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Acid Jazz

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What is Acid Jazz?

Acid jazz (also known as club jazz) is a musical genre that combines elements of soul music, funk, disco, particularly looping beats and modal harmony.[1]. It developed over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance/pop music. Acid Jazz is also the name of a recording label in the United Kingdom (founded by Gilles Peterson & Eddie Piller) which issues recordings by artists in this genre.

While acid jazz often contains various types of electronic composition (sometimes including sampling or live DJ cutting and scratching), it is just as likely to be played live by musicians, who often showcase jazz interpretation as part of their performance. The compositions of groups such as The Brand New Heavies and Incognito often feature chord structures usually associated with Jazz music. The Heavies in particular were known in their early years for beginning their songs as catchy pop and rapidly steering them into jazz territory before "resolving" the composition and thus not losing any pop listeners but successfully "exposing" them to jazz elements in "baby steps".

The acid jazz "movement" is also seen as a "revival" of jazz-funk or jazz fusion or soul jazz by leading DJs such as Norman Jay or Gilles Peterson or Patrick Forge, also known as "rare groove crate diggers".

Acid Jazz Blog

Acid Jazz is a funky music style which incorporates elements of jazz, 70s funk, hip-hop, soul, as well as other genres. This website pays homage to the greats in Acid Jazz, as well as showcasing some lesser known acts.
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Essential Acid Jazz Albums - Part 1

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Essential Acid Jazz Albums - Part 2

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Acid Jazz on the Blogs

Album Review: Sugarman 3 – What the World Needs Now
After emerging during the ?Acid Jazz? scene of the mid '90s with a resume that includes apprenticeships...
Play lists: What our critic's are listening to
I'll never forget when my co-worker Eric introduced me to acid jazz. He knew that I, despite the...
Jazz breaking news: Pharoah Sanders and JTQ added to Glasgow Jazz Festival Line-Up
Adding to the previously announced line-up for the Glasgow Jazz Festival the organisers have added Pharoah...
Streetcar desire: John Krause wants trams on Clark Street
Acid jazz pulsed on the sound system as a group of stylishly dressed transit fans clinked wine glasses...

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acidjazzy

Hi There! My name is Josh, and I've been a huge of the Acid Jazz sound since it's inception in the early 90's. I run a blog at http://acidjazzy.blogsp... more »

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