London Street Jazz Various Artists (Acid Jazz)

£11.70

Genre:
Acid Jazz
Label:
BGP
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDBGPD 207

The 1980s saw a great jazz revival. In the United States a new generation gave it a focus that was reflected in acres of press coverage illustrated with lots of black and white photographs. Wynton Marsalis is probably the best know practitioner. The UK revival focused on young musicians such as Courtney Pine and Steve Williamson, players of exceptional skill who could hold their own against any of the young turks from the US. The UK revival appeared superficially to be based on trying to recreate the records of Art Blakey and the hard bop greats, but it was always something more. Many of the artists had a unique sense of their Afro-Caribbean heritage and also referenced Britain’s multi-cultural club scene which had always accepted jazz as a part of the overall sound of black music.

One of the outgrowths of that club scene was Acid Jazz, which exploded on the scene as an anitidote to house music’s increasing domination of dancefloors in late 1987. It mixed jazz in all its forms with funk, soul and elements of more modern dance music. It welcomed a coterie of London-based musicians and it was almost inevitable that a new label would appear that understood the form: Acid Jazz Records was born in mid-1988. The label took all the elements from the clubs and became one of the most successful UK independents of the early 90s, scoring hits with the James Taylor Quartet and the Brand New Heavies and it discovered Jamiroquai. All these were steeped in jazz and joined others who were more strictly jazz, such as Ed Jones or Snowboy, but also those such as the Emperors New Clothes who were looser, but had adopted a jazz spirit.

This CD looks at the jazz side of the label over the past 21 years, opening with their brand new signing the Filthy Six and their Donald Byrd-sounding track ‘This’, demonstrating that Acid Jazz is still finding exciting jazz outfits. Then we present a potted history of the label’s stroll through the world of jazz. From the James Taylor Quartet and their sister group the New Jersey King’s love of the Mizell Brothers, through the Brand New Heavies and Max Beesley’s jazz funk grooves is some of the best UK jazz funk. Ed Jones showed very early in his career why he has become one of the UK’s most respected saxophonists, while Snowboy and the Latin Section show why they were possibly the best-selling UK jazz outfit of the 90s. In between these cuts there are plenty of other slices of pure jazz joy, to complete in fine style our three series retrospective of Acid Jazz’s 21 years.

By Dean Rudland

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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview This - The Filthy Six

  • 02 Preview Stoned On Denmark Street - New Jersey Kings

  • 03 Preview Mr Tanaka - The Brand New Heavies

  • 04 Preview Keep The Dream Alive - The James Taylor Quartet

  • 05 Preview Mr Jeckle - Max Beesley's High Vibes

  • 06 Preview Samba Minus One - Ed Jones Quartet

  • 07 Preview Bolivia - Ulf Sandberg Quartet

  • 08 Preview Mr P.C. - Snowboy & The Latin Section

  • 09 Preview Rejoice In Righteousness - The Bukky Leo Quintet

  • 10 Preview Eyes That Burn - Emperors New Clothes

  • 11 Preview Akimbo - Simon Bartholomew

  • 12 Preview Sweet Ohm - Ohm

  • 13 Preview Mercy Mercy Me - The Apostles

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

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You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

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