A sort of Ken Burns question

[David Powell]

Originally Posted by Paul Warburton

Of couse we know SMOOTH JAZZ isn't JAZZ...don't we??

This is getting to some more of what I was asking. I have subbed in a "smooth jazz" trio. Some of that list did overlap with what we do in the 5th Sundays quartet, but the arrangements are different. 5th Sundays plays a little more like Tom Waits (loose, down tempo, and on the darker side). That smooth trio did Summertime as well as Smooth Operator and also Ain't Misbehavin' but the titles don't exactly give you the delivery. So I'm thinking when I hear Dave Bass do Roxanne by the Police, this is more like Coltrane's Greensleeves or Favorite Things. But beat wise, tempo wise, and general feel, what makes something Swing, Bop, Hard Bop, etc. Is there any way to generalize the differences? For instance when you described "When I play two beat I try to sound like Percy Heath...." I have something with Percy Heath I immediately pulled out to listen to so I could hear what you mean. Can you give me some more examples?

I think I know "latin", but Gene Cherico plays it different than Tommy Williams for instance on "Quiet Nights". In two recordings I have both with Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, Williams syncopates it a bit but Cherico plays straight on the down beats and is more subtle with the harmonics in the line not always using the tonic, which gives is somehow a different support of the melody line. I transcribed one verse of the Cherico line because I really liked the way it was different. William sounds more like what I hear as straight "latin". Feedback, please?