The way I see it, if you're able to play and pack 500 seat venues, you're not dead... even if you're barely kicking.
The best musicians seem smart enough to slip themselves out of the categorical knots the public tries to put them in. Acid jazz dead? Medeski Martin and Wood are packing them in. Galactic played in front of thousands at Coachella, The Roots are still going strong and MosDef f. Black Jack Johnson does live shows that are extremely "acid-jazzy." St. Germain sure seems acid jazz to me, and they're pretty big on the scene.
To say nothing of originals like Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, and newcomers like Soulive, Karl Denson, Robert Walter, and etc. Here in LA, there are lots of live hip hop / jazz bands gigging all over the place. Even Kenny Garret's Happy People's got that soul jazz, acid jazz sound on it a bit.
So why do we have to decide between classic and modern? Why do we have to "kill" one to enjoy the other? Can't MJ Cole and Jimmy Smith all get along?
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