Acid jazz

This article is about the music genre called acid jazz. For an article about the record label, see Acid Jazz (label).

File:BnhAcidJazz.jpg

An album cover of Brand New Heavies band

Acid jazz (also known as groove jazz or more recently club jazz) is a musical genre that combines jazz influences with elements of soul music, funk, disco and also 90s English dance music, particularly repetitive beats and modal harmony. It developed over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as taking the boundary crossing of jazz fusion onto new ground.

One of the aims of acid jazz is to return jazz to its roots in dancing halls; therefore, it incorporates "catchy", "groovy" sounds.

Origins

The early origins of the genre relate to a 1970s funk revival movement initiated in the discos of England in the mid-1980s. This revival movement was called Northern Soul. In this movement, DJs competed against each other to find the rarest grooves--mainly from forgotten 70s soul and funk.

There are various legends running of how the name Acid Jazz was created. Gilles Peterson is normally credited for having invented the "acid jazz" name, when a fellow DJ showed Peterson a new Acid House record that had just been released. When he showed the record to Gilles Peterson, he replied, "if that is Acid House, then this is Acid Jazz".

Acid jazz in the international context

In the United States notable acid-jazz groups have included Groove Collective and Solsonics; although during the 1990s the major contributions from the US related to jazz dance were predominantly in jazz-house (from labels such as 8 Ball Records) and jazz-rap, particularly by artists such as A Tribe Called Quest, Blacksheep, De la Soul, and the Jungle Brothers. From Japan, notable artists included United Future Organization who released 'I Love my Baby: My Baby Loves Jazz' as well as a cover of Grady Tate's 'Moondance'; another prominent artist from Japan was the female vocalist, Monday Michiru. From the UK, Repercussions who had a top hit, Promise me nothing. Other more recent artists and groups who have produced music in this genre include Mother Earth, Mr. Scruff, Visit Venus, Praful, and Down to the Bone.

Key artists

• The Brand New Heavies
• Count Basic
• James Taylor Quartet
• Heavyshift
• Ronny Jordan
• Jamiroquai
• Incognito
• Saint Germain
• Greyboy

See also

• Nu-jazz
• Jazz rap
• Brokenbeat
• Michael Franti & Spearhead

External links

• OverXposure.FM Award-winning chillout web radio, featuring downtempo, nu-jazz, brokenbeat, trip-hop, ambient pop, and deep house.
• Acid Jazz Portal
• The Acid Jazz Server
• Groove Jazz description at Verve Records