The Quad Cities Smooth Jazz Series

What is "Smooth Jazz"?
Smooth jazz is known for being funkier and lighter than classic or big band jazz with wide accessibility and radio appeal. It emerged during the 1970's and blended influences of fusion, jazz and pop music. GRP records, founded in 1982, continued to broaden the appeal of jazz to a wider audience by combining elements of pop music with jazz.

Popularized by artists such as David Sanborn, Grover Washington Jr., Spryo Gyra and George Benson, and vocalists as Patti Austin and Diane Schuur, smooth jazz found a place on many commercial radio formats in the 1990s. In the Quad Cities, you can hear it on the Mix 96 "Jazz Patio" on Sunday mornings and on KALA 88.5 radio. And now, you can also hear it at our series of concerts!

What is the Smooth Jazz Concert Series?
The Smooth Jazz Series will bring contemporary smooth jazz artists into the Quad Cities for a continuing series of concerts starting in the fall of each year. School visits from our featured artists will precede the concerts. Your attendance and participation will also help fund youth music education!

Our Mission
The Smooth Jazz Concert series exists to bring high caliber jazz artists to our region. We bring our concerts to the forefront of public awareness, and by doing so, support the advancement of music education, while we provide more great choices in entertainment for the Quad Cities community.

Attend A Workshop
We encourage all of our visiting artists to conduct workshops for students attending selected area schools. Revisit this page to find out when and where our visiting artists will be conducting their workshops.

Contact Great Sounds Promotions
If you're interested in the Smooth Jazz Concert Series please contact us at info@smoothjazzseries.com.

Executive Staff
Along with CEO Valerie Davis, the Smooth Jazz Concert Series Executive Staff includes:

Timothy Dalman Producer	Steve Novak Photographer, PR	Kari Hofmann Marketing Director