I enjoyed Jon Jung's comment on Kevin, especially when he said: "since I first
heard the "acid jazz" style some years ago, I always thought it was an
overcommercialization of jazz itself (especially good funky jazz). I really
like jazz and acid jazz and every kind of fusion of styles but I also feel that
hardly any of the a-jazz or newer fusion even come close to matching the
original style they derive from."
Right- and they won't. The end-result of fusion is hopefully a NEW style that
won't come close to the original because it is so different. Jazz itself began
as a fusion, and perhaps it was seen by critics at the outset to be 'not as good
as the original sources' or even over commercialized (much early, early jazz is
a commercialized version of African-American music). But as jazz grew, it came
unto its own and developed, experimented, and branched into a very far reaching
and influencing musical form.
Will 'acid jazz' do this as well? Possibly- yes, it's early appearances were
commercial in nature. One could even say it was a commercialized version of real
jazz (i.e. making jazz palatable to non-jazz listeners, as US3 sold millions to
mostly people who had never bought a Blue Note album before). But, now as the
form is aging, we are seeing a healthy amount of effort to move it forward and
experiment with it. The introduction of a heavy electronic element in the music
has yielded excellent newness. Check Wagon Christ or Mighty Bop for some amazing
examples of 'electronic jazz funk'. Also, the introduction of dub elements have
made some of 'acid jazz' very interesting. Check Mad Professor's collaboration
with Massive Attack, or the latest Emperor's New Clothes (which, by the way, is
very good, Mr. Kiernan). Then there's the Portishead album... this couldn't have
existed without 'acid jazz', or electronics, or dub for that matter... an the
end result is revolutionary.
So yes- what we are referring to as 'acid jazz' won't come close to the jazz
masters in replicating their sound, but may come close in invoking their spirit.
PEACE n LATERS
Michael Donaldson
BAD MOOD RECORDS / SOUL POWER MAGAZINE