I disagree with both of y'all. First of all, what exactly is "Groove
Approved?" Second of all, compared to other scenes, Acid Jazz isn't very
popular here, nor is it very popular in most large American cities with the
exception of San Francisco. (But who's to say we can't do our part?) When
it does thrive, it's usually presented as a subset or extension of Hip-Hop
(check out the Breaks every Fri. Night at the Underground Cafe, 1111 S. La
Brea (near Olympic & La Brea)), Retro-Funk (check out the Polyester Players
every Tues. at LunaPark) or, in more specialized cases Latin music
(Ozomatli) or 'traditional' - meaning KLON-playlist material - Jazz
(B-Sharp Quartet).
In San Francisco, on the other hand, the scene lives on its own. So much
that in SF, there is no such thing as 'Acid Jazz' (as far as the local
media goes) It's just "Jazz".
As for dancing, like I said, tunrout, turnout, turnout. How can you talk
about "groove-approved" when the majority of people going to the clubs have
no resource or means of communication to tie the scene together? Who's to
know what is "groove-approved" or not? *We* have the List, most people
don't, and that's why people who go to Groovin High or Ozomatli or Mesh of
Mind shows don't show up at Indigenous Colors, or Five Degrees, Jibe or
Harem shows - they don't know they exist! We've all been 'Networking', but
there are way more bridges to be built. Actually, if we try to shut out
what we know from the list, in the perception of the general public, there
is no acid-jazz "scene". We need more festivals. More press. More agressive
promotion. *Airplay*, damnit - I love Jungle, but we can't rely on just
KCRW because lately it's been more Jungle, less funkyjazz. People go to
alternative shows because KROQ and 107 tell their people what's up. People
go to raves and electronica concerts because Groove Radio says so. Where's
our call-to-arms coming from the Mt. Wilson transmitters?
We can try to duplicate what the alternative, rave and ska people have been
doing, but only to a point. Acid Jazz is a weird kinda music - it's too
underground sounding for the mainstream and too mainstream sounding for the
underground. On the other hand, we can use that to our advantage...
As for "too cool", maybe y'all have been spending too much time on the
Westside :)
Elson
-30-
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Elson Trinidad
Los Angeles, CA, USA
elson@westworld.com * http://www.westworld.com/~elson
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