Acid Jazz Essentials

Acid Jazz Essentials

Coined by tastemaker and DJ Gilles Peterson, acid jazz was an outgrowth of the acid-house boom in London during the late ‘80s, as club music producers began using samples of vintage soul-jazz records from the ‘50s and ‘60s over hip-hop, house and funk grooves. The scene expanded when bands like Brand New Heavies and Jamiroquai began translating that aesthetic in live performance, usually adding heavy doses of contemporary soul into the equation. Whether forging sample-based tracks or featuring singers and rappers, the genre moved toward the pop scene and beyond, its relationship to jazz rooted more in nostalgia and fashion than music.

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