Review: Chris Bangs is widely, albeit not so, known for coining the term 'acid jazz'. If it weren't for him it's likely we wouldn't have modern day future jazz pushers like Soul Jazz or Brownswood. This new compendium, 'Firebird', charts the DJ and producer's latest sonic explorations, blurring the boundaries between every influence from contemporary jazz, UK electronic dance, and Latin dance styles from bossa nova to salsa. It also contains several examples of what is known as his 'East Coast' sound, which pays homage to the fusion of jazz and funk and which spread throughout UK nightclubs as far back as the early 80s.
Review: Acid jazz pioneer - and "acid jazz" coiner (!) - Chris Bangs returns with a brand new album for 2024, 'Dream World', which follows on from his early 2023 release 'Firebird'. Corralling his friends - Argentine keyboardist Luciano De La Rosa, Italian Massimo Morganti on trombone, Chile's Juan Pi Salvo on trumpet, and Fabio Tiralongo on sax - together for a supergrouped set of nine Bangers, Dream World hears the artist transcend borders in a mondialised fashion, in doing so paying homage to many of his inspirational greats such as the Mizell Brothers, Wayne Henderson and George Duke, whom together produced the joint groundwork for the latter-day genre.
Johnny Hammond - "Los Conquistadores Chocolates" (6:01)
Bill Summers - "Brazilian Skies" (4:30)
Roy Haynes - "Quiet Fire" (8:11)
Willis Jackson - "Nuther'n Like Thuther'n" (7:27)
Louie Bellson & Walfredo De Los Reyes - "Sentido En Seis (Six Feeling)" (7:33)
Flora Purim - "Vera Cruz (Empty Faces)" (4:12)
Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes - "Visions Of A New World (Phase II)" (3:41)
Pleasure - "No Matter What" (4:49)
Fatback Band - "Njia Walk" (4:07)
Johnny Lytle - "Gunky" (4:31)
Patrice Rushen - "Jubilation" (5:54)
Cal Tjader - "Mambo Mindoro" (3:46)
Tania Maria - "Yatra-Ta" (4:21)
Dom Um Romao - "Braun-Blek-Blu" (4:50)
Review: Chris Bangs' varied and eclectic musical journey is a key reason he was chosen to curate a compilation for Ace. With a background ranging from space rock with The Mighty Om to DJ residencies across London, Bangs' career spans numerous genres, from jazz, funk, to soul. Bangs' DJ sets and parties - in such time-honoured venues as Special Branch in Brentford, London - were seminal in the evolution of the acid jazz genre alongside Gilles Peterson, where "acid jazz was never meant to be more than a pisstake". His foray into production, such as the proto-acid jazz classic 'Psychedelic Jack' with Peterson on vocals, cemented his legacy, but it's curation highlights such as this that really get our gears going. Hold tight as we scour early acid jazz brilliants from Gunky to Vera Cruz to Brazilian Skies to Jubilation.
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