Jazz Articles about Greg Smith

About Greg Smith

Album Review

Guitarist/composer/educator Greg Smith attempts an ambitious synthesis within adult contemporary jazz intended to jettison his jazz vision from the maudlin confines of what passes for “smooth jazz today. Smith is not satisfied with the cliché throbbing synthesizers and intellectually deprived virtuosity plaguing the majority of jazz ostensibly intended for greater crossover appeal. Smith's approach is successful in its intentions on Above The Clouds.

This recording is a collection of original compositions that function as an integrated suite or “tone poem ...

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Album Review

Greg Smith: Above The Clouds

Read "Above The Clouds" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone

by Michael P. Gladstone
October 17, 2006

One of the oddities in musical categorization has been the establishment of the New Age and smooth jazz (aka contemporary jazz) genres. Although they originally represented very different branches of popular music, the distinction has continued to blur over the decades.

Originally, New Age music was established by musicians and entrepreneurs like Will Ackerman, who founded Windham Hill Records three decades ago. They developed a musical specialty in which acoustic players could record in solo, duet and small ...