Acid Jazz Records is a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

based in East

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

music for which it is most famously known for producing.

Background

The label's first signing was singer-songwriter Rob Gallagher's band, Galliano, which released the label's first single "Frederick Lies Still" in 1987, which features a sample of "Freddie's Dead" by

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. The label was known in its early days for putting on club nights at Camden's Dingwalls featuring artists such as The Night Trains and A Man Called Adam. In 1989 after Peterson left in order to create his own label Talkin' Loud, Acid Jazz signed a second wave of artists including the Brand New Heavies, who released their self-titled debut album in 1990,

Corduroy Corduroy is a textile with a distinctively raised "cord" or wale texture. Modern corduroy is most commonly composed of tufted cords, sometimes exhibiting a channel (bare to the base fabric) between them. Both velvet and corduroy derive from fu ...

Mother Earth Mother Earth may refer to: *The Earth goddess in any of the world's mythologies *Mother goddess * Mother Nature, a common personification of the Earth and its biosphere as the giver and sustainer of life Written media and literature * "Mother Ea ...

, and

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in th ...

, who released their debut single " When You Gonna Learn" on the label in 1992. Throughout the 1990s the label also put out a number of

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

s, most notably the Totally Wired series which covered the range of influences and sounds within the acid-jazz genre, as well as what was being released on the label at that time. In 1993, Piller, the label's owner purchased a night-club which he named the Blue Note. Initially used as a way of promoting the record label's music, the club soon built up a large reputation and was open seven nights a week hosting various different club nights including that of musician Goldie's Metaheadz label. After the closing of the Blue Note in the late 1990s the label somewhat shifted its focus from producing just acid-jazz and its similar genres of music to that of soul and mod. The mid-2000s saw the signing of Andy Lewis and the release of his top 40 Northern Soul inspired single "Are You Trying To Be Lonely?" featuring Paul Weller on vocals. The label also released the "Rare Mod" series, a collection of rare 7" vinyl EPs from the 60's, presented in a picture sleeves, as well as accompanying compilation albums. In the last decade the label has celebrated its 25th anniversary and re-issued a number of its best-selling records such as

The Brand New Heavies The Brand New Heavies is an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing in west London. Centered around songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, the core members of the group since its founding, Brand New He ...

and The People Tree, as well as putting out a special 6-CD boxset including an artwork book and DVD. This period has also seen the label sign more contemporary soul artists such as New Street Adventure and Men of North Country, as well as the folk-rock of British actor

Matt Berry Matthew Charles Berry (born 2 May 1974) is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He is best known for his roles in comedy series such as '' The IT Crowd'', '' Garth Marenghi's Darkplace'', ''The Mighty Boosh'', ''Snuff Box'', ''Wha ...

. In 2017 the label issued a previously unreleased single by soul-singer Leroy Hutson, "Positive Forces", as well as releasing an Anthology of his work. In 2018 they re-issued his two most popular albums Hutson and Hutson II and produced a short four-part online documentary about him, titled "Leroy Hutson: The Man!" As part of their 30th anniversary celebrations they are set to release a jazz compilation ''"Jazz on the Corner"'' featuring song choices by Eddie Piller and his friend

Martin Freeman Martin John Christopher Freeman (born 8 September 1971) is an English actor. Among other accolades, he has won an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, and has been nominated for a Golden Globe Award. Freeman's most not ...

, while

released their first album in 18 years entitled "Return of the Fabric Four".

Staff

* Eddie Piller - Founder, Chairman * Gilles Peterson - Founder * Trevor Randall - Vice president

Roster

*Akimbo *

Andy Bennett Andrew Bennett (born 30 March 1955) is a former Australian rules footballer who played 110 games for South Adelaide Football Club in the SANFL from 1974 to 1979 and 35 games for Hawthorn and St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) fro ...

* The Broken Vinyl Club *

Tony Christie Anthony Fitzgerald (born 25 April 1943), known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his recording of "(Is This the Way To) Amarillo", a double UK chart success. Career 1960s to 1970 ...

Clem Curtis Clem Curtis (born Curtis Clements; 28 November 1940 – 27 March 2017) was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of sixties soul group The Foundations. Background Family He was the father of seven children, six sons ...

Graham Dee Graham Dee (born Graham Davidson, 2 March 1943) is an English musician. Early life Graham Dee was born in Whitechapel, East London, England. Dee has lived his life with a neuromuscular disorder that results in a series of ticks, twitches, an ...

*Detroit City Council *Dexters *The Dilemmas *DJ Naked * Carl Douglas *The Elements *Emperors New Clothes *Erobique * Chris Farlowe * The Filthy Six *

The Fleur De Lys The Fleur de Lys (initially Les Fleur de Lys ) were a British band originally formed in late 1964, in Southampton, Hampshire, England. They recorded singles beginning in 1965 in the transitional Beat to psychedelic music genre, later known as ...

*The Frays *

Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band are an England-based soul band. Career The Ram Jam Band were formed around 1964 by Pete Gage and Geoff Pullum. Before taking on Geno Washington, whom Gage knew from performing at the RAF Bentwaters US Air F ...

* Goldbug *Grand Union *Humble Souls *Jarvis Humby * Leroy Hutson * Gregory Isaacs * The James Taylor Quartet *

*Janice Graham Band *Jarvis Humby *

Jimmy James and the Vagabonds Michael "Jimmy" James (born 13 September 1940) is a British-Jamaican soul singer, known for songs like "Come to Me Softly", " Now Is the Time" and " I'll Go Where Your Music Takes Me". Based in Britain, he has performed as the lead singer of ...

John's Children John's Children were a 1960s mod rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off a tour with the Who in Germany ...

* Jasmine Kara *Jinrai *Kenny Bernard & The Wranglers *Le Leo *

Lord Large Lord Large is a 60s-influenced Acid Jazz band formed by Stephen Large, a British keyboard-player currently in Squeeze (and previously in the Electric Soft Parade, a band who won a Q Award and a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 2002) and drumme ...

* Andy Lewis * Freddy Mack *Manasseh Meets The Equalizer * A Man Called Adam * Men of North Country *Mister Exe *

The Moons The Moons are an England, English indie rock band formed in Northampton 2008 by singer/guitarist/songwriter Andy Crofts. The Moons have released four studio albums; "Pocket Melodies" (2020) on Colorama Records, "Mindwaves" (2014) and "Fables o ...

Mark Morriss Mark James Morriss (born 18 October 1971) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the frontman for The Bluetones. He is the older brother of bandmate and bass player/illustrator Scott Morriss. He has released four solo albums, worke ...

(of

The Bluetones The Bluetones are an English indie rock band, formed in Hounslow, Greater London, in 1993. The band's members are Mark Morriss on vocals, Adam Devlin on guitar, Mark's brother Scott Morriss on bass guitar, and Eds Chesters on drums. A fifth m ...

) *

* New Street Adventure *Night Trains *The Ossie Layne Show *Parlour Talk * Dean Parrish *Pleasurebeach *The Apostles *The Red Inspectors *The Richard Kent Style *The Sandals *Satisfaction *

Skunkhour Skunkhour are an Australian funk rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1991. They released four studio albums, ''Skunkhour'' (July 1993), ''Feed'' (April 1995), '' Chin Chin'' (July 1997) and ''The Go'' (May 2001) before disbanding in Novemb ...

*Smoove * Snowboy *

Speak Low "Speak Low" (1943) is a popular song composed by Kurt Weill, with lyrics by Ogden Nash. Background It was introduced by Mary Martin and Kenny Baker in the Broadway musical ''One Touch of Venus'' (1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombard ...

*The Stabilisers *

Sharon Tandy Sharon Tandy (born Sharon Finkelstein; 18 September 1943 – 21 March 2015) was a South African singer who achieved some success in the United Kingdom in the 1960s as part of the blue-eyed soul and psychedelic movements. In 1966, she recorde ...

*The Third Degree *Tito Lopez Combo *Tony and Tandy *Twisted Tongue * Paul Weller * Benjamin Zephaniah

Totally Wired Radio

Totally Wired Radio was set up by Acid Jazz Records in 2019 as an extension of their original series of ''Totally Wired'' compilations compiled by Eddie Piller and Gilles Peterson. As well as playing the kind of sounds Acid Jazz Records and Piller are generally known for (when compiling compilations such as ''Eddie Piller presents British Mod Sounds of The 1960s'') the stations output also includes country music, library music, reggae, film soundtracks, EDM, Afrobeat, Latin, punk, psyche and disco.

References

External links

* – official site *
BBC Radio 1 biography, Gilles Peterson
at BBC {{Authority control Record labels based in London Jazz record labels Record labels established in 1987