Nu jazz (also spelt nü jazz or known as jazztronica, or future jazz) is a genre of
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
. The music blends
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
elements with other musical styles, such as
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...
,
electronic music
Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...
, and
free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any general rules, instead following the intuition of its performers. The term can refer to both a technique—employed by any musician in any genre—and as a recognizable genre of ...
.
Nu jazz typically ventures further into the electronic territory than does its close cousin,
acid jazz
Acid jazz (also known as club jazz, psychedelic jazz, or groove jazz) is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul music, soul, and hip hop music, hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1 ...
.
Nu jazz can be very experimental in nature and can vary widely in sound and concept.
The sound departs further from its blues roots than acid jazz does, and instead explores electronic sounds and ethereal jazz sensualities.
"The star of Nu jazz is the music itself and not the individual dexterity of the musicians," writes Sunday People.
History
Nu jazz began with the use of electronic instruments in the 1970s, with contributions from artists like
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
,
Herbie Hancock
Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...
, and
Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, trumpeter, violinist, and composer. He is best known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Ja ...
. Herbie Hancock's work in the early 1980s, particularly his collaboration with
Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, wo ...
on the album
''Future Shock,'' played a pivotal role in defining the genre by incorporating electro and hip-hop rhythms. By the late 1980s, many hip-hop musicians were exploring jazz-rap, including groups like
Gang Starr
Gang Starr was an American Hip-hop, hip hop duo, consisting of Houston-born record producer DJ Premier and Boston-based rapper Guru (rapper), Guru.
Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2003, and is considered a widely influential MC-and-pr ...
,
The Roots
The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...
,
A Tribe Called Quest
A Tribe Called Quest was an American Hip hop music, hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,[Q-Tip< ...](_blank)
, and
Nas
Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones.
Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to:
Aviation
* Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea
* National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia
** Nas Air (S ...
. Concurrently, in the 1980s, numerous house musicians drew inspiration from
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
, especially post-bop and jazz-funk.
In the mid-1990s and early 2000s,
downtempo
Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...
artists such as
Jazztronik
Jazztronik is a Japanese music group by the Tokyo-based DJ/producer/pianist Ryota Nozaki, that does not have fixed members. Jazztronik has released two albums and two EPs since 1998 on label Flower Records. In 2001 Jazztronik also released ...
,
St Germain,
Trüby Trio
Trüby Trio are a German music group specialising in nu jazz and broken beat. Founded in 1997 by Rainer Trüby, Roland Appel and Christian Prommer, their Latin-influenced sound, integrating bossa nova and flamenco styles, saw the band become pione ...
,
DJ TakemuraPerry Hemus and
Jazzanova
Jazzanova is a German Berlin-based DJ/producer collective consisting of Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Jürgen von Knoblauch, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Leisering, and Axel Reinemer. Formed in 1995, the group's music is characterized by nu j ...
delved deeper into jazz. During the same period, producers of intelligent dance music, including notable names like
Squarepusher
Thomas Russell Jenkinson (born 17 January 1975), known professionally as Squarepusher, is an English electronic musician, record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist and DJ. His music spans several genres including drum and bass, IDM, a ...
and
Spring Heel Jack
Spring Heel Jack is an English electronic music duo, consisting of John Coxon and Ashley Wales.
Formed in 1993 in London, England, Spring Heel Jack began their career exploring drum and bass and Oldschool jungle, jungle, but have since branc ...
, and later
London Elektricity
Tony Colman (born 28 April 1961), better known by his stage name London Elektricity, is an English electronic musician and co-founded Hospital Records.
History
The first incarnation of London Elektricity was the duo Tony Colman and Chris Goss. ...
and Landslide, also showed interest in nu jazz. Techno musicians like
Carl Craig
Carl Craig (born May 22, 1969) is an American electronic music producer, DJ, and founder of the record label Planet E Communications. He is known as a leading figure and pioneer in the second wave of Detroit techno artists during the late 1980 ...
and his Innerzone Orchestra project demonstrated interest in the genre. Figures from hardcore and breakcore scenes, such as
Alec Empire
Alec Empire (born Alexander Wilke-Steinhof on 2 May 1972)https://www.alec-empire.com/ae Alec Empire official website biography is a German experimental electronic musician who is best known as a founding member of the band Atari Teenage Riot, a ...
,
Nic Endo
Nic Endo (born January 7, 1976) is a Japanese-German-American noise musician who plays with the German digital hardcore group Atari Teenage Riot. The daughter of a Japanese mother and a German father, Endo was born in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Backgr ...
, and
Venetian Snares
Aaron Funk (born January 11, 1975), known as Venetian Snares, is a Canadian electronic musician based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is widely known for innovating and popularising the breakcore genre, and is one of the most recognisable artists to ...
, experimented with a harsher and more noisy variant of nu jazz. A decade later, some dubstep producers, like
Boxcutter
A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd., , p. 1 Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with dur ...
, also explored electronic jazz.
While maintaining traditional jazz forms, pianist
Bugge Wesseltoft
Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft.
Career
In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...
and trumpeter
Nils Petter Molvær
Nils Petter Molvær (), also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960), is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and electronic music, best showcased on his most ...
are known for their improvisations in the nu jazz style.
The Cinematic Orchestra
The Cinematic Orchestra is a British nu jazz and downtempo music group created in 1999 by Jason Swinscoe and later involving his music collaborator Dominic Smith. The group is signed to independent record label Ninja Tune.
The Cinematic Orches ...
is recognized for incorporating traditional jazz elements into their musical productions alongside electronic elements. St Germain, a prominent figure in nu jazz, even sold 1.5 million copies of his album "Tourist."
[Lachaud Martine, « rchive/small> », sur ''lexpress.fr'', ''Archive'', 13 September 2001]
See also
*
Broken beat
Broken beat (sometimes referred to as "bruk") is an electronic dance music genre that emerged in the late 1990s and is characterized by syncopated beats and frenetic, choppy rhythms, often alongside female vocals and elements inspired by 1970s ja ...
*
Groovera New Modern Radio
*
Saint-Germain-des-Prés Café
''Saint-Germain-des-Prés Café'' is a series of Nu Jazz, nu-jazz compilation album, compilations distributed by Wagram Music. Its name evokes the cafés of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés, area in Paris associated with the existentialism movement. th ...
(popular series of nu-jazz compilations)
*
Chillout
Chill-out (shortened as chill; also typeset as chillout or chill out) is a loosely defined form of popular music characterized by slow tempos and relaxed moods. The definition of "chill-out music" has evolved throughout the decades, and generally ...
References
Sources
"A Flourish of Jazz" Time Magazine article, including mention of the use of electronics in
jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...
.
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Jazz genres
Electronic music genres
Fusion music genres