Get Jazzy With It
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Jazz is and will forever be one of America’s greatest gifts to music. This genre has created some of the most well-known and influential masterpieces of the last century, with rock, pop, R&B, and hip-hop taking unexpected cues from the country’s most historic musical tradition. This Jazz Appreciation month, we’re taking a moment to celebrate just a few of Reservoir’s most fabulously jazz-influenced pieces across all genres. Enjoy!
LIVING FOR THE RUSH– Slakah The Beat Child
Toronto based singer, songwriter and producer Slakah The Beat Child has his roots in hip-hop and R&B but is influenced heavily by jazz. This cut falls into the sub-genre smooth jazz which combines elements of soul and R&B music with the intricate chords and bumping rhythm sections of jazz music. The complex piano part is derived heavily from jazz but its sampled repetition gives it a more contemporary edge.
HIPPIE ELECTRO JAZZ– Jazzbox
Jazzbox takes elements from jazz and many of its sub-genres to make a truly contemporary interpretation of the tradition. With electronic rhythms from a Brazilian jazz style called bosa nova, jazz piano, and ambient synthesizer elements, “Hippie Electro Jazz” highlights jazz’s influence on contemporary music in intricately innovative ways.
THE FUNK IN ME– Toddi Reed
With its raspy sound and warm timbre, saxophone was a star in the jazz era. Toddi Reed adapts this instrument and jazz chord structures to the modern genre EDM. The jazzy elements are the focus of the mix as the synthesizers and other normal EDM instruments serves as a platform for the sax blasted melody.
FUNKY JUNKYARD– The Baldwin Brothers
With systematic rhythms and pounding bass lines funk quickly because one of the most popular jazz based genres in the ‘70s. The Baldwin Brothers add elements of smooth jazz to funk with ambient and electronic music in their aptly titled piece, “Funky Junkyard”.
HIGH HAT– Swing Republic
The rhythm sections in jazz music made it extremely danceable, inspiring choreographic breakthroughs throughout the first half of the 1900’s. This idea was fully embraced by Swing Republic, adding jazz instrumentation to modern pulse based dance music. This multi-era dance music hybrid has both a contemporary and classic feel simultaneously making it extremely versatile and enjoyable to many different demographics.