What is acid jazz?
No, really…
The liner notes for the compilation Phials of Acid Jazz say:
It embraces retro funk, straight-ahead Latin, progressive ‘trip-hop’ and house. In some instances it’s not jazz at all, except in a loose sense.
…jazz-influenced, funky, modern-with-a-rare-groove-vibe and directed at the mop-heads wearing out their Adidas Sambas on the dancefloor.
Over at The AcidJazz Server, the long-time home of AJ on the web, it says:
Drums – playing funk/hip-hop rhythms, focusing on basic beat (not many tom fills, etc), lots of shuffle play on the snare, which is usually a metal or brass piccolo snare.
Percussion – if existent, plays afro-latin style rhythms on congas, or syncopated shaker/cabasa rhythms. Tempo is usually no lower than 88bpm nor higher than 116bpm.
Bass – usually melodic, played straight with fingers (i.e. no slapping, popping, pick playing). Occasionally standup acoustic bass is used.
Guitar – jazz/funk chords (9ths/11ths/13ths) played in high registers, usually played clean or through wah-wah pedal. No powerchords.
Keyboards – simple keyboard arrangements (i.e. one or two keyboard instruments are present at one time), usually focusing on basic keyboard sounds (i.e. piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Organ), occasional strings.
Horns – Horn section, usually sax/trumpet/trombone trio, sometimes with flute. Usually playing tight unison lines.
That all sounds pretty straightforward. Here are two classic examples.
Greyboy, a.k.a. San Diego producer and DJ Andreas Stevens, was probably the first American act to jump on the acid jazz thang. His first album came out in 1994 and he’s managed to appear pretty steadily since, under the Greyboy name and with The Greyboy Allstars. I present an alternate version of a track from his classic debut album Freestylin’, on which he is accompanied by Marc Antoine, guitar; Karl Denson, tenor sax; Harold Todd, sax; Derek G., bass; Steve Haney, percussion; Craig Teigen, percussion; Gary Wing, drums.
Corduroy consisted of twins Ben and Scott Addison (formerly of Brit-pop band Boys’ Wonder), bassist Richard Searle (formerly of Dr. and the Medics) and guitarist Simon Nelson-Smith. They played their first gig in late ‘91, but by the end of the decade they had broken up. Here (also from ‘94) is their version of the song “Motorhead,” originally by Motörhead from their 1977 self-titled album.
Greyboy – Panacea (alternate version) — BUY
Corduroy – Motorhead — BUY
Tags: Greyboy, Corduroy, Motörhead, acid jazz, MP3s