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| The Funk of Acid Jazz |
VÁLOGATÁS
A Man Called Adam, Akimbo, Break 4 Jazz, Cloud Nine, D*Influence, Emperors New Clothes, Humble Souls, James Taylor, Mother Earth, New Jersey Kings, Pathaan, Planet, The Brand New Heavies, The James Taylor Quartet, The Subterraneans, X Generation |
első megjelenés éve: 2000
72 perc |
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| (2008)
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CD |
Kérjen
árajánlatot! |
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Jazz / Acid Jazz
The "Acid Jazz" scene was one of the most vibrant and innotive musical movements of the late 80's and early 90's. Emerging from a sweaty basement club in london, the scene kick-started Acid Jazz records to keep the sound alive. This CD brings together a selection of the funkiest cuts from the label's vaults, enabling you to relive one of the most exciting eras in club history. Prepare to feel the groove!
For most people Acid Jazz is synonymous with noodly keyboards and funky drums with the occasional saxophone thrown in, a music without real edge or originality and bordering on 'cheesiness'. This hasn't been helped by the media's eagerness to pigeon-hole artists and music movements.
But when I first arrived in London in the late 80's the Acid Jazz 'movement' was the first scene I really got into. I was going to the Dingwalls club in Camden on Sunday afternoons and was seduced by the atmosphere and impressed by the energy and enthusiasm of the people involved, from the artists and DJs right down to the punters. The scene was very mixed and unpretentious and was all about having fun; with everyone dancing and sweating buckets listening to uplifting tunes (some obscure and bizarre some more accessible), having a drink or cheekily smoking the occasional 'spliff' - generally having a good time! On the covers of the Acid Jazz 'Totally Wired' compilations you can see many pictures taken at the Dingwalls Sunday sessions that are testimony to the atmosphere and energy present then.
In those days the dance music scene wasn't as fragmented as it is now and the general spirit of the Acid Jazz ethos was to present an alternative to the supremacy of House music that was taking over club culture. By going to Dingwalls on Sundays, you were able to hear everything from Street Soul and Funk to dancefloor Jazz and Latin. Being so open-minded also meant new signings could come from the most unexpected places, for example Eddie Piller (Acid Jazz head honcho) first heard of D-Influence via Tim Westwood's radio show. To many Westwood is better known for solely promoting US Rap and R&B, but back then he played their track "The Wah Classic" and therefore became instrumental in Acid Jazz's signing the band's first release.
The label released and show-cased many musical styles and but sadly only a handful of bands from the Acid Jazz stable ever achieved real chart success, the James Taylor Quartet and The Brand New Heavies to name two, the latter after only released one album for the label, and were soon signed to a major record company. Nevertheless the whole Acid Jazz movement was truly ahead of its time and paved the way for a whole new generation of independent records labels allowing fresh musical genres to come through such as Trip Hop, Nu-Phunk or even Breakbeat. Ultimately it showed people that Jazz, Funk and Soul weren't musical styles of the past but could evolve in a modern way and still be present at the forefront of the dance and club scene.
1) JTQ - Mission Impossible
JTQ is synonymous with the sound of Acid Jazz, although the band wasn't officially signed before 1994, they achieved a massive following due to their amazing live performances. This cover of Lalo Schiffrin's classic TV theme highlights James Taylor's organist skills and offers a slightly "Mod" flavoured interpretation of the original.
2) New Jersey Kings - Green Screen
The New Jersey Kings were in fact The James Taylor Quartet, the band leader was James' own brother David. They released two LP's on Acid Jazz, the label at the time invented a whole story about the band, they were supposed to be the long lost recordings of a group of 70's funketeers which Acid Jazz miraculously happened to have rediscovered in some dusty attic somewhere in New Jersey. This track, which strangely doesn't appear on any of their albums, could indeed have been written and recorded in the 70's, here are 4 minutes and something of pure funk mayhem, try to stop your feet from shuffling!!!
3) Emperors New Clothes - Throttle Back
The band's original founders were Luke Hannam and Andy Knight, who met while still at college in Newcastle and their second album "Wisdom and Lies" was produced by people such as UNKLE, Attica Blues, and Andrew Missigham. This cut however is quite a departure from the outfit's usual esoteric sound and is a pure slice of fast and furious funk with live drums and saxophone a la "Pig Bag" and could have easily been produced in the 70s.
4) X-Generation - Manhattan Skyline
This track will surprise many, as the Drum & Bass sound is not generally associated with the Acid Jazz name. But it is an interesting project that deserves to be included on this compilation. The band is American and they had an interesting album concept based around the idea of travelling across the states between 1995 and 1997and recording each track in a different city. Incidentally the album was dedicated to beatnik Jack Kerouac and is appropriately called "Kerouac's Legacy". The mood on this track is one of Jazziness and melancholy note the live drums.
5) Pathaan - The Arrival
This is another more modern cut displaying the ever diverse sound of Acid Jazz. The track is an instant floor filler that combines Asian vibes, infectious funky drums and tablas. Pathaan is best known for being one of the UK's leading 'chillout' DJs and running the "Stoned Asia" nights in London. He also writes for DJ Magazine.
6) A Man Called Adam - A.P.B
From the very talented team of producers Paul Daley & Sally Rodgers, whom also produced the awesome "Earthy Powers" for Acid Jazz, comes this quirky yet funky bossa soundtrack piece. The track's cut 'n' paste dynamics could fit perfectly into the modern breakbeat scene.
7) Brand New Heavies - Stay This Way
Taken from the B N H debut album and originally released on Acid Jazz, "Stay This Way" features the vocal talent of Jay Ella Ruth. She subsequently left the band, to be replaced by N'Dea Davenport who re-recorded the track for the album as well as "Never Stop" which became the band's US breakthrough single. Nevertheless this cut written by the band saxophonist Jim Wellman is a modern day soul classic and best represents their sound.
8) D -Influence - The Wah Classic
The Wah Classic originally came out as the b - side of "I'm The One", the band's first ever release. The track is a great scatty funk instrumental, which was once described as "a caterpillar on acid". Well, I'll leave you to be the judge of that!! Nevertheless this is a very unusual track that works on any dancefloor.
9) Break 4 Jazz - Break 4 Jazz
Break 4 Jazz was a Rick Mitra & Chris Bangs one off project, the latter is better known for his involvement with the Quiet Boys. He produced a very diverse range of tracks for Acid Jazz under various monikers - Grass Snakes, Lay-Zee and Break 4 Jazz to name a few. The title of the track says it all, and the cut was built like a jam session, using a looped break as the backbone for
guitar, keyboard, tenor and alto saxophone improvisation courtesy of Martin Winnings.
10) Cloud Nine - Sleep Walk
Cloud Nine was Sheffield based Mark Brydon's project. This mid-tempo instrumental is taken from the excellent "Millennium" album, sadly the LP was withdrawn from sale over a sample dispute and therefore was only available for a very short time. The cut is reminiscent of a modern day Lonnie Liston Smith composition with Jonathan Quarmby on the Fender Rhodes and Bernard Moss on flute.
11) Mother Earth - Riot On 103rd Street
Acid Jazz had high hopes for this band, they released three albums for the label but never really broke through, they are better known for their melodic Rock / Soul sound but on this cover version of the War tune, taken from the classic Young Blood soundtrack, they let their funkiness rip though for all discerning funk fans.
12) Humble Soul - Quiet Dawn
Humble Soul was the association of Hugh Brooker, of Night Trains fame and the MC / rapper Wildski of Beats International. The band sampled the original 'Quiet Dawn' tune from Archie Shepp's masterpiece LP 'Attica Blues'. On the original version Cal Massey (who wrote the music and the lyrics) had his 7 year old daughter singing the haunting melody. Here Humble Souls use the same phrase (but sang by a "gown up"), add beats and retain the melancholic vibe.
13) The Subterraneans - Night In Tunisia (A Tribute To Dizzy)
The band was the association of Max Beesley and Marco from the Young Disciples. As the title suggests, the cut is a homage to Dizzy Gillespie's world famous Night In Tunisia Jazz standard. It is always very tricky to cover any Jazz standard and to do it well! The result here is awesome, with heavier drums and plenty of Brazilian batucadas making it, in my opinion, far superior to their better known track Taurus Woman.
14) Planet - Don't Let Me Down
Planet was the brainchild of Graham Day, who used to be the lead singer of The Prisoners, JTQs first band. They only released one album on Acid Jazz and due to a lack of money disappeared in 1995. The cut is funky rock at its best with a generous amount of guitars over a steady breakbeat.
15) Akimbo - Rollerball (Executive Party)
Akimbo was a side project of Brand New Heavy Simon Bartholomew, a supposed Acid Jazz super group. The band released one album for Acid Jazz, but unfortunately it was badly promoted and came out virtually unnoticed. But with this cover from the classic 70's cult movie 'Rollerball' they hit the nail on the head delivering a brilliant interpretation, all subtlety and psychedelic funkiness.
---Christine Indigo
Christine Indigo has actively DJed since coming to England from France in 1988. She has had numerous residencies including Fresh 'n' Funky, was part of the Soul Jazz Soundsystem for 5 years and more recently worked and DJed for Strut Records. She has an extensive knowledge of all things funky, from Jazz to Techno. |
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