What We Talk about When We Talk about Live Smooth Jazz: Sonic Suburbanization, Multipurpose Places of Assembly, and Collective Memory in Regional Cleveland

Abstract Writing about jazz often emphasizes urbanity and focuses on a geographically bounded scene. This can obscure what people do with to affirm community across distances, in the context of Black suburbanization. Likewise, construction as an art music oriented around canonical past does not allow full understanding musicians commercial culture construct present. In this article, I present notion sonic suburbanization foreground ways exert agency through musicking, claiming suburban space affirming urban lines. is live performance that “both/and”: Both urban; both commercial. Based ethnographic fieldwork Cleveland, research smooth performers invoke multiple musical histories while congregating heterogeneous identities boundaries. To demonstrate crossovers jazz, begin by outlining idea then note proximity genres racial segregation. Despite suburbanization's role dislocating geographic cohesion, continues crossover interposing array sensibilities. Finally, point conceptual schemas scene who continuity pop, gospel. Live take pride rhetorical effectiveness genre versatility part connecting audience. Although some scholars attend outside “real jazz,” view real jazz.