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Jazz funk is hip in London???


project_c
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What with all the moaning about the state of music, I thought this might cheer everyone up. I went to a bar in Shoreditch last night, expecting a quick drink with friends at a place called Troy Bar, which was hosting a jazz/funk jam night (on a friday night??). Turns out the place is HEAVING full of people, mostly in their early / mid 20s, all cheering and dancing and participating and generally getting down to some 70's jazz / funk (Herbie Hancock etc, but not even the well known stuff). The house band was great, everyone took long solos, all proper musicians - and the crowd was not bored by any of it, loads of cheering, clapping after solos etc. We had to catch a tube so we didn't wait around until other musicians joined in, but I was astonished, I don't think I've seen anything like it before, and certainly not amongst hipsters in East London. Perhaps just a one-off, but it may be the sign of a cultural shift...

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[url="http://troybar.co.uk/"]http://troybar.co.uk/[/url]

[url="http://troybar.co.uk/whats-on-2/"]http://troybar.co.uk/whats-on-2/[/url]


I used to live almost in Shoreditch but that was two and more decades ago and I was young ... well, younger.

As I recall, the hot clubs then were the [i]Treble Clef[/i] and the [i]Bass Clef[/i]. Plus ca change plus c'est la meme chose.

Edited by EssentialTension
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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1454781889' post='2972978']
Well fun has been known to break out among young people.... I remember it distinctly. :D
[/quote]

I know, but jazz-funk? That's been a dirty word amongst youth in East London for decades. Just quite surprised to see people in their 20s getting down to it.

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[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1454801190' post='2973190']
You never went to the Treble Clef or the Bass Clef?
[/quote]

No, that's possibly before my time, what were they like? (I was living in Brighton in the 90s, way before i picked up the bass). I kind of mean the East London 'scene' that has been evolving in that area for the past 10 or 15 years. Jazz funk was considered deeply uncool amongst the shoreditch lot as far as i knew.

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[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1454801882' post='2973194']
No, that's possibly before my time, what were they like? (I was living in Brighton in the 90s, way before i picked up the bass). I kind of mean the East London 'scene' that has been evolving in that area for the past 10 or 15 years. Jazz funk was considered deeply uncool amongst the shoreditch lot as far as i knew.
[/quote]

[url="http://www.london-rip.com/places/the-bass-clef"]http://www.london-rip.com/places/the-bass-clef[/url]

[url="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dying-note-of-a-10-year-jam-session-hoxton-became-a-mecca-for-jazz-fans-when-peter-ind-opened-the-1435496.html"]http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dying-note-of-a-10-year-jam-session-hoxton-became-a-mecca-for-jazz-fans-when-peter-ind-opened-the-1435496.html[/url]

[url="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/nov/01/acid-jazz-25"]http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/nov/01/acid-jazz-25[/url]

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[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1454838559' post='2973314']
[url="http://www.london-rip.com/places/the-bass-clef"]http://www.london-ri...s/the-bass-clef[/url]

[url="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/dying-note-of-a-10-year-jam-session-hoxton-became-a-mecca-for-jazz-fans-when-peter-ind-opened-the-1435496.html"]http://www.independe...he-1435496.html[/url]

[url="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/nov/01/acid-jazz-25"]http://www.theguardi...01/acid-jazz-25[/url]
[/quote]

Looks great! But the 80's was ages ago, everything has changed an awful lot since then, especially in that area. Are you not surprised to see this genre becoming popular with 20 somethings again? I definitely am. Maybe it's not such a big deal, I don't know.

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[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1454801882' post='2973194']
No, that's possibly before my time, what were they like? (I was living in Brighton in the 90s, way before i picked up the bass). I kind of mean the East London 'scene' that has been evolving in that area for the past 10 or 15 years. Jazz funk was considered deeply uncool amongst the shoreditch lot as far as i knew.
[/quote]

I lived in Stepney and then Mile End from 1989 to 2001. [i]Bass Clef[/i] and [i]Treble Clef[/i] ran from mid-eighties, I think, until closing about 1994. There was another club, in Bow I think, that played a lot of so-called acid-jazz. It may have been called [i]Echoes[/i]. I was in my late thirties but the place was full of twenties and older too. I moved to Brighton in 2001 so I can't comment on the period since then.

[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1454852918' post='2973523']
Looks great! But the 80's was ages ago, everything has changed an awful lot since then, especially in that area. Are you not surprised to see this genre becoming popular with 20 somethings again? I definitely am. Maybe it's not such a big deal, I don't know.
[/quote]

No, I'm not surprised at all. I work with 17-18 year olds and in my experience they are into a wide variety of music including funk/jazz. I also have a 22 year old son who's a musician and he (and many of his mates) would think liking stuff (or not) by genre was deeply uncool but anyway would, in practice, like jazz/funk.

Anyway, all genres come back, in maybe slightly variant forms, in the end. If one genre is thought deeply uncool by one generation then there's a very good chance the next generation will like it a lot.

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What I saw in this place was that actual musicianship was appreciated in a fairly traditional sense, which is something I haven't seen amongst young people in a while. (Unless it's at festivals or parties and everyone's neck deep in MDMA, which doesn't count). I'm in my early 40's but I teach 20-23 year olds here in London, so I have a lot of contact with people in that age group too, but even so this was a surprise to me. It's a good sign though, for sure.

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[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1454925629' post='2974129']
There's similar going on in glorious Tooting once a month:

http://basschat.co.uk/topic/262929-jazz-fusion-evening-in-at-tooting-tram-social-sw17-thursday-february-4th/
[/quote]

Nice! That's just down the road from me, we'll come down to the next one.

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[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1454952785' post='2974566']
I was a regular at the Blue Note Club in Hoxton... I think that was a while back, though... :rolleyes:
[/quote]

How long ago it seems to be depends on how old you were then and how old you are now.

Time is relative - Einstein said that. The Blue Note was mid-90s onwards wasn't it? - I said that.

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[quote name='bubinga5' timestamp='1454803750' post='2973203']
I remember this album was huge in London when i was 16/17.. Well its Incognito of course. Londons finest. Anyone who doesn't like that groove or slap bass is dead to me. ;) [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ce3c3NIHp4[/media]
[/quote]
Nice

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[quote name='project_c' timestamp='1454952660' post='2974565']
Nice! That's just down the road from me, we'll come down to the next one.
[/quote]

Thanks! Keep your eyes on that link, I'll refresh it a week or so before the gig.
Sign up here for facebook updates as well: https://www.facebook.com/VelcroPelmet (plus you can see previous setlists, which are different every gig)

Edited by toneknob
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  • 3 weeks later...

[quote name='toneknob' timestamp='1455013157' post='2974928']
Thanks! Keep your eyes on that link, I'll refresh it a week or so before the gig.
[/quote]

Done! Although the link is now... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/262929-jazz-fusion-evening-in-at-tooting-tram-social-sw17-thursday-march-3rd/

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I went to the Blue Note around the early to mid 90s. Been to Troy bar too, i remember they seem to have that sort non-rock/pop thing, more jazz/acoustic/world type thing going on. I guess the kids today don't know or remember Jazz Funk, so it's new to them.

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if your new to funkjazz, uk funk jazz / acid Jazz has always had its roots in london always will have, some of the pioneers of acidjazz are from right there in shoreditch.
in fact AcidJazz is right there on bethnal green road.
[url="http://www.acidjazz.co.uk/contact/"]http://www.acidjazz.co.uk/contact/[/url]
if you want a great night out and get hip to whats going on keep your eye on there local events.
;) ;) ;)

Edited by funkgod
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