Red Clay, etc (was: Re: Jazz / Acid / Standards?)

Elson Trinidad (ertrinid@skat.usc.edu)
Thu, 14 Dec 1995 23:42:26 -0800 (PST)


On Fri, 15 Dec 1995, Jason Goodrow wrote:

> Thanks for all the response to my thread-bait about acid jazz standards.
>
> The tunes that seem to be listed are Red Clay, Chameleon etc ....
>
> This seems to define a portion of 'acid-jazz' as light fusion / funk. I mean,
> So What has also come up but not as much as Red Clay.

You can thank/blame Ronnie Jordan for defining the contemporary form of
"So What" using the hip-hop beat. Most bands I heard nowadays that cover it
are based more closer to his version than Miles' original. (My last band
was guilty of that, but what the hey!) :)

> I have no problem with this but ... (just as a question) are the fusioneers
> importing hiphop rhythms or mixing techniques? A lot of good live bands
> have incorporated a DJ transforming into the mix (Unity II) come to mind
> (rip), but as far as I know, only the avante-garde (around here -
> downtown) classical noise masters actually trade off with the DJ (David
> Shea).

My band does some DJ-style "cutting" (someone please give me the real
term) - where the whole band (or at least the rhythm section) silences the
first beat of the measure, and then comes in on the 2, or a variation where
beats 1, 2 & 3 are silenced, and they come in on the 4. It's pretty
tricky to get down tightly, but it sounds worth it.

And speaking of the tune "Red Clay", has anyone in the L.A. area heard of
the band of the same name? My sax player keeps telling me of an acid jazz
band called Red Clay that does regular gigs in Hollywood. I understand
they play every other Thursday (would've checked them out tonight, but
I'm sick at the moment... :( ) What's this band like?

Elson