Nu jazz - WikiHQ

Nu jazz, also written nü jazz and sometimes called jazztronica, future jazz or electro-jazz, is a broad music genre that combines elements of jazz with electronic music, funk, soul, hip hop, house music, techno, downtempo, ambient music and other forms of contemporary popular music. It emerged during the 1990s and early 2000s as musicians, producers and DJs began using jazz harmony, improvisation and instrumentation within electronic and club-oriented production.

Nu jazz is generally more electronic and studio-based than acid jazz, although the two styles overlap. Acid jazz is usually rooted in jazz-funk, soul, rare groove and live-band funk, while nu jazz often places greater emphasis on electronic textures, sampling, programming, atmospheric production and hybrid forms of jazz performance. His album Tourist became one of the most commercially visible examples of jazz-influenced electronic music at the turn of the century.

In Germany, Jazzanova developed a collective approach that combined DJ culture, remixing, production, radio programming, live performance, funk, jazz, disco, Latin music and soul. The group became one of the key names in European club jazz, future jazz and nu jazz.

In the United Kingdom, labels such as Ninja Tune helped develop a related sound through artists who combined jazz, hip hop, downtempo, sampling and experimental electronic music. The Cinematic Orchestra, formed by Jason Swinscoe, became one of the most important groups associated with this area of the genre. A 2000 profile in The Guardian described the group’s process as recording live jazz sessions and then sampling, sequencing and stretching those sources into new forms.

Scandinavian future jazz

A separate but related strand developed in Norway and other parts of Scandinavia. Bugge Wesseltoft’s project New Conception of Jazz was especially important in combining live jazz with electronic club music. Wesseltoft’s official site describes the project as blending electronic club music and live jazz, and as a leading figure in electronic jazz.

Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær also became central to the development of atmospheric electronic jazz, combining trumpet improvisation with ambient music, programmed rhythm, rock textures and studio processing. Groups such as Jaga Jazzist expanded this approach into large-ensemble forms, blending jazz, post-rock, electronics and progressive music.

2000s and later development

During the 2000s, nu jazz spread into several related styles, including broken beat, jazz house, downtempo, trip hop, future jazz, electro swing, nu soul and parts of experimental hip hop. It also overlapped with the work of artists associated with labels such as Ninja Tune, Compost Records, Sonar Kollektiv, Jazzland Recordings and !K7.

By the 2010s and 2020s, the term nu jazz was used less frequently as a fashionable label, but its ideas became widely absorbed into contemporary jazz and electronic music. Many modern jazz artists now use electronics, sampling, hip hop rhythms, loops and production techniques without necessarily being labelled nu jazz.

Relationship with other genres

Acid jazz

Acid jazz was an important predecessor and close relative of nu jazz. Acid jazz is usually more strongly rooted in 1970s jazz-funk, soul, rare groove and live funk performance. Nu jazz tends to move further toward electronic production, ambient textures, sampling and digital sound design.

Jazz-funk

Jazz-funk provided many of the rhythmic and harmonic foundations for nu jazz. Funk bass lines, electric keyboards, horn arrangements and danceable grooves were central to both acid jazz and many early forms of nu jazz.

Jazz house

Jazz house is a club-oriented form that combines house music rhythms with jazz chords, samples or instrumental solos. Artists such as St Germain and Jazzanova have often been associated with this area.

Trip hop

Trip hop and nu jazz share an interest in sampling, atmosphere, downtempo rhythm and jazz-influenced harmony. Trip hop is usually darker and more cinematic, while nu jazz often retains a stronger connection to jazz performance and improvisation.

Broken beat

Broken beat developed in London in the late 1990s and 2000s, drawing on jazz, soul, funk, house, drum and bass and electronic production. It overlaps with nu jazz in its use of complex rhythm, jazz harmony and club culture.

Jazz rap

Jazz rap combines hip hop lyricism with jazz samples, live jazz instrumentation and jazz-influenced production. Nu jazz can overlap with jazz rap, but it is usually broader and may be instrumental, electronic or club-based rather than MC-centred.

Notable artists

St Germain
Jazzanova
The Cinematic Orchestra
Bugge Wesseltoft
Nils Petter Molvær
Jaga Jazzist
Bonobo
Koop
Matthew Shipp
Fertile Ground
Nostalgia 77
Skalpel
The Dining Rooms
Trüby Trio
DJ Cam
Squarepusher
Spring Heel Jack
Carl Craig
Innerzone Orchestra
Club des Belugas
The Comet Is Coming
Moses Boyd
Flying Lotus

Notable albums

New Conception of Jazz — Bugge Wesseltoft (1996)
Boulevard — St Germain (1995)
Tourist — St Germain (2000)
Motion — The Cinematic Orchestra (1999)
Every Day — The Cinematic Orchestra (2002)
In Between — Jazzanova (2002)
A Livingroom Hush — Jaga Jazzist (2001)
Khmer — Nils Petter Molvær (1997)
Waltz for Koop — Koop (2001)
Skalpel — Skalpel (2004)
Dial 'M' for Monkey — Bonobo (2003)
Black Sands — Bonobo (2010)
You're Dead! — Flying Lotus (2014)

Influence

Nu jazz helped normalize the use of electronics within contemporary jazz. It showed that jazz could exist outside the traditional club, concert-hall or small-combo format, and could instead operate within electronic production, DJ culture, sampling, remixing and dance music.

Its influence can be heard in modern jazz scenes that freely combine improvisation with hip hop, broken beat, ambient music, house, techno and experimental production. It also contributed to a wider understanding of jazz as a flexible language rather than a fixed historical style.

References

External links

Jazztronica: A Brief History of the Future of Jazz — JazzTimes
St Germain — Blue Note Records
Jazzanova — official website
New Conception of Jazz — Bugge Wesseltoft
The cinematic orchestra.JPG — Wikimedia Commons