Artists
Philadelphia Experiment
A one-off studio jam featuring native Philadelphia musicians Ahmir Thompson (the Roots, Erykah Badu, Macy Gray, Musiq Soulchild), Christian McBride (McCoy Tyner, Kathleen Battle, Benny Golson, Benny Green, Ray Brown), and Uri Caine (Mickey Roker, Robert "Bootsie" Barnes, Don Byron), the Philadelphia Experiment players met for three breezy September days in 2000 at the Roots' studio space.
Pizzicato Five
Godfathers of the Shibuya-kei scene, Tokyo kitsch-pop deconstructionists Pizzicato Five originally began taking shape as far back as 1979, when university students Yasuharu Konishi and Keitaro Takanami first met at a local music society meeting.
Portishead
Portishead may not have invented trip-hop, but they were among the first to popularize it, particularly in America. Taking their cue from the slow, elastic beats that dominated Massive Attack's Blue Lines and adding elements of cool jazz, acid house, and soundtrack music, Portishead created an atmospheric, alluringly dark sound.
Red Snapper
Notable for their pioneering synthesis of acoustic instruments and electronic textures, the British acid jazz trio Red Snapper comprised guitarist David Ayers, double bassist Ali Friend and drummer Richard Thair. Formed in 1993, the group's debut EP The Snapper appeared the following spring; after two more EPs, Swank and Hot Flush, Red Snapper signed to the acclaimed Warp Records label, where their early singles were later compiled as Reeled and Skinned.
Richard Bona
Jazz bassist Richard Bona was born and raised in the West African nation of Cameroon, going on to session dates with Joe Zawinul, Regina Carter, and Bob James as well as a two-year stint as musical director for the great Harry Belafonte.
Ronny Jordan
One of the acid jazz movement's most prominent guitarists, London-born Ronny Jordan was widely credited with returning the instrument to its rightful place as a major force in modern-day jazz.
Roy Ayers
Once one of the most visible and winning jazz vibraphonists of the 1960s, then an R&B bandleader in the 1970s and '80s, Roy Ayers' reputation is now that of one of the prophets of acid jazz, a man decades ahead of his time. A tune like 1972's Move to Groove by the Roy Ayers Ubiquity has a crackling backbeat that serves as the prototype for the shuffling hip-hop groove that became, shall we say, ubiquitous on acid jazz records.
Rubin Steiner
Fred Lanier, aka Ruben Steiner is one of the new millennium's electro-jazz wizards. Hailing from France, Steiner has been wowing European audiences with his eclectic mix of dance, jazz and electronic music since the late 1990s. His debut album, Lo-Fi Nu Jazz, Vol. 2 was released to critical acclaim in 2000.