My Inevitable Anti-Smooth Jazz Rant

This so-called "Smoooooooooth Jaaaaaaazzzz" stuff to me is nothing more than product, a lot like cheez-wiz or McDonalds. It's real smooth alright but I ain't hearing ANYTHING resembling jazz there.

Besides the fact that 99% of sounds so danged much alike and EASILY could be generated by computer (and I suspect about that much of it is) , it completely lacks some of the fundamental characteristics that make jazz what it is:

1) Improvisation (as opposed to just playing reprtitive stock pentatonic licks)

2) Harmonic sophistication and extended harmonies while retaining some grounding in the blues (even the more abstract and experimental avant jazz has this to some extent)

3) Rhythmic variation or even swing

4) Risk taking in general or any kind of originality

5) The intangible quality of soulfulness is completely missing.

The thing that gets me is that some of these smooth jazz guys are actually pretty good musicians that took the easy path to riches, and then there's complete talentless hacks like Kenny G who are very limited to this specific niche', doing the musical equivalent of talentless actors like Keanu Reeves, Lucy Liu or J-Lo geting by on their looks. To call it smooth jazz to me is intellectually and artistically dishonest from the jazz side of it. Why not just say it's instrumental pop and leave it at that? Smooth Jazz? How about more like SNOOZE-jazz.