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A Question...

Firebird75Firebird75 35 Posts
edited September 2005 in Strut Central
So....If I were to pull out a tin can here on Strut, which is labelled "ACID JAZZ", and open it - would it be full of worms??

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  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    So....


    If I were to pull out a tin can here on Strut, which is labelled "ACID JAZZ", and open it - would it be full of worms??

    FREE JAZZ? Yes.
    ACID JAZZ? Not sure. Try it, I'd rather watch that spiral out of control than the political threads.
  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    So....


    If I were to pull out a tin can here on Strut, which is labelled "ACID JAZZ", and open it - would it be full of worms??

    Plaese to explain the genre "Acid Jazz." I've never been able to figure out what the hell it means! I thought this was some stuff coming out of the UK in the late 80s to early 90s. Are people still making Acid Jazz music? What types of groups or artists are considered acid jazz?

    The following website was very confusing: http://www.cmd.uu.se/AcidJazz/FAQ/

    The list below is from the site mentioned above. This list is all over the place hommie! Jamiroquai? Although I like a lot of Jay Kay's work, I never thought he was an acid jazz artist. I thought he was more of a Stevie Wonder wanna be than could still put together some decent arrangements. He had pretty nice production on his earlier LPs. Please try to explain this list to me. The "Old School Oringinals" list? WTF! These guys were just dope jazz and latin groups. How the hell are you going to label them as acid jazz in the late 80s? ATCQ and Gang Starr?

    Definitely Acid Jazz (in *no* order)

    James Taylor Quartet
    Night Trains
    United Future Organization
    Brand New Heavies
    Young Disciples
    DJ Takemura
    DJ KRUSH
    Jamiroquai
    Ronny Jordan
    Incognito
    D-Influence
    Corduroy
    New Jersey Kings
    Mother Earth
    Snowboy
    Jazzhole

    Very* close (ambiguous- rap? soul? house?)
    Solsonics
    Galliano
    Massive Attack
    Soul II Soul
    MC Solaar
    Alphabet Soup
    Greyboy
    Sandals
    Jhelisa
    Greyboy Allstars
    Quiet Boys
    Angel
    US3
    Omar
    Kyoto Jazz Massive
    Massive Attack
    Urban Species
    MC Mello
    Stereo MCs
    Lalome Washburn

    The "Old School" Originals
    Herbie Hancock
    Ivan Boogaloo Jones
    Pucho
    Grant Green
    Funk, Inc.
    Miles Davis
    Roy Ayers
    Lou Donaldson
    John Coltrane
    Cal Tjader
    Donald Byrd
    Chico Hamilton

    Honorable mention ("jazzy" influence, or straight up jazzy)
    Digable Planets
    A Tribe Called Quest
    Guru
    Gang Starr
    Level 42
    Swing Out Sister
    Lisa Stansfield
    Yo-yo Honey
    Innocence
    Charlie Hunter Trio
    Courtney Pine
    Manu Dibango
    Paul Weller
    Buckshot Lafonque



  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,905 Posts
    Chan droppin' it!



    I was thinking about bringin' up an acid jazz thread a bit back. Since I still listen to the Totally Wired Comps on the regular.



    I always took Acid Jazz as just being a sort of Jazz type style, heavyly influenced with soul, funk and disco. With a touch of UK flavour. Not the actual music per say, just the time and location styles.



    I'm not sure if it's really a genre IMO (Since you could drop fucking almost anything and call it Acid Jazz *Which alot of people do, as I've even heard a reggae track on one comp once*).. Since the term was just thrown out there by Gilles Peterson.



    Alot of Snowboy's stuff is dope!



    Anyways.. More Acid Jazz talk plz





  • On_the_Red_ClayOn_the_Red_Clay 1,728 Posts
    Acid Jazz is the bastard child of the English "Rare Groove" scene, which originated in the mid-eighties. The succes of labels like Urban and nights ran by Norman Jay, Gilles Peterson and Jazzy B (later from Soul II Soul)inspired a new wave of artists / deejays and labelbosses to create new stuff that would prolong the lifespan of the Rare Groove scene.

    It being England, a whole range of influences made its way into the new "Acid Jazz" sound- most notably the musical and fashion sensibilities of the Mod scene and (for some weird reason) the noodliest of jazz from the seventies- people were creaming their pants over pretty middle of the road organ / soul jazz from the late sixties- early seventies.

    On the earliest "Totally Wired" comps, you can see the transition of scenes: there's a mix of old and new tracks. As soon as the Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud labels were up and running, there was no looking back....



    (NB: the acid jazz scene later gave birth to the monster called Triphop- but that's another story)
  • DORDOR Two Ron Toe 9,905 Posts
    Acid Jazz is the bastard child of the English "Rare Groove" scene, which originated in the mid-eighties. The succes of labels like Urban and nights ran by Norman Jay, Gilles Peterson and Jazzy B (later from Soul II Soul)inspired a new wave of artists / deejays and labelbosses to create new stuff that would prolong the lifespan of the Rare Groove scene.

    It being England, a whole range of influences made its way into the new "Acid Jazz" sound- most notably the musical and fashion sensibilities of the Mod scene and (for some weird reason) the noodliest of jazz from the seventies- people were creaming their pants over pretty middle of the road organ / soul jazz from the late sixties- early seventies.

    On the earliest "Totally Wired" comps, you can see the transition of scenes: there's a mix of old and new tracks. As soon as the Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud labels were up and running, there was no looking back....



    (NB: the acid jazz scene later gave birth to the monster called Triphop- but that's another story)

    Fuck, I'm not gonna even front... When I was working in London, I met Norman Jay through my good friend Ronnie Herel. He's like one of the kewlest dudes I've ever met. For some strange reason I always think of Alex D??sert (Charles "It's dead in here anyways") from the movie Swingers. Maybe it's because of the hats... Anyways, one of my favorite DJ's of all time.

    Funny... speaking of acid jazz. I met Jan Kincaid (Brand New Heavies) a few times through Ronnie also.

    Anyone on the board got a dope mix of Acid Jazz? Or is that to crazy to ask?
  • Firebird75Firebird75 35 Posts

    1/Are people still making Acid Jazz music? What types of groups or artists are considered acid jazz?

    2/This list is all over the place hommie! Jamiroquai? Although I like a lot of Jay Kay's work, I never thought he was an acid jazz artist. I thought he was more of a Stevie Wonder wanna be than could still put together some decent arrangements. He had pretty nice production on his earlier LPs.


    1/ You're right, "Acid Jazz" is both a hard one to pin down, because it seems to blur into many areas of the spectrum; but also because it's a term which seems to be thrown onto almost anything. There are a few bands out there still making it, somehow they get labelled as funk bands most of the time! You have Atar & the Funkadrome from the UK (www.atar.co.uk - very nice if you're into the deal); there was The Jive Express here in Oz a while back, I'm not sure if Groove Collective (NY) are still together (anyone seen them live btw?? I think they'd kick serious ass). Other than that, I'm still looking.


    2/Jamiroquai has always been classed as acid jazz; at least the first 2 albums merited this tag but the more recent ones, sadly, are just commercialised dance. I think if he followed the production of the first 2 albums, he couldve really raised the bar. One can only wonder how much of his selling out was due to him only making acid jazz back then because it was hip at the time, and that now it's passe, he's moved onto the next commercially viable style.


    The funny thing is, all these years I've continued listening to acid jazz, and people always ask, "huh? What's acid jazz?". Personally I'd like to see a comeback of some of the early vibe, it just has this chilled, vibrant, colorful mood; but I'd like it even better with some kicking drums over it, really hard-edged...and I'll have some fries with that thanks
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