Genre story · Other
Acid Jazz
Jazz, funk, soul and club culture finding new life together around British dance floors at the end of the 1980s.
Acid jazz became an identifiable UK club and label movement during the late 1980s. DJs including Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller helped connect jazz-funk records, rare groove and contemporary live bands through clubs and the Acid Jazz label. Talkin' Loud, founded in 1990 after Peterson left Acid Jazz, carried some related artists into wider distribution. Incognito, Galliano and the Brand New Heavies developed varied ways to combine live jazz-derived playing with funk, soul and dance grooves.
The band meets the DJ
Horn parts, bass lines and keyboard harmonies can sit over steady rhythms built for dancing. Some music sounds like an updated funk band, while other recordings are arranged with sampling or hip-hop-related techniques. Improvisation and instrumental solos may appear but are not mandatory in every song. The club setting is important to the history of how listeners encountered the records.
An uneasy genre name
Acid Jazz has little to do with acid rock or a required psychedelic effect. The name belongs to a particular late-1980s/1990s scene and its evolving sound. It should not become a strict parent of every contemporary jazz-funk or hip-hop record.
Essential recordings
- 1990The Brand New HeaviesThe Brand New HeaviesLive-band funk within the early UK scene.
- 1992IncognitoTribes, Vibes and ScribesJazz and soul structures in a club-ready form.
- 1992GallianoA Joyful Noise Unto the CreatorA related Talkin' Loud development.