Acid Jazz

There are a few differing views on exactly where and how the termn "Acid Jazz" came about. The most widely held belief is that back in the early 80's, DJ Gilles Peterson was performing at a club, and the DJ before him had just completed a set of Acid House (which was an emerging trend in music at the time). When Gilles came on stage, he said "If that was Acid House, this is Acid Jazz" and commenced to play some rare funk soul and jazz records.

Soon after coining this term, Gilles Peterson went on to create Talkin' Loud records, signing musical acts such as Galliano, Incognito and The Brand New Heavies. He then went on to create Acid Jazz records, which became a huge success in the early to mid 1990's. The biggest Acid Jazz success at this time was Jamiroquai, who continues to sell millions of albums to this day.

It was at this time, that Acid Jazz began to incorporate elements of Hip Hop as well. Artists like Guru from Gangster began exploring a fusion of jazz, funk and hip hop in albums such as the Jazzmatazz series and The Brand New Heavies - Heavy Rhyme Experience.

During the years since then, the definition of Acid Jazz has shifted somewhat from it's groove and funk foundations to a more electronic sound which can be found in artists such as Lamb, Theivery Corporation, Koop and St Germain. Many of the original artists are still performing and producing new albums, however, and Gilles Peterson continues to push the boundaries of this genre by discovering new artists and new ways to blend genres.

Here is a list of some well known, and not so well known artists who are considered to be in the "Acid Jazz" genre...

• 4 Hero
• Beggar & Co.
• Brand New Heavies
• Candycream
• Carleen Anderson
• Corduroy
• Count Basic
• Courtney Pine
• D-Influence
• Down To The Bone
• Eon Beats Project
• Fattburger
• Galactic
• The Greyboy Allstars
• Gilles Peterson
• Gota
• Groove Collective
• Incognito
• Inner Shade
• The James Taylor Quartet
• Jamiroquai
• Jazzhole
• Kenny Wellington
• Koop
• Kyoto Jazz Massive
• Light Of The World
• Liquid Soul
• Medeski, Martin & Wood
• Monday Michiru
• Mother Earth
• N'Dea Davenport
• Omar
• Orange Pekoe
• Philip Clark
• Rad
• The Rippingtons
• Ronny Jordan
• Snowboy
• Soulive
• Tab Two
• Urban Species
• US3
• Vibraphonic
• Young Disciples