For much of the 1980s, I was into British synth-pop music. I will be
frank and admit to the fact that my favorite acts of the early 80s was
Duran Duran, the Thompson Twins, The Human League, Culture Club, Thomas
Dolby, early Depeche Mode etc. etc....
As the "new wave" came and went, I still had an "Everything British is cool"
attitude towards music, and in the mid-80s, though I didn't think much of
it at the time, I enjoyed the jazzier and soul-influenced sounds of
artists like Sade, Level 42, Simply Red, Swing Out Sister, the Blow Monkeys,
the Style Council, etc...(and later in the 80s, Johnny Hates Jazz and
Basia). I never made the connection; they were all British (Yeah, I know Basia is
Polish, but she lives in and is based in London) and they were all cool,
but I didn't thik much of it at the time.
I've also been an active musician and songwriter since 1986, and I've
always leaned towards music with a danceable beat, a groovin' bassline
and jazzy/soulful chords, but I didn't think much of it at the time.
On Tue, 16 Apr 1996, Gregory Theron Johns wrote:
> I guess my FIRST exposure to acid jazz (although I wasn't aware of it at
> the time) was in 1990 when I saw the BNH ideo for Dream Come True. I was
Me too. But it wasn't the vido, but it was the long-defunct "Nia
Peeples' Party Machine" (after Arsenio) where BNH had a "live performance"
(we all know what that means in terms of US television :)) and did
"Dream Come True." What really struck me was the 'crazy snare drum rhythm'
all through the song, which I never heard before in my life.
Flash forward to 1991. This song called "Never Stop" was on the Top 40
airwaves. I thought it was one of those young male pree-teen R&B bands
(but with a good producer), until I heard it was by "The Brand New
Somethings." and learned it was a REAL BAND making that music.
I sort of made the connection to that crazy snare drum song a while back
and later bought the album a month or so later.
When I bought it, the dude at the counter told me, "You're gonna like
this album...it's FONKAY!"
So I took his word. The first track, "BNH" reminded me of early
instrumental Level 42. The vocal tunes sounded like great R&B to me and the
rest was sort of James-Brownish.
But I hadn't yet made the connection to "Acid Jazz."
Out of the corner of my eye, I probably saw the "Acid Jazz" records logo
on the back of the BNH album, and out of the corner of my eye I also read
the words "Acid" and "Jazz" next to each other somewhere in the music press.
In 1992, I went to a local used CD store and saw this "The Smooth Tones
of Acid Jazz" comp CD in one of the bins. "Hmmm... I'll check it out."
(It was one of those late 80s/early 90s Acid Jazz comps on Scotti Bros
that you people all seem to hate, but I digress...) So I popped it in and was
blown away. The rhythm was hip-hoppish and danceable, the bassline was
groovin', the chords were jazzy and soulful. Then I thought:
"THIS is Acid Jazz?!?!?! THIS IS THE KIND OF MUSIC I'VE BEEN TRYING TO
MAKE ALL THESE YEARS!!!!!!"
So began my love affair with acid-jazz music.
Elson
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Elson Trinidad, Los Angeles, CA
elson@westworld.com
http://www.westworld.com/~elson
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