rip offs and more rip offs (was: tune ID?)

pyramus@wavenet.com
Tue, 9 Jan 1996 22:25:06 -0800


>I go off on this rant every few months on this list, so for those of you
>who've heard it all before - sorry, but i'm fast beginning to believe that
>there is nothing original about any acid jazz (dread tag)
>

(plenty snipped)

I would agree that this appears to be the *norm* rather than the
exception, but only when referring to those AJ bands that mainly
use samples. You certainly couldn't refer to Greyboy, Liquid Soul,
or the Heavies in that way.

And (although this is beating the point into the ground), I daresay
that Freddie Hubbard was being extremely original when he
recorded the album "Straight Life" back in the early '70s, or
Hancock was when he formed the Headhunters.

How about it folks? Any AJ "purists" out there? I like much of
the modern stuff, but I have to say that my love of the genre
began with the fathers...Lou Donaldson as far back as '68, blew
a mean horn...The JB's, and Miles' excursions into funk ("Man
with the Golden Horn") all qualify as AJ in my book. *AND*
have a lot more soul to them than (I'm gonna catch hell for this)
US3.

So where do we draw the line? Was "Return To Forever," headed
by Chick Corea and Al Dimeola, acid jazz? I say yes. Was
Earth Wind and Fire (arguably one of the funkiest bands in
history, with jazz chords, progressions, and arrangements)?
If it's true for Kool and the Gang (and if you haven't heard their
instrumentals from the "jungle boogie" era, you're MISSING OUT),
then it's got to also be true for EWF.

What's the consensus out there?

Mike

Michael Faulkner--------pyramus@wavenet.com
Actor, Musician, Theatre Co. founder, Mac whiz, and all around good guy.
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