First off, Ashwin said: "It seems that every musical genre has its own free form
break away from the norm side. What's acid-jazz's equivalent (i.e. acid-jazz
artists producing music that is not of any acid-jazz style we are familiar
with)?"
Actually, it's pretty interesting in that what we call 'acid jazz' seems to have
more room for this 'free form breaking away'. This is because the genre thrives
on the fusion of other genres, so there are very little rules. (Remember: there
was a time when jazz became a genre fusion game, and the rule book eventually
got thrown out the window. As in the beginning of this thread, Zorn may be an
example of this, as could be Coltrane, Coleman, Sun Ra, and other mentioned
sources.)
What makes the fusion of 'acid jazz' so totally interesting and new is the heavy
use of electronics, often in conjunction with acoustics.
The doors of fusion are opened even wider as jazz players are able to combine
with house music, techno, jungle, etc. And to take it even further, 'free' jazz
players may combine with electronic elements as well, developing a new unheard
music, crazier and more experimental than anything that has come before.
Indeed, electronics have played an avant garde part in the development of jazz
before, but 'acid jazz' seems to differ in its street-wise (i.e. hip hop?) use
of technology as well as the use and abuse of recent developments in sampling
and computer sequencing & recording. The music will only get more exciting from
here on.
As far as recommendations of artists working in these new areas but remaining
(though loosely) in an 'acid-jazz' genre, of course DJ Shadow is an obvious
starting point. "What Does Your Soul Look Like?" is one of the most ambitious
projects of the genre, and his collaboration with Krush on DJ Krush's "Meiso" LP
(called "Duality") is a monster experimental cut-up exercise. I've also enjoyed
the production and musical work of Howie B., as well as the electronic
experimentation of the new 'techno groove' pioneers Mighty Bop and Wagon Christ.
To take it further, I just heard Goldie's "Timeless" LP, and some of the fusions
experimented with on this work will prove to be groundbreaking. As far as
experimenters working in 'acid jazz' in a non-electronic enviornment, I am less
knowledgable. But I can recommend Emperor's New Clothes and APE, whose latest
LPs are quite an experimental blend of live playing and studio dub technique.
Viva experimentation!
To move on to other subjects, the fantastic new Island-associated label Quango
will be releasing the Mighty Bop album in the United States. The date on this is
Halloween, and they will also release Kruder & Dorfmeister's 'G-Stoned' EP on
this date. As with the two previous Quango releases ("A Taste of Pork"
compilation and "Journey in Ambient Groove 2"), these are completely essential.
Get. As far as domestic vinyl on these, there seem to be no plans, but I have
been told promo vinyl of the 'Pork' and 'Ambient Groove 2' compilations are
floating around. Haven't been able to snake them myself yet, but I'll sure be
investigating. I'll let you know what I find out.
Now excuse me a second while I engage in some self-promotion... As you may or
may not know, I record and DJ as Q-Burn's Abstract Message. There are three
records floating around now that I am on that I'd like to let you know about.
First is the MIXED EMOTIONS compilation, which others have been kind enough to
mention on this list before. It has been out for a month, and I'm told many of
the cuts (including mine) sound better played at 45 RPM. Hmmm. Another record
that just came out is a single I did with Pimp Daddy Nash for San Francisco's
Mephisto Records. My two cuts are very fast police chase scene soundtracks (one
mix with a Brazilian-come-jungle percussion breakdown... or so I'm told). Pimp
Daddy spills two superb cuts of 'electronic trance jazz' that are certainly more
dancefloor ready than what I've done. Lastly, look for the new single by
progressive house act Atmosphere. It is called 'Oblivion' and, though the
majority of the single is progressive house type stuff, I did a mix that has
some groovy drums and lush keys, and should certainly appeal to the DJs who spin
'ambient soul' out there (like me, hee hee). This hit the stores last week. If
any of you happen to grab any of these records, let me know what you think.
So- enough bandwidth for one day. Good, readable (sometimes savable) discussions
on this list as of late... keep up the good work, all!
PEACE 'em
Michael Donaldson
EIGHTH DIMENSION RECORDS