1.   A few stars of smooth jazz bridge the gap.

2.   For Kevin Gore, who runs the jazz marketing department for Columbia Records, smooth jazz is shaping how companies are acting.

3.   His music veered into slick rock and even toward smooth jazz, but Idol stayed rough-and-tumble.

4.   Instead, speedy bluegrass melded with anthemic, Who-style rock, and corny smooth jazz met its end in a dissonant swell.

5.   Now they basically only program what is called smooth jazz.

6.   Peter White, a guitarist who is having big success in smooth jazz, mimics the audience.

7.   Saxophonist Karl Denson has tried adding electronic music to his sound, but it ends up sounding like a souped-up version of smooth jazz.

8.   The champions of smooth jazz call the critics snobs.

9.   The jazz world disdains smooth jazz.

10.   The proof is the rise of smooth jazz, a mix of instrumentals and creamy pop vocals by singers like Anita Baker and Sade.