Back in 1981, Nick Webb and Simon James, two enterprising British music school students, decided to start an instrumental acoustic jazz band focused on dueling steel- and nylon-string guitars. Mind ...

Smooth jazz was a tough sell to European record executives in the mid-1980s. That's when Acoustic Alchemy was just emerging, and the England-based band was a lukewarm commodity. It took a trip ...

Drake Allen is known for bringing his smooth acoustic sound across the Valley. His influences include a wide range of genres from rock, blues, pop, soul, funk, country. “I am also influenced by singer ...

Greg Carmichael never really wanted to be a solo performer. “Didn’t think I had the personality or desire to do it. I was more interested in playing in a band. It was more fun to be part of a team,” ...

CALL HIM POP. Call him jazz. Call him, if you must, a smooth operator. But whatever you do, don’t call the music that trumpeter Chris Botti makes smooth jazz. “We’re not smooth jazz,” Botti says, ...

The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results. Bridget and Dahlia ...