Earlier in the week we introduced in this space the topic of "Nu jazz" that's all the rage in Europe, and has represented one of the frontiers of fusion jazz these days. One of the pioneers of this collision of acoustic jazz and electronic music is the Norwegian keyboard player, composer, and record company mogul by the name of Bugge (pronounced "boogie") Wesseltoft.
Wesseltoft certainly didn't come up with the idea of blending in contemporary electronic instruments with post-bop; Miles Davis, among many others, were doing that in the late sixties as a stepping stone to full-on electric fusion. What he and his colleagues did, though, was revisit this style as a fully formed idea rather than a transition toward one, using more up-to-date electronics sometimes accompanying vintage ones, along with some occasional sampling thrown in for good measure.
Wessletoft first laid out this vision in the ambitiously titled New Conception Of Jazz in 1996. That record also marked the launch of Wesseltoft's Jazzland record label, which has since become home of other Nu jazz artists like Wibutree and the previously mentioned Eivind Aarset.
In actuality, the idea isn't all that groundbreaking as the title of that album suggests; it's a close cousin to the acid jazz and hip-hop jazz that emerged out of Britain and the US around 1990. Hell, Wally Badarou was doing instrumental electro-acoustic music throughout most of the eighties.
Anyway, sometimes Bugge's blending of the styles don't always work smoothly; a lot of it ends up sounding pretty close to straight-up electronica to me. But there is some pretty captivating music that comes out of him on those times when it does click.
The first track from his 2001 offering Moving is one of those such times where all the cylinders are firing. "Change" is deceptively simple on the surface; it's built mainly on about four chords in a catchy progression played over on top of a dance groove. But Wesseltoft deftly adds layers to build up from a warm ambient passage before introducing programmed drums and a double-bass which states the theme. Over time, the percussion (I'm guessing that's programmed, too) gets more insistent until it sounds as if it's sweating as it reaches the front of mix.
Article comments
1 - Britany From London Callin'
Pico u know, i dont know if he is Nujazz..alot of the material out today...how do u tell the difference between Jazz and Funk? I am in England so i see what u mean though. I am not sure if i would call it NuJazz...maybe its NuFunk?
I listen to Alica Keys, that is Nujazz to me and hip hop to someone else. I listen to Teddy Brent, that is funk to me and NuJazzto someone else.