29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
Jazz-funk
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back
beat (groove), electrified sounds[1] and an early prevalence of analog Jazz-funk
synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles Stylistic Jazz · funk · soul ·
into jazz resulted in the creation of a genre whose spectrum is quite origins soul jazz ·
wide and ranges from strong jazz improvisation to soul, funk or disco rhythm and blues
with jazz arrangements, jazz riffs, and jazz solos, and sometimes soul
vocals.[2] Cultural Early 1970s,
origins United States
Jazz-funk is primarily an American genre, where it was popular Typical Electric bass guitar ·
throughout the 1970s and the early 1980s, but it also achieved noted
instruments drums ·
appeal on the club-circuit in England during the mid-1970s. Similar
analog synthesizers
genres include soul jazz and jazz fusion, but neither entirely overlap
(Moog, ARP Odyssey,
with jazz-funk. Notably jazz-funk is less vocal, more arranged and
featured more improvisation than soul jazz, and retains a strong feel of ARP String Ensemble) ·
groove and R&B versus some of the jazz fusion production. electric piano
(Hohner D6 Clavinet,
Rhodes piano,
Contents Wurlitzer electric piano) ·
saxophone · trumpet ·
1 Musical approach trombone · piano · guitar
2 Ambivalence towards the genre · vocals
3 Role of producers
4 Focus on the UK Subgenres
5 Jazz-funk today Free funk
6 Notable musicians and albums
Other topics
6.1 Musicians/groups/producers
6.2 Albums Musicians/Producers - Albums
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Musical approach
An extension of the jazz field, jazz-funk exhibits several distinctive characteristics.
A first is the departure from ternary rhythm (near-triplet), i.e. the "swing" (see swing rhythm), to the more
danceable and unfamiliar binary rhythm, known as the "groove". Hence this new jazz type's association with
funk, a genre that created this groove rhythm, which was spearheaded by James Brown's drummers Clyde
Stubblefield and John "Jabo" Starks.
A second characteristic of jazz-funk music was the use of electric instruments, such as the Rhodes Piano or the
electric bass guitar, particularly in jazz fusion (or electro-jazz), and the first use of analogue electronic
instruments notably by Herbie Hancock, whose jazz-funk period saw him surrounded on stage or in the studio
by several Moog synthesizers. The ARP Odyssey, ARP String Ensemble and Hohner D6 Clavinet also became
popular at the time.
A third feature is the shift of proportions between composition and improvisation. Arrangements, melody, and
overall writing were heavily emphasised. In a nutshell this is a departure from post bop and free or modal jazz
back to a more structured music, and often danceable (as influenced by the street and its popular funk
movement of the era).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 1/6
29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
Ambivalence towards the genre
At its conception, the jazz-funk genre was occasionally looked down upon by
jazz hard-liners as a sell-out, or "jazz for the dancehalls." It was unsubstantially
presumed by these to be not intellectual or elite enough, which led to
controversy about the music crossing over, but it was making jazz much more
popular and mainstream.[3]
The jazz-funk (as well as a proportion of the jazz) community absorbed the
street sound of the funk rhythm, which gave the genre a dance-able rhythm and
gained influences from the electric and some new analog electronic sound of
fusion.
From a jazz perspective, the ambivalence towards the jazz-funk genre arose –
despite commercial success – because it was "too jazzy" and therefore too The latter period of trumpeter
complex.[4] Arrangements and instrumental tracks in pop or R&B music Miles Davis' career was
requires less initiation and allows the lead singer to relate to the audience, but controversial for its
jazz-funk was more focused on specific notes and overall music writing, so it incorporation of non-jazz
seldom offered this same interaction with the audience. idioms
Disdained by a part of the jazz community and its inability to top the pop
charts, jazz-funk had a long hard time to establish itself. In the UK's nightclubs of the mid to late 1970s, DJs
like Colin Curtis in Manchester, Birmingham's Graham Warr and Shaun Williams, and Leeds-based Ian
Dewhirst and Paul Schofield championed the genre, along with Chris Hill and Bob Jones in the South.[5]
In the late 1980s, the work of rare groove crate diggers–DJs in England who were interested in looking back
into the past and re-discovering old tunes, such as Norman Jay and Gilles Peterson and hip hop DJ's such as
Marley Marl in the US, have both the jazz community and the pop professionals beginning to understand the
value of the genre. Eddie Henderson, Donald Byrd and Herbie Hancock are seldom challenged as major
influences on jazz. The Mizell Brothers have received official accolades from the industry and are being
listened to widely. Their work has also been sampled in more modern music.
It is also worth noting that the more famous acid jazz movement is often seen as a rediscovery of 1970s jazz-
funk, interpreted or produced by contemporary artists of the 1990s. One of the most blatant examples is the
band US3, who were signed to Acid Jazz Records founded by Peterson and Eddie Piller. US3 covered
Cantaloupe Island, originally recorded by Herbie Hancock, and reissue of rare grooves from the era, led by DJ
Peterson and Patrick Forge in the United Kingdom. Contemporary jazz artists have also contributed to the
rediscovery, most notably Nathan Haines and Courtney Pine.
Examples of artists that explored jazz-funk, soul jazz, or jazz rock are Miles Davis, Jimmy Smith(1972), Herbie
Mann, The Headhunters, Herbie Hancock, Funk Inc.,[6] Lalo Schifrin, Quincy Jones, Michael Henderson,[7]
Monk Higgins, David Axelrod, Sun Ra, Roy Ayers, Azymuth, Gary Bartz NTU Troop, George Benson, The
Brecker Bros., Tom Browne, Ramsey Lewis, Donald Byrd, the Mizell Brothers, Billy Cobham, Lou Marini,
The Crusaders, Deodato, George Duke, Victor Wooten, Charles Earland, Johnny Hammond, Gene Harris,
Eddie Henderson, Bobbi Humphrey, Bob James, Kool & The Gang, Rebirth Brass Band, Ronnie Laws, Mass
Production, Brass Construction, The Average White Band, Light of the World, Jaco Pastorius, Pleasure, Patrice
Rushen, Bill Summers, Tower of Power, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Miroslav Vitous, Dexter Wansel, Buddy
Rich, and Leon Ware.
Herbie Hancock was dedicated to jazz-funk on many albums including Head Hunters, Thrust, Man-Child,
Flood, Secrets, Sunlight, and Mr. Hands. Post jazz-funk era, later in the early 1980s, he threw electronic
influences into the jazz-funk mix when he created Future Shock and Sound-System.
The genre is also widely incorporated and sampled in R&B and hip hop, with a number of the aforementioned
artists' works appearing as loops within these recordings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 2/6
29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
Role of producers
Many mainstream artists in jazz used the talents of a few producers who were specialists in the genre and
generated great commercial success. While Herbie Hancock was always his own producer, he teamed up with
Mike Clark and Paul Jackson and formed "The Headhunters". The Mizell Brothers - Larry and Fonce[8] - were
responsible for a lot of the jazz-funk wave as they single-handedly produced many of the major jazz-funk
artists (Donald Byrd, Johnny "Hammond" Smith, Bobbi Humphrey, Gary Bartz, and more).
Other producers included Dexter Wansel, Bob James and Dave Grusin, generally acclaimed musicians
(especially arrangers) themselves who tried their hand at sound-engineer, arranger, or composer. The Mizell
Brothers produced most of Byrd's and Johnny "Hammond" Smith's jazz-funk. It was typically during this era -
the mid-1970s - that the producers gained their arms and paved the way for others later, such as super R&B
producers Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards from Chic in the early 1980s.
Focus on the UK
While the vast majority of Jazz-funk bands are American, Several British jazz-funk artists and bands emerged
in the late 1970s and early 1980s[9] who broke away from the disco and commercial scene, encouraged by club
DJs like Chris Hill, Robbie Vincent who was then on BBC Radio London, and Greg Edwards who had a
Saturday evening show on London's first ever commercial radio station Capital Radio, and Norman Jay. This
type of music was also heavily played on Europe's first soul radio station, Radio Invicta.[10] The first of these
self-contained bands to establish a real UK identity was Light of the World formed by Breeze McKrieth, Kenny
Wellington,[11] Jean-Paul 'Bluey' Maunick, Paul 'Tubbs' Williams, Peter Hinds and David Baptiste. Offshoots of
the band also formed Beggar & Co and Incognito.
Jazz-funk today
Some heavy producers (Jazzanova), some of whom are trained in classical music and jazz, are taking the
elements of jazz-funk and using them in the full-electronic and computer assisted era. These movements are
called nu jazz, and broken beat and are however heavily dominated not by instrumentalists, but rather by DJs.
Yet some (including those quoted) are outstanding achieved arrangers and producers, heavily influenced by
jazz-funk, and therefore full musicians taking the jazz-funk genre into the 21st Century. The hard-liners will
without a doubt complain again about the movement which often does not use session musicians, but uses
computers to play some of the music. The more open-to-change liners will call this notes, rhythms,
arrangements, improvisation, harmony, production, melodies, themes, and therefore composition, writing and
jazz just the same. The UK (e.g. Mike Holland), Germany (e.g. Jazzanova), and Japan (e.g. Kyoto Jazz
Massive) dominate today's production of broken beat which is however starting to take-off in the USA.
Notable musicians and albums
In alphabetical order by last name or first non-article.
Musicians/groups/producers
Banda Black Rio Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats
Beggar & Co Stanley Clarke
Brian Culbertson The Blackbyrds
Bobbi Humphrey The Crusaders
Brand New Heavies[12] Charles Earland
Wilbur Bascomb[13] Les De Merle
Donald Byrd Fattburger
Edwin Birdsong Rodney Franklin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 3/6
29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
Funk Inc. Herbie Mann
Galactic Jack McDuff(Brother Jack McDuff)
Gary Bartz Harvey Mason
George Duke The Meters
Gene Harris Marcus Miller
Greyboy Allstars Medeski, Martin, and Wood
Groove Collective The Mizell Brothers
Herbie Hancock Alphonse Mouzon
Michael Henderson Jaco Pastorius
Monk Higgins Johnny Pate
Richard Anthony Hewson Pleasure
Incognito Patrice Rushen
Jamiroquai Oliver Sain
Jimmy McGriff John Scofield
Miles Davis Lalo Schifrin
Quincy Jones Jimmy Smith
J.J. Johnson Johnny Smith
Ronny Jordan The New Mastersounds
Roy Ayers Ubiquity Lonnie Liston Smith
Ron Holloway Shakatak
Ronnie Foster Soul Rebels Brass Band
Ivan "Boogaloo" Jo Jones Soulive
Nils Landgren Victor Wooten
Ronnie Laws Dexter Wansel
Level 42 Weather Report
Light of the World
Bobby Lyle
Albums
On the Corner by Miles Davis
Root Down by Jimmy Smith
Live in NYC Brooklyn Bowlive - JazzFunkSoul Club by Soulive
NEXT - Blue Note Records by Soulive
Doin´ Something- Blue Note Records 2001 by Soulive
Live-Evil by Miles Davis
Head Hunters by Herbie Hancock
Heavy Metal Bebop by The Brecker Brothers
The Meters by The Meters
Funky Serenity by Ramsey Lewis
Instant Death by Eddie Harris
Pure Cane Sugar by Sugarman Three
Living Black by Charles Earland
Funk Inc. & Chicken by Funk Inc.
Live At Club Mozambique by Dr. Lonnie Smith
Unlock Your Mind by Soul Rebels Brass Band
'Round Trip' by Light Of The World
Out Louder by Medeski Martin & Wood
Wildflowers by Connie Price & the Keystones
102% by The New Mastersounds
No Place Like Soul by Soulive
The Budos Band by The Budos Band
Step It Up by The Bamboos
Hit the Floor by Breakestra
Travelling Without Moving by Jamiroquai
Hutspot by Lefties Soul Connection
Places and Spaces by Donald Byrd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 4/6
29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
School Days by Stanley Clarke
Fat Albert Rotunda by Herbie Hancock
Bringing Back the Funk by Brian Culbertson
Gambler's Life by Johnny "Hammond" Smith
C'est Le Funk by * U-Nam (http://www.unammusic.com)
See also
Jazz fusion
Soul jazz
Acid jazz
Broken beat
Nu-jazz
References
1. [1] (http://www.rhapsody.com/jazz/jazzfunk/more.html) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2007092
9083925/http://www.rhapsody.com/jazz/jazzfunk/more.html) September 29, 2007, at the Wayback
Machine.
2. "Jazz | Significant Albums, Artists and Songs" (http://www.allmusic.com/genre/jazz-ma0000002674).
AllMusic. 2013-11-24. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
3. Article referring to Donald Byrd the Mizell Brothers from John Murph in JazzTimes magazine dated
April 04
4. Journal of American Culture, Art vs. the Audience: The Paradox of Modern Jazz, by R Francesconi,
winter 1981, also see article "Films from the Young-Man-with-a-Horn Genre" form the journal of macro
marketing by Coulumbia uni' MN Holbrook
5. Cotgrove, Mark (2009). Mark Cotgrove, "From Jazz Funk & Fusion to Acid Jazz: The History of the UK
Jazz Dance Scene". Chaser Publications. ISBN 978-1-4389-7360-9.
6. http://www.discogs.com/ja/Funk-Inc-Hangin-Out/.../1527768
7. http://www.sonicbids.com/band/michaelhenderson/
8. [2] (http://www.bluenote.com/detail.asp?SelectionID=10465) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/200
60614023915/http://www.bluenote.com/detail.asp?SelectionID=10465) June 14, 2006, at the Wayback
Machine.
9. [3] (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/soulies/jazz_fusion.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20050831
092450/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/soulies/jazz_fusion.htm) August 31, 2005, at the Wayback Machine.
10. [4] (http://www.solarradio.com/page.asp?pg=history) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/2006051909
2119/http://www.solarradio.com/page.asp?pg=history) May 19, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
11. "Featured Content on Myspace" (http://www.myspace.com/kennywellington). Myspace.com. Retrieved
2015-06-03.
12. http://www.discogs.com/Brand-New-Heavies...Brand-New-He...
13. http://www.discogs.com/Wilbur-Bascomb-And.../1281391
External links
Jazz-funk (http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/d202) at AllMusic
Jazz funk (History in Britain) (https://web.archive.org/web/20050831092450/http://web.ukonline.co.uk/s
oulies/jazz_fusion.htm)
Blues & Soul Magazine Online (http://www.bluesandsoul.com/)
Global Funk Radio (http://www.globalfunkradio.com)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jazz-funk&oldid=802363819"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 5/6
29/09/2017 Jazz-funk - Wikipedia
This page was last edited on 25 September 2017, at 18:16.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered
trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz-funk 6/6
