Bridging the Gap’: Creed Taylor, Grover Washington Jr., and the Crossover Roots of Smooth Jazz

This article is not meant as an apology for what has traditionally been a marginalized style within the discipline; rather, I hope to lend my voice to the growing chorus of recent jazz scholarship that aims to open up a space for the discussion of crossover genres, such as smooth jazz, and to reimagine a jazz history that includes such varied expressions of the jazz experience.