Modern day
by Neil Atherton

Jazz story

When Guru released “Jazzmatazz” in 1993, two very different styles of music were brought together. As an established rapper, he was laying down more than just his line of hip hop beats when he asked a bunch of jazz musicians to jam with him. Fortunately, guitar, trumpet, saxophone and piano worked so well alongside the programed beats, that the concept was a hit — not just with the hip hop fraternity, but acid-jazz heads and traditional jazzmen alike. His credibility, and the music he helped spawn, soared.
One of the jazz musicians on that album was saxophonist Courtney Pine. Like Guru, he too was well established in his music, but was already experimenting with reggae. He went on to record afro-jazz albums, which eventually led to his own hip hop crossover, “Modern Day Jazz Stories.” But unlike Guru, he took the production one step farther. “I recognized from reggae what Guru was trying to do,” says Pine. “Hip hop is a different energy from jazz. What I thought I should be doing is bringing the two sides together.”
Pine’s talent for programming led to a process that made a real fusion of styles — more than simply pasting a saxophone solo over some beats — and has evolved into a genre in it’s own right.
“With Jazzmatazz,” recalls Pine, “the pitches didn’t matter. A jazz musician would be thinking ‘What key is that in?’ where a DJ would be asking ‘How many beats per minute is that?’ I was thinking in terms of texture and sound.” New long-player “Back in the Day” is an amalgamation of the styles of music he has used under the banner of jazz — a celebration of today’s technology with yesterday’s tradition.
Mark de Clive-Lowe is also taking jazz to the next dimension. A classically trained pianist, who defected to jazz at the age of 16, he was looking for a new way to articulate his trade before hooking up with a series of mentors and influences in Cuba, New York and London. After the 26-year-old took time out to work with the likes of Ray Santisi, François K and Phil Asher, the recipes from Latin and the underground breaks n’ beats scene have gone through the jazz blender to create the flavor of new opus “Six Degrees.”
“I’ve made an album of music,” says the New Zealander. “Not a jazz album, not a dance album — just the music in my head. When music is genuine, honest and heartfelt, I can like and respect it whatever the genre.”
But where is this new wave of future-jazz headed? Now that we have jazz musicians playing hip hop and hip hop artists rapping over jazz, hasn’t the traditional jazz fan of yesteryear been cold-shouldered?
“I’ve not alienated older audiences by taking acoustic jazz and turning it into whatever it is now,” argues de Clive-Lowe. “I grew up as a jazz musician and that’s a major influence on what I do. It’s a flavor that I can’t ever shake. Now I’m making music of my generation.” Whether it’s for his generation is for you to decide.
“Back in the Day” out Nov 2, "Six Degrees" out Nov 13, both on Verve/Universal. Guru’s “Jazzmatazz (Vol. 3: Streetsoul)” out now on Virgin.

Nordic invasion

Hot on the heels of Reykjavik’s reputation as Europe’s coolest city and new musical export, come the rest of Scandinavia’s chilluminati. After Iceland’s Sigur Rós, Gus Gus and Sweden’s Múm and Kent, it’s Norway’s turn to take charge of the Nordic invasion. “This is Illumination” (+47/BMG), the first ice-breaking record from Oslo’s Per Martinsen and Nick Sillitoe, is a collection of dubbed-out futuristic house cuts with equal parts of instrumental and vocal-led titles. “Somewhere Out There” and “Cry Me A River” are suspended in blissful, dream-like serenades; while “4 AM” and “Alpha Omega” wallow in bedtime beats for Sunday morning dub-heads.
“Le Big Sloppy Kiss” (Pan M/BMG) is less of a mellow affair, but only just. This is actually a compilation of French and Norwegian flavors, some of which (i:Cube’s “Adore” for example) may have already infiltrated your inner ear. That’s not to say it doesn’t sound fresh, because it does. From the disco vibes of Krisp’s “Love Stomp” to Norway’s (vi)king of the beats Torbjorn Bruntland’s remix of “Smoother Escape,” the music gets bigger and better.
Maybe it’s the magnetism or the mountain water up there in the Arctic Circle, butla musique du nord is inspiring a whole movement of artists to take to their instruments. And to confirm the chilluminati’s cooldom, the Batofar are staging “Cherche Le Nord, Perd Le Nord” (Nov 10-19) — a festival dedicated to Nordic electronica. And if that’s not enough, check “Nordik 2K” at the Festival Les Boréales, (Nov 25), Normandy, www.nordik.org