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The Story Of Acid Jazz As told to Steve Bunyan by Marc Lessner

Who coined the phrase Acid Jazz?

The term was originally coined by DJ Gilles Peterson at one of Nicky Holloway’s Special Branch gigs at the Watermans Arts Centre in Brentford in late 1987. Nicky's Special Branch gigs had already been going for 2 or 3 years and attracted both suburban dwellers and a London crowd. As well as up and coming guest DJs like Gilles Peterson and Chris Bangs, Nicky decorated his clubs with slide shows on the walls. At one particular gig just as Gilles and Chris were about to start their set of funky jazz, soul and latin Gilles looked up at the visuals and pronounced `acid jazz'. As simple as that - no rhyme or reason for it - just an off-the-cuff remark

What was the club scene like at the time?

London and the suburbs had various different scenes at the time - rare groove, house, jazz dance and two step soul. The acid jazzers embraced the afro-american music of all these other scenes and began to put their own twist on the music.

How did Acid Jazz Records come about?

Eddie Piller was the manager of James Taylor Quartet - the hottest act on the acid jazz circuit at the time - when he met Gilles Peterson at one of the Special Branch club nights and subsequently went on to become part of Gilles’ circle, answering phones on his Mad On Jazz programme, doing warm-up slots at his Wag nights and so on. Eventually the duo decided to start up a label to release acts from the burgeoning acid jazz scene.

What was the first release on Acid Jazz?

The first release was Galliano's `Frederick Lies Still' a take on Curtis Mayfield's `Freddie's Dead' - an ever popular track on the rare groove scene. It was officially released in June 1988, 500 7” dinked middle copies having previously been sold by hand from November 1987.

How did word spread about Acid Jazz?

A combination of a very healthy club scene, Gilles's Tuesday night radio show on GLR and the support of enthusiastic journalists like Dave Swindells at Time Out helped spread the word about the scene. There were also a lot of bands that would come and play at the club nights - bands like the James Taylor Quartet, the Jazz Warriors, Mark Murphy, Courtney Pine and so on - all of which helped energise the scene. It would be wrong though to think that clubbers were part of a scene known as `acid jazz' - at the time (as is the case with so many musical movements) clubbers were just into a certain mix of music and found it at club nights like Nicky Holloway's Special Branch and Gilles Peterson's and Chris Bang's Cock Happy.

The worldwide use of the phrase acid jazz was still some way away.

Why did `acid jazz' become so popular?

There's a whole host of reasons as to why acid jazz was such a lengthy and successful scene and why acid jazz compilations still sell so well today. First up there were a lot of talented people in the scene - the djs we've mentioned, Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller whose excellent ears for music allied with an ability to move fast and take risks brought forward a whole host of talented musicians and producers - many of whom have continued to be successful to this day. Additionally we should mention the friendly inclusive nature of the scene which attracted both men and women, whites and blacks, Londoners and suburbanites and people from working and middle class backgrounds. Lastly, as we've mentioned before, the unique mix of afro-american music drew people from many other scenes such as mod, rare groove, jazz dance, two-step and so on.

Was acid jazz largely a London and the home counties scene?

Not at all. Acid Jazz quickly spread around the country with DJs like Russ Dewbury in Brighton and Baz Fe Jazz in Birmingham.

Galliano

Galliano main man Rob Gallacher started out reading poetry over the records of his mate Gilles Peterson's at London's Wag club. One thing led to another and Galliano's unique half-spoken take on Curtis Mayfield's Freddie's Dead on `Frederick Lies Still' made for an ambitious first official 7" release on Acid Jazz Records in June 1988. Like so many Acid Jazz artists Rob Gallacher still successfully records today under the name Earl Zinger.

Quiet Boys

Chris Bangs was one of the founding fathers of acid jazz and to many one of the most radical and exciting DJs that the UK has ever produced. His gigs with Gilles Peterson at the legendary Cock Happy nights were the stuff of legend. Chris hung up his headphones on New Year's Eve 1989 to concentrate on his prolific studio output under various monikers - Bangs A Bongo, Grass Snakes, Lay-Zee Muthas and the Quiet Boys to name but a few. Let The Good Times Roll features Galliano (whose first album Bangs produced) and was one of the first actual songs that Bangs wrote after mastering his way round a studio. Astral Space is from much later on in the history of acid jazz and its sophisticated production is reminiscent of the influential Mizell brothers production sound that was so big in the rare groove scene at the time (The Mizell brothers produced the Blackbyrds, Donald Byrd, Patrice Rushen and Johnny Hammond in the mid to late 70s).

D'Influence

Could have been, should have been, would have been but wasn't is one way of summing up the multi-talented D'Influence who many thought would go on to enjoy the sort of success that Soul 11 Soul did but despite major label backing never quite got the recognition they deserved. They recorded just one single with four tracks over the years for Acid Jazz - the classic I'm The One - before moving on to East West and production work for many contemporary British r&b acts including Mark Morrison and Shola Ama.

The Brand New Heavies

Originally inspired to form in 1986 by the rare groove records that its members heard at such influential clubs as The Cat In The Hat, The Brand New Heavies first recorded instrumentals for Cooltempo before moving to Acid Jazz in 1989. Original members Jan Kincaid, Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, Lascelles Gordon and Jim Wellman were joined by vocalist Jay Ella and their funky blue-eyed soul proved a winning sound. Stay This Way and Dream Come True are two of their most popular tracks from their time at Acid Jazz.

K-Collective

A one-off project from Brand New Heavies founder and drummer / keyboardist Jan Kincaid. Never Stop was the track that would later have N'Dea Davenport's vocals added to it and break the Heavies in the US.

Sunship

Originally the on-tour keyboard player for the Brand New Heavies, Ceri Evans released just one single on Acid Jazz under the name Sunship. A driving instrumental obviously inspired by Herbie Hancock its innovative jazz-meets-dance feel evidenced a major talent - one unfortunately that would only really find expression in later albums for Filter records and as a don of the UK garage scene.

Rose Windross

Acid Jazz released a one-off single from the singer and co-writer of Soul II Soul’s ‘Fairplay’. At the time Rose also promoted, bounced and danced her socks off at the popular mid-week club rave Yum Yum in London’s West End and was the retail manageress of a shop. The lyric to the soulful funky ‘Living Life Your Own Way’ not surprisingly reflect Rose’s determination at the time to forge a career on her own terms.

The Subterraneans

Marco Nelson - later of The Young Disciples - and Max Beesley - later of BBC TV's Tom Jones costume drama and Scary Spice fame - were the backbone of the Subterrraneans. Despite `Taurus Woman' being one of the most popular tracks to be featured on the Totally Wired series, it was a flop as a single and The Subterraneans soon disbanded. Acid Jazz's loss was Gilles Peterson's gain as Marco and Taurus Woman's vocalist Carleen Anderson went on to form The Young Disciples and release one of the 90s greatest albums.

Snowboy

Resplendent in quiff, black leather biker's jacket, drainpipe 501s and a pair of creepers Mark `Snowboy' Cotgrove didn't exactly look like your typical Acid Jazz signing he first appeared on the scene. His incredible knowledge of everything from northern soul to funk, jazz dance to all things latin allied with his inspired live conga playing soon got him noticed however and he eventually signed for Acid Jazz in 1989 staying with the label for 8 years and 5 albums. Snowboy continues to keep the jazz dance flag flying as promoter and dj at his Hi-Hat club nights at London's Jazz Cafe and around the world as well as recording for the US Ubiquity label and throwing in a bit of remixing and production work. Leroy Huston's Lucky Fellow and Sam Dee's Girl Overboard are two soul standards from the rare groove scene given the inimitable Snowboy treatment.

Mother Earth

Initially the brainchild of Eddie Piller's flatmate Bunny, Mother Earth incorporated elements of funk, blues, rock, jazz and mod into a sort of working man's Santana. Despite numerous line-up changes the group somehow kept going and, Bunny-less, produced an acclaimed 200,000selling second album from which we've taken the classic ballads `Jesse' and `Apple Tree'.

Apostles

The Apostles were an off shoot of JTQ, set up by the sax player, John Willmott along with Southend keyboard player John Dutton, who made one of the first successful album releases for the label. `Superstrut' being a laid back version of the Deodata jazz dance classic.

James Taylor Quartet

To many people the James Taylor Quartet were - and still are - the sound and vibe of Acid Jazz but despite their close connection to the label were not actually signed until 1994. Previous stints at Poydor's Urban label and then Big Life had helped establish the band's sales credentials but it was their raw Hammond-funk led live sound that Acid Jazz were looking for. We feature two of the group's finest workouts on `Good Thing' and `Creation'.

Vibraphonic

Formerly of popular live swing band the Chevalier Brothers, Roger Beaujolais originally approached Acid Jazz with a self-recorded latin jazz album in 1990. Determined to keep up with the scene, however, he went on to form Vibraphonic and release the acclaimed eponymous album from which we have taken the stand-out track `Trust Me' featuring the vocals of his chart-topping girlfriend of the time Alison Limerick.

Night Trains

Hugh Brooker's Night Trains were one of the first acts to be signed to Acid Jazz. Hugh also formed the Humble Souls with MC / rapper Wildski - splitting his time between both groups. The shuffling soulful groove and infectious lyrics of Lovesick from the Night Trains' second album augured well but the album never took off and despite a third album Hugh Brooker moved on to writing music for the movies.

New Jersey Kings

Another side project of JTQ allowing the group to get down to the funky Hammond led grooves they loved without the pressure of major labels' A&R men wondering where the next hit single was. Acid Jazz played their part by pretending that the New Jersey Kings were an unknown 70s organ group. `Spinning Wheel' is a cover of the classic Blood, Sweat And Tears

Pure Wildness

The story goes that an afro-american called Ricardo was behind this classic one-off soul track. Resplendent in cowboy boots and a Stetson, Ricardo would turn up intermittently while the track was being prepared for release but then disappeared completely on its release.

Ace Of Clubs

Ace Of Clubs were Jerry Marshall, an original member of the jazz dance outfit `IDJ' without whom no Acid Jazz night was complete and Paul Heard, later of M People fame. Everything Going To The Beat was an enormously influential track championed by the burgeoning house scene and DJs such as Todd Terry and Tony Humphries.

Emperor's New Clothes

Ahead of its time free jazz meets dub outfit that sadly never enjoyed much commercial success or critical acclaim. Tears Inside is a fine laid back soulful track with a hint of underlying menace that deserves its place amongst the more obvious tracks from the Heavies, JTQ et al as a sign yet again of the forward thinking ethos of the label. The band split after their third album.

The Humble Souls

Hugh Booker of Night Trains and MC / rapper Wildksi teamed up to form the Humble Souls. The funky infectious `Watch My Gardens Grow' is from the criminally underrated album `Birds, Things And Flowers'. Another one that got away.

Ohm

German Thomas Melchior was the man behind Ohm. Another one-off single, Sweet Ohm is a funky little number with a spoken almost electro introduction – in German.

Mac Pac

Mac Pac was the brainchild of London-based keyboard player Cyrille McCammon. The laid back latin funk of Just Dream was reputedly a favourite at Acid Jazz.

Marc Lessner heads up the independent distribution company Soul Trader. He was Acid Jazz's first distributor - helping break the label and its first groups to independent stores throughout the UK. A lifelong Spurs fan, Marc is married with two children and lives in Brighton where he spends his spare time rooting round car boot sales in search of rare recordings made at either Fame or Muscle Shoals studios.

With thanks to Eddie Piller and Paul Bibby