By Tony Ozuna - For the Post
Jazzanova, a collective of DJs and producers
based in Berlin, has led the nu jazz scene since the mid-'90s. Iconic DJs in
their own right, for the past few years the group has concentrated on producing
music for studio albums and touring only occasionally. But when they do, each
of their sets functions as a Trojan horse, allowing them to smuggle older jazz
gems into a dance-oriented DJ performance.
Electrojazz came of age in the mid-'90s, and at
the heart of the jazz-club dance movement was a fluid group of young Germans
with rotating guest-vocalists based in Berlin, recording originals and
producing remixes for their own independent label, Sonar Kollektiv.
Any of the best compilations from this era,
from Saint-Germain-des-Prés Café or Future Sounds of Jazz to Gilles Peterson
Worldwide, feature Jazzanova, and the group's own tracks and remixes are still
among the standouts in any mix of nu jazz, chill-out, lounge jazz or even
jazzhouse of that era.
The group also became copioneers of
Latino-house on seminal projects with Masters at Work, the legendary Latin DJ
and producer duo of "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope"
Gonzalez from New York City.
Nu jazz is old music at this point, so these
days Jazzanova, which includes Alexander Barck, Claas Brieler, Jurgen von
Knoblauch, Roskow Kretschmann, Stefan Lesiering, Axel Reinemer and an array of
guests, particularly a roster of supreme vocalists, has been more active on two
different fronts.
At the invitation of Blue Note Records,
Jazzanova has compiled two noteworthy double-album releases, with handpicked
treats from the Blue Note catalog. Blue Note Trip-Jazzanova (2005), and the
follow-up Blue Note Trip Scrambled/Mashed-Jazzanova (2006), have both been
issued on Blue Note Records.
The first effort focused on hard-bop from the '50s
and '60s, including Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard.
The project has also helped to revive a few careers for long-neglected jazz
artists, including Bobbi Humphrey and Bobby Hutcherson.
The second compilation plays like a DJ set in a
dance club, with modern jazz like Robert Glasper and rappers' remixes alongside
stalwarts like Grant Green, with rarities deserving a new generation of
listeners by nontraditional jazz artists including Latin jazz by Bobby Montez,
Brazilians Egberto Gismonti, Djavan and Ivan Lins, disco jazz by Maze and
avant-dance by Medeski, Martin & Wood.
The group's connection to Blue Note finally
seems to have been destined, since this most famous American jazz label was
founded in 1939 in New York City by two German immigrants, Alfred Lion and
Francis Wolff, who were childhood friends in Berlin. Jazzanova's compilation
side project also seemed to be the ideal foundation for their second and most
recent album, Of All The Things (2008), released on Verve, another iconic jazz
label, which was also an archrival to Blue Note in the '50s and '60s.
As on Jazzanova's debut studio release, In
Between (2002), all songs on Of All The Things are sung in English, with a
neo-soul Motown sound from the Marvin Gaye days, with the songwriting and famed
production efforts of '60s and '70s classic soul and disco jazz; even samba-soul
and the influence of mid-'70s Stevie Wonder is unmistakable. However,
Jazzanova's studio recordings don't have a retro-sound; it is rather neo soul
or nu pop made for a wider appeal. Other pioneering nu jazz teams like Gabin
have also moved in this direction, as always a step ahead of the pack.
For their concert in Prague, as part of their
"I Human Tour 2012" Jazzanova will feature vocalist and bassist Paul
Randolph, originally from Detroit, and the one with the silky voice on some of
the best known tracks from Of All The Things, including "Let Me Show
Ya," the samba-soul gem "Lucky Girl," and a Paul Morrissey
cover, "Dial A Cliché."
Electrojazz, nu jazz or future jazz was ignored
or even vilified by jazz purists at the start, and is still not completely
accepted as a genuine part of the jazz family. But young German jazz lovers
like the Jazzanova collective as well as their southern compatriots at Compost
Records in Munich have helped to keep jazz alive for a new generation outside
of the United States, perhaps more than any American jazz artist of the past
two decades.
Tony Ozuna can be reached at features@praguepost.com
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