]: 1201
- Jamie Cullum
- Billy Eckstine[1]: 1031
- Robert Glasper
- Lena Horne[1]: 1031
- Boney James
- Al Jarreau
- Gideon King
- Earl Klugh
- Dave Koz
- Eric Lewis (pianist)
- Chuck Loeb
- Jeff Lorber
- Herbie Mann[1]: 1308
- Tommy McCook
- Pat Metheny
- Jackie Mittoo
- Fulvio Palese
- Najee[1]: 1342
- The Rippingtons
- David Sanborn
- Spyro Gyra
- James Blood Ulmer[1]: 1415
- Grover Washington, Jr.
- Ernie Watts[1]: 1423
- Kirk Whalum
- The Yellowjackets
See also
References