Steve Catanzaro (stevencatanzaro@sprintmail.com)
Sat, 23 Oct 1999 08:43:17 -0700
In the discussion about the transmorgification of the AJ list into something
else, it might be interesting to find out what attracted us all to "Acid
Jazz" in the first place. I think "names" and "categories" aren't much good,
so a new name will likely get just as dated, BUT, here's what I personally
identified as "acid" jazz;
1. Funky rhythms. Not the nu-jack teddy riley rhythms or the Timbaland
style, but more of a live, James Brownish, Ohio Players super-funkified beat
(in various up or down tempos.)
2. Improvisation. Well, that IS jazz, basically, so, solos or, if not
full-on solos, freedom of arrangement.
3. Instrumentation. Horns, hammonds, rhodes, (a lot of ) upright bass,
analog synth textures, wah wah guitars, + samples and scratches.
4. Vocals... If any, very soulful, often (but not always) female. Also, MC's
chiming in quite a bit.
5. History. A lot of AJ was heavy on the history lesson... not just to the
70's, but back to the groove masters of Blue Note and Prestige from the
'50's and '60's.
Now, are there lots of acts putting aspects of that product forward still? I
think so. Innerzone Orchestra and MMW are 2 that come immediately to mind. 4
Hero meets a lot of those critiera. So, if it's not Acid Jazz, I don't know
what it is... Straight No Chaser music, maybe?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Sat Oct 23 1999 - 17:44:35 MET DST