Urban jazz

Urban jazz is the fusion of smooth jazz and R&B/hip-hop music. Urban jazz usually contains strong R&B percussion and bass lines. A few of the better known urban jazz artists are Boney James, Ronny Jordan, Nick Colionne, Wayman Tisdale, Najee, and Paul Jackson, Jr.

Some of the more successful releases in this genre have been more creative while other more laidback releases have struggled. One release Hidden Beach Unwrapped featured Paul Jackson, Jr., Mike Phillips, and vocalists covering Notorious BIG and other hip hop acts. This led to a series of imitation releases including the Streetwize.

A genre that is definitely growing, urban jazz has an increasing audience on non conventional radio, TV and especially the internet. More recent projects like DefJazz, and jazz's convergence with drum machines and rhythms at times help project this genre toward a younger audience.


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