November 1999

From the Inside Out
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By Chris M. Slawecki

How many 20 year olds, give or take a few years, listen to Jazz these days? Are they the exclusive domain of MTV and VH1?

As I thought about these questions, I grew concerned about my personal approach to Jazz in these pages. Two recent "F-T-I-O"s featured concerts that took place six decades ago (From Spirituals To Swing) and profiled Central Avenue Sounds, Jazz in Los Angeles From 1921-1956. These are legitimate musical explorations, but what motivates a young person to read about a concert that took place four decades before they were born, or sessions that took place half a century ago?

Thank goodness that nature abhors a vacuum, even in music. Two packages that recently crossed my desk – Spacetime Continuum’s Double Fine Zone and Programmed by the Innerzone Orchestra – advance the thoroughly modern musical mixture of Electronica and Jazz. Though such generalizations as "All the kids are listening to Electronica these days" are odious, most Electronica is currently played by and for younger people. These two releases proved as good a place as any to try on these more contemporary threads.

Multi-instrumentalist Jonah Sharp captains Spacetime Continuum with his Rhodes piano, synthesizers, and programming. Sharp is a former drummer for Acid Jazz records, "one of the premier underground dance artists in America" (according to his press), and collaborator with that past master of booming, spastic Jazz-Funk, Bill Laswell. Fans who prefer the spotlight on long instrumental solo passages may not appreciate Double Fine Zone, but Sharp’s percolating, percussive backgrounds and colorful sound combinations are consistently dazzling.

"Microjam," for example, drops a Stevie Wonder harmonica solo smack dab into what sounds like an Albert Ayler session with Kraftwerk. Saxophonist Brian Iddenhen also contributes magnificently to the set-ending (and well-titled) hip-hop groove "Further Down The Road." "Beveled Edge" pays tribute to Sun Ra; Sharp also steps out on piano in "One At A Day," which revisits the acid-space jams of Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express by casting Sharp’s electric piano deep in twinkling, spacious cool. "Manaka" entwines Kenny Clarke’s "Klook" bop drumming with synthesizer, Rhodes piano, percussive Afro-beats and a fat bassline straight from Bump City.

The Innerzone Orchestra is the "live Jazz" project led by Carl Craig, creator of dance and Electronica solo hits under the tradenames of Paperclip People, 69 and Psyche (He’s also known as "Blakula," whose persona appears on Programmed). Innerzone’s featured members includes long-standing James Carter sideman Craig Taborn on piano and bassist Paul Randolph from Mudd Puppy. Former Sun Ra Arkestra satellite Francisco Mora contributes mightily to the many righteous grooves on Programmed with drums and percussion.

Craig’s Jazz intentions are evident this manifesto from "Manufactured Memories": "From the minds of the universe comes a new future, a future that brings the spirits together to rule over our music, inspiring beats from beyond – the melodies from above which give a new light, a light guided by Sun Ra, Miles, Blakey, Coltrane, a light that guides his brothers to a new level, a level that the fake ones can’t touch."

Programmed crackles like the alien offspring of P-Funk, On The Corner, and the Chemical Brothers. It definitely presents a new and exciting style of music. Mora sounds worthy of Blakey and Roach in his drum intro to "Monsters," which opens up into a prickly thicket of dangerous-sounding jungle funk. Taborn’s piano solos in "Basic Math" and "At Les" suggests both the outer/innerspace explorations of Herbie Hancock and the sweeping, testifyin’ Gospel of brother Les McCann. "Basic Math" begins with a colorful and creepy tribal free-for-all that sounds just like Miles Davis’ sinister live set with his Airto Moriera/John McLaughlin band (Live/Evil).

I’m really diggin’ that two of the last pieces of music AAJ covered going into the 21st century were both influenced by and pay tribute to that intergalactic blues prankster, Sun Ra. And I must admit that I was really skeptical about combining Electronica with Jazz. I guess it’s because I don’t think you really "play" Electronica as much as "program" it (Craig is credited throughout Programmed only as "Programmer"). But how do you resolve the pre-planned aspects of "programming" with the free flights of spontaneous improvisation that contributes so much to any definition of Jazz?

Then again, Ra ripped himself off some solo synthesizer flurries that came pretty close to pure electricity – to Electronica.

Double Fine Zone and Programmed sound like pretty good pieces of music – with enough electricity and innovation that they also sound like Jazz to me.