Neither antsy nor pedantic

Can smooth jazz be defined without using musical terms?

It’s a timely thought exercise, with Lansing saxophonist and impresario Phil Denny’s sixth annual Smooth Jazz Fête poised to wash over the Marshall Street Armory on Lansing’s east side this Saturday (Aug. 10).

The outdoor festival, featuring performances by Denny himself and a slate of national smooth-jazz luminaries each year, has put Lansing firmly on the smooth-jazz map, with the attendees converging on the grassy Armory lawn hailing from coast to coast.

So, what’s the winning formula? Remember — no jargon allowed. Pedantry is not in the smooth-jazz spirit.

Let’s just say that smooth jazz is as smooth jazz does. To its devoted fans, smooth jazz is not a genre but an endless and consistent vibe. Smooth jazz doesn’t develop; it envelops. Smooth jazz is never antsy. Smooth jazz plants a lounge chair on the beach, in the sweet spot where shade and sun meet, and stays there all day, daring the sun to move.

Smooth jazz musicians aren’t big on giving music or history lessons from the stage, but uplifting personal stories and effusions of gratitude are integral to the culture.

Headliner Nathan Mitchell, a Florida-based keyboardist, vocalist, composer and producer, caught a lot of buzz with a dazzling show at the 2023 Seabreeze Jazz Festival in Panama City Beach, Florida. Since releasing his debut album, 2017’s “Smooth Groove,” he’s notched 10 top-30 hits on Billboard’s smooth jazz chart.

Mitchell dedicated a 2022 single, “100% Cotton,” to the cause of raising awareness of kidney disease. The upbeat, life-affirming track from the album “It’s My Time” rocketed him to the No. 1 spot on the Billboard smooth jazz chart. His cousin got the transplant.

“Nathan’s a great spirit,” Denny said. “I’ve known him for at least a decade, and it’s been fun to watch him grow and come into himself.”

Mitchell is clearly on the rise, with a Grammy nomination, three NAACP Image Award nominations and a recent move to a major smooth-jazz label. Embedded in the enthusiastic crowd at Seabreeze were assorted critics, label execs and a former co-host of ABC’s “The View,” Sherri Shepherd, who featured Mitchell on her syndicated talk show.

“He lost his wife to cancer years ago, so he’s raised his children with his extended family,” Denny said. “He’s gone through a lot and managed to stay focused and overcome one hurdle after another. I wanted to grab him while we could.”

Musically, Denny described Mitchell’s sound as “soul funk.”

“He definitely has a tendency to go back in the day with what I would call a go-go set,” Denny said.

The violin is an unusual instrument in the world of smooth jazz (or any jazz, for that matter), but Houston native Dominique Hammons, also on Saturday’s slate, makes the fiddle soar, bend, sing and sustain as strongly as any saxophone. He even throws chords, double stops and harmonics into the bargain.

First trained in classical violin, Hammons can play anything from Bach to Beyoncé and beyond. In true smooth-jazz fashion, his latest CD is called “The Sweet Escape.”

With a larger-than-life, ebullient presence, Hammons loves to stride confidently into cavernous, high-profile gigs like the halftime show at a New Orleans Pelicans game and wow the restless audience into violin raptures.

“He’s not just a violin virtuoso — he’s a showman,” Denny said. “He’s got almost 400,000 followers on Instagram, a huge YouTube success. It’s amazing how much he travels while keeping up with his teaching.”

Also performing Saturday is Michael Fields Jr., a formidable bassist, composer and producer from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fields’ latest album is called — of course — “Fields Good.” Denny placed him firmly in the musical camp of the late NBA star and smooth-jazz bass guitarist Wayman Tisdale, himself a devotee of 1970s funk bands.

For his own set, Denny is trying something new. He’ll trade musical licks with Detroit vocalist Isis Damil, a soulful and fiery performer (and winner of WDIV-TV’s 2023 Go 4 It competition) who counts Erykah Badu, Sarah Vaughan and Solange Knowles among her inspirations.

“She’s putting herself out there with her own tour, doing all the right things, delivering all of this vocal artistry and a lot of energy,” Denny said. “She offers something different, and I wanted to put her on this platform, where she could be discovered by people who haven’t heard her before.”

Musically, Denny likes to mix things up, blending original tunes with familiar jams from the likes of Earth, Wind & Fire; Chaka Khan; Michael Jackson; and Stevie Wonder.

“There’s something that you see in the audience when you play a song they know,” he said. “It takes them back to yesteryear, and we do that a little bit more at the festival, where you can get up and dance.”

This year, for the first time, the fête will be bookended by two satellite events. Friday night (Aug. 9), flutist Brandon Marceal will deploy his sweet, butterfly-light tone to his own blend of jazz, gospel, hip-hop and R&B at a happy hour in the lounge of the AC Hotel, across Michigan Avenue from the Frandor Shopping Center, where many out-of-town fête attendees plan to stay the weekend. (There’s no cover charge.) Marceal is a protégé of smooth-jazz guitar star Adam Hawley, who headlined last year’s fête.

The fête will be followed by a jazz brunch Sunday morning (Aug. 11) at Toscana, on the first floor of the AC Hotel, featuring Detroit-area saxophonist Andrew Nichols.

Nichols is also playing as a sideman with Fields on Saturday. In classic festival fashion, don’t be surprised if Fields sits in at the brunch, along with Denny, Mitchell or any fête performers who are still around and want to keep Saturday’s vibe going.

Just don’t expect a smoke-filled, life-or-death cutting contest à la “‘Round Midnight” or “Kansas City.” This is smooth jazz, after all.

“There will be some surprises, but it’s all chill,” Denny said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, once you’re done with your mimosa, come play a song with me.’”