Acid jazz is a music genre that combines elements of funk, soul, and hip hop, as well as jazz and disco. Acid jazz originated in clubs in London during the 1980s with the rare groove movement and spread to the United States, Western Europe, Latin America and Japan. Acts included The Brand New Heavies, Incognito, James Taylor Quartet, Us3, and Jamiroquai from the UK, and Guru, Buckshot LeFonque and Digable Planets from the U.S. The rise of electronic club music in the middle to late 1990s led to a decline in interest, and in the twenty-first century, acid jazz became indistinct as a genre. Many acts that might have been defined as acid jazz are seen as jazz-funk, or nu jazz.
Edward F. Davis, known professionally as Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, was an American jazz tenor saxophonist. It is unclear how he acquired the moniker "Lockjaw" : it is either said that it came from the title of a tune or from his way of biting hard on the saxophone mouthpiece. Other theories have been put forward.
Soul jazz or funky jazz is a subgenre of jazz that incorporates strong influences from hard bop, blues, soul, gospel and rhythm and blues. Soul jazz is often characterized by organ trios featuring the Hammond organ and small combos including saxophone, brass instruments, electric guitar, bass, drums, piano, vocals and electric organ. Its origins were in the 1950s and early 1960s, with its heyday with popular audiences preceding the rise of jazz fusion in the late 1960s and 1970s. Prominent names in fusion ranged from bop pianists including Bobby Timmons and Junior Mance to a wide range of organists, saxophonists, pianists, drummers and electric guitarists including Jack McDuff, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, and Grant Green.
Roy Anthony Hargrove was an American jazz musician and composer whose principal instruments were the trumpet and flugelhorn. He achieved worldwide acclaim after winning two Grammy Awards for differing styles of jazz in 1998 and 2002. Hargrove primarily played in the hard bop style for the majority of his albums, but also had a penchant for genre-crossing exploration and collaboration with a variety of hip hop, neo soul, R&B and alternative rock artists. As Hargrove told one reporter, "I've been around all kinds of musicians, and if a cat can play, a cat can play. If it's gospel, funk, R&B, jazz or hip-hop, if it's something that gets in your ear and it's good, that's what matters."
Stewart Levine is an American record producer. He has worked with many artists such as The Crusaders, Minnie Riperton, Lionel Richie, Simply Red, Hugh Masekela, Huey Lewis and the News, Patti LaBelle, Sly Stone, Boy George, Oleta Adams, Killing Joke, Jon Anderson, Boz Scaggs, Womack and Womack, The Marshall Tucker Band and Curiosity Killed the Cat.
Eddie Daniels is an American musician and composer. Although he is best known as a jazz clarinetist, he has also played saxophone and flute as well as classical music on clarinet.
Donald Harrison Jr. is an African-American jazz saxophonist and the Big Chief of The Congo Square Nation Afro-New Orleans Cultural Group from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Steven Bookvich known as Muruga Booker is an American drummer, composer, inventor, artist, recording artist, and an autonomous Eastern Orthodox priest.
David Albert "Panama" Francis was an American swing jazz drummer who played on numerous hit recordings in the 1950s.
Eugene McDuffy, known professionally as "Brother" Jack McDuff or "Captain" Jack McDuff, was an American jazz organist and organ trio bandleader. He was most prominent during the hard bop and soul jazz era of the 1960s, often performing with an organ trio. He is also credited with giving guitarist George Benson his first break.
Bernard Lee "Pretty" Purdie is an American drummer, and an influential R&B, soul and funk musician. He is known for his precise musical time-keeping and his signature use of triplets against a half-time backbeat: the "Purdie Shuffle." He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 2013.
James Harrell McGriff was an American hard bop and soul-jazz organist and organ trio bandleader.
Edward Joseph Bertolatus, also known as Eddie Bert, was an American jazz trombonist.
James Wesley "Red" Holloway was an American jazz saxophonist.
Dark Magus is a live double album by the American jazz trumpeter, composer, and bandleader Miles Davis. It was recorded on March 30, 1974, at Carnegie Hall in New York City, during the electric period in Davis' career. His group at the time included bassist Michael Henderson, drummer Al Foster, percussionist Mtume, saxophonist Dave Liebman, and guitarists Pete Cosey and Reggie Lucas; Davis used the performance to audition saxophonist Azar Lawrence and guitarist Dominique Gaumont. Dark Magus was produced by Teo Macero and featured four two-part recordings, titled with the Swahili numerals for numbers one through four.
Charles Coleridge "Red" Richards was an American jazz pianist.
Groove Merchant was an American jazz and R&B record label during the 1970s. It was run by producer Sonny Lester and distributed by Pickwick Records. Notable artists included Chick Corea, O'Donel Levy, Buddy Rich, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith and Lionel Hampton. Lester would later close Groove Merchant and restructure it as Lester Radio Corporation, or LRC; TK Records were distributors for a period. Lester still retains the rights to the Groove Merchant/LRC back catalog and independently distributes them on compact disc.
Elliot Small, known as Grandpa Elliott was a veteran street-musician in New Orleans, Louisiana. He played the harmonica, sang, and was a street icon in New Orleans.
O'Donel "Butch" Levy was a rhythm & blues, funk and jazz guitarist from Baltimore, Maryland. He was brother of session drummer Stafford Levy.
Rock Candy Funk Party is an American jazz-funk band from Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2009 by drummer Tal Bergman and guitarist Ron DeJesus, who had previously released Grooove, Vol. 1 in 2007. After adding guitarist Joe Bonamassa, bassist Mike Merritt and keyboardist Renato Neto, the band released its debut album We Want Groove in 2013, which reached number 5 on the US Billboard Jazz Albums chart and number 6 on the UK Jazz & Blues Albums Chart. Percussionist Daniel Sadownick joined after the album's release, featuring on the band's first live album Rock Candy Funk Party Takes New York: Live at The Iridium in 2014.
