I’ve been pondering what qualifies as the best known/most recognizable jazz song of the past 50 years. Here are my top five:
Songbird by Kenny G - Yeah, I know, this noodling only marginally qualifies as “jazz”. But “smooth jazz” stations play it, and most people know it.
Feels So Good by Chuck Mangione - Not quite so well-known now, but in the late 1970’s, this song was played EVERYWHERE.
My Favorite Things by John Coltrane - Most people know of Coltrane, but I think this is the only song he did that the majority of people have heard.
Linus and Lucy by Vince Guaraldi - Obviously famous due to the popularity of Peanuts, but still a jazz tune that almost everyone knows.
Take Five by the Dave Brubeck Quartet - Barely qualifies for the list (it will be out 50 years in 2009), but a genuine jazz standard that was a true hit on the pop charts at the beginning of the rock era.
My next two choices would have been Birdland and The Girl From Ipanema. But, i could be wrong - what do you guys think?
My Funny Valentine? Not sure if it is considered a “genuine” Jazz tune, though I’ve heard a lot of Jazz artists perform it. Old, drunk, lost his dentures, sounds like he just smoked a carton in one hour Chet Baker version is my favorite.
Spain Chick Corea and Return to Forever Watermelon Man Herbie Hancock Rockit Herbie Hancock (most popular non-jazz piece recorded by a jazz musician, arguably?) Time After Time Originally by Cindy Lauper, but covered by Tuck and Patty, Cassandra Wilson, Miles Davis among others.
You might also work in some of the soundtrack jazz - Mancini’s The Pink Panther is instantly recognizable, as is the original Mission Impossible theme by Lalo Schifrin (before U2 butchered it for the movie).
Would you prefer to define best known as sold the most copies, most covered, or most recognizable? A fascinating question, as jazz musicians search for the ‘new standards’.
You’ve covered all but one of the tunes I’d nominate- but really, it depends on how you define jazz. After all, serious jazz aficionados would scoff at Kenny G.
Does “Pick Up the Pieces” by the Average White Band count as jazz at all? If it does, add it. If not, you’re pretty well set.
I think you have to leave “smooth jazz” or “lights-out jazz” from the question. Those (deliberately confusing) terms describe a genre much different from actual jazz. It’s like asking if Kiri Te Kenawa or Kathleen Battle is a more popular diva, and someone pointing out that Celine Dion sells more records.
I was probably going to say Dave Brubeck - Take Five. Possibly Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man. Some more songs for consideration:
Charles Mingus - Better Git It In Your Soul
Miles Davis - Freddie Freeloader
Willie Bobo - Fried Neck Bones and Some Home Fries
There’s a bunch of good Jazz out there now as well; Afroskull, Soulive, Medski Martin and Wood, Jaga Jazzist, and The Jazz Mandolin Project come to mind.
Although there could be legitimate discussion whether these two pieces are jazz or whether they are, in fact, better described as jazz-influenced pop, I think they deserve mention here. They’re certainly both well known (and I think they are jazz):
Well, sure - but that’s a whole 'nother thread. And I’d add my personal favorite, Pat Metheny.
Some good suggestions in this thread, especially Pink Panther and Rockit. I just thought of another popular piece, the theme to Miami Vice by Jan Hammer.
I don’t know about that. If you go into your local record store, you may find Kenny G in the jazz section (or the pop section, or easy listening). But you’re just not gonna find Celine in the opera section. I think a better comparison to the Kenny G/“jazz” question would be Josh Groban/opera. No serious listener would consider him to fit the category, but the public at large might.
It’s a better question if smooth jazz is a subset of jazz. I would say yes, even though it has virtually nothing in common with traditional jazz. It’s similar to the way, say, surf bands and death metal are both subsets of “rock”, even though the two genres have no other similarities.