We've been calling it "Smooth Jazz" for over 15 years. Maybe it's time to reboot, reset, and reevaluate that.  Is it "jazz" just because it is instrumental? Does it have to be so smooth? At one point there was no consensus name for this music or the radio format built around it. One trade publication called it Adult Alternative, another called it Progressive Adult Contemporary, a third had a chart called "Contemporary Jazz." Maybe that lack of specific terminology was a good thing because there were very few boundaries on the music back then. It was hard to nail it down. It was an adult oriented alternative to the pop music that was being played on adult contemporary radio, especially at that time when Neil Diamond and Air Supply still dominated the spins. The word "alternative" had rock connotations through the progressive, punk, and new wave eras and was becoming the label of choice for the louder, rawer rock bands in the early 90s though. Adding to the confusion, radio stations that were playing new, interesting music from singer-songwriters and more subtle and melodic rock bands started calling themselves "Adult Alternative." Those stations then started calling themselves "Album Adult Alternative" or "Triple A" - a reflection back to the days when Album Oriented Rock had been the format name for stations that played rock as an alternative to Top 40.

Getting hard to follow isn't it? For a while AA - the version of Adult Alternative that played Richard Elliot and Sade - coexisted with AAA - the version that played Suzanne Vega and Stevie Ray Vaughn. "Progressive Adult Contemporary" seemed like an oxymoron. The whole Adult Contemporary concept was to play contemporary music that wasn't too fast, too loud, too faddish, or to funky. How did you put a progressive spin on that? "Contemporary Jazz" narrowed the focus too much - where did world music, new age, or inventive songwriter/vocalists fit into that context? It also opened the door to years of futile, time consuming arguments about what was and was not "real jazz." Then somebody in a research study blurted out the words "smooth" and "jazz" together to describe a mix of Dave Koz, Kenny G, and Anita Baker. Within a year all the other names had disappeared and it was all about "smooth jazz."

When the multitude of names disappeared, so did a multitude of the elements that made the music special. When you name something, it will turn into what you name it, and when "smooth" became the term of choice the music smoothed out, eventually to the flatline point. Where R&B, pop, rock and international influences had mixed and melded, post “smooth” the songs that didn't have an R&B flavor started disappearing. As “smooth and relaxing” took over as the format's most popular slogan everything that wasn't relaxing had to go. Up-tempo music, guitar solos, horn sections, powerful keyboards and anything deemed “too exciting” was phased out. Soon the radio stations were spinning a series of lite soprano sax fronted songs that were mostly produced by the same guy or others who imitated him.

Then the lite pop vocals moved in and took over. After years of hearing the words “smooth jazz” in introductions of songs by Phil Collins, Linda Ronstadt, Celine Dion, Vanessa Williams, The Eagles and such, a generation of listeners started to believe (for better or for worse) that these songs were smooth jazz - again proving that something will turn into what you name it. It was inevitable that the format would eventually morph into something that focused on those artists. It happened last year when someone decided that the word “jazz” scared ad agencies and pop listeners, and the term of choice for the format became Smooth Adult Contemporary. The final blow was delivered early this year when one of the most respected A/C programmers in the country was given the reins to The Wave and shifted the station's focus to familiar vocals. Turn it on now and you'll be more likely to hear Eric Clapton, Earth Wind and Fire or Hall and Oates than Boney or Koz.

This looks like a bad thing until you examine it closer. The mainstream stations are doing this Smooth A/C thing now, so the real smooth/contemporary jazz has been exiled to brunch shows, noncommercial stations and internet radio, just like it was before the smooth jazz format took over and took all the interesting, fun stuff out. Most of the people who program on that level love the music, love the audience, and work within their local markets, so they bring passion and excitement to the shows and stations they create. They also bring individuality. Very few of these entities sound alike. It's just like back before smooth when hundreds of programmers were involved rather than one big corporation. There's a lot of freedom in starting from scratch for the musicians and media people. As Jeff Golub said in last month's interview, we can take the handcuffs off and musicians can bring more of their live sound into the studio. Programmers can search a wider range of songs to create music mixes that will excite their audiences again.

For this we need a new name. People have been batting ideas around for years but with Smooth A/C taking over the airwaves, it has become more necessary to come up with a name that fit the music. Contemporary Jazz? That creates a narrow boundary when there are other types of compatible music in the mix. Adult Alternative? That is what it is, an adult alternative to the same-old-same-old that the Lite FM and Smooth A/C stations play, but that name has been used for 10 years by the soft rock vocal oriented “Triple A” stations. Someone came up with “Album Oriented Instrumental,” which kinda harkens back to the progressive era of Album Oriented Rock, but some of this new music is vocal and “album” sounds dated. Then, while I was listening to Ken Navarro's “Dreaming of Trains” and Special EFX's “Party,” two wonderful albums that embody the sound  of the road not taken by the smooth jazz format, it came to me: Instrumental Oriented Adult Alternative – a mouthful to be sure, but it covers the concept so well. It's largely instrumental, but there are vocals too, and it's an alternative type of music for adults who are tired of hearing the same songs and type of songs over and over. That opens up a lot of space for bringing the forbidden elements back to the forefront, too, because it no longer has to be smooth or be influenced by straight-ahead jazz.  It can be, but it doesn't have to be. Think of all the creativity and innovation that can happen when you get out of the “smooth” mindset.

Call it what you will, but it's time to get back to what it was intended to be before the smooth police took over – instrumental and vocal music that was different from the standard industry hyped pop hits played repeatedly. The smooth jazz format has segued into becoming what it used to present an alternative to. Now we have a lot of room to create alternatives to that!