All kinds of instruments, even non-conventional, are welcome! But please read everything below first.
What is “nu jazz”?
Nu jazz is a young jazz fusion-esque (sub)genre and its style is still evolving. So, the definition written here is a personal interpretation of what nu jazz is, after listening through a few nu jazz albums and a selection of tracks.
Nu jazz, for me and in general, is the attempt to use “real” instruments to play in the style of electronic music that are inspired by jazz themselves. Think of music like broken beat, trip-hop, and chill-out: These are electronic music that have a lot of jazz influence and sometimes even uses samples from jazz records. And then think of playing music that are composed in the style of these electronic genres, but played with “real” instruments.
There are of course some deviations to this general idea, and each artist or band have their own ways of playing nu jazz. The nu jazz sound, as with any modern genres, is (still) very much fluid.
(Have a listen to this Spotify playlist for a good “taster” of nu jazz, or this YouTube playlist.)
This project’s target sound
This would be a mostly instrumental and improvisational project. Vocals are welcome, but this will be treated equally like other instruments.
- At the core would be syncopated, choppy, and sometimes frenetic drums or percussion. Think of the broken beat styles of Yussef Dayes, Moses Boyd, JD Beck, and Kassa Overall.
- On top of that is a layer of looping bassline that is both melodic and groovy, with some tasty fills here and there.
- The two above will form the foundational groove, which is then blanketed by a harmonic section that can tell a narrative by playing the necessary sequence and combination of both simple and complex chord voicings.
- Above it all is a lead instrument playing the main theme, or different instruments taking turns improvising.
Each composition will not be written as a fixed musical piece, but as a springboard for improvisation. The piece will be divided into multiple repeated sections, while different instruments take turns improvising in between repetitions of the main theme.
Project setup
… or “the kind of instruments the project needs and the skill and experience level required”.
Instruments needed
This project’s vision is not bound to specific instruments. What is important is that an instrument can fulfill specific roles in the music.
- Drums/Percussion — Whether you play a drumset, Latin percussion, or even non-traditional percussion instruments or styles like finger drumming, beatboxing with a looper, or even everyday objects a la Blue Man Group, as long you can consistently play syncopated / broken beat-style rhythm, then this project is for you.
- Bass — This spot is already filled, but the project is also open to playing with two bass players, as long they can play upper-register harmony or chords.
- Harmony — This are usually either keys or guitar, but any instrument that can play chords are welcome.
- Melody / Lead — Any instrument that can play melodies or singing lead lines.
Required musical skills and experience
This project requires musicians to, first and foremost, have “good taste”. Knowing if someone has good taste is nebulous, but musicians who have this often also demonstrate the following behaviours and attitude:
- They listen to multiple genres and understand the various musical styles.
- They can pull bits and pieces of influences from these styles and genres, and mix-and-match them to produce something that still “sounds good”.
- Understand what works or what doesn’t work, depending on a given musical context.
These musicians should also have a very good grasp of their instrument. They don’t have to be masters or virtuosos, but good enough to comp, play lead, and improvise. If you are using a non-conventional instrument, make sure that they are reliable and can consistently reproduce the needed sounds.