Punk jazz is a genre of music that combines elements 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 major ...
, especially improvisation, with the instrumentation and performance style of
punk rock.
The term was first used to describe
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...
' 1979 album ''
Buy
Buy may refer to a trade, i.e., an exchange of goods and services via bartering or a monetary purchase.
The term may also refer to:
Places
* Buy (inhabited locality), any of several inhabited localities in Russia
* Burlington-Alamance Regional A ...
''.
Punk jazz is closely related to
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
,
no wave, and
loft jazz Loft jazz (or the loft scene or loft era) was a cultural phenomenon that occurred in New York City during the mid-1970s. Gary Giddins described it as follows: " new coterie of avant-garde musicians took much of the jazz world by surprise... ey inte ...
, and has since significantly inspired
post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...
and
alternative hip hop
Alternative hip hop (also known as alternative rap) is a subgenre of hip hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising " hip hop groups that refuse to confor ...
.
Notable proponents of the genre include
John Zorn
John Zorn (born September 2, 1953) is an American composer, conductor, saxophonist, arranger and producer who "deliberately resists category". Zorn's avant-garde and experimental approaches to composition and improvisation are inclusive of jaz ...
,
Arto Lindsay
Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation ''No New York''. In ...
,
Elliott Sharp
Elliott Sharp (born March 1, 1951) is an American contemporary classical composer, multi-instrumentalist, and performer.
A central figure in the avant-garde and experimental music scene in New York City since the late 1970s, Sharp has released ...
, and
James Chance
James Chance, also known as James White (born James Siegfried, April 20, 1953), is an American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer.
A key figure in no wave, Chance has been playing a combination of improvisational jazz-like music and pun ...
, among others.
History
1980s
![James White 1981 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/James_White_1981_2.jpg)
The first to use this fusion of genres were
The Stooges
The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...
, on the Fun House album, more specifically in 2 songs, the title "Fun House" and "1970" as always, they were people ahead of their time since they did this in the year 1970, several years before the genre expanded.
Late 1970s New York
no wave bands broke with
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
-influenced punk in a style that instead combined elements such as
free jazz
Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...
noise,
experimental drone rock, and other
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
influences. Examples of this style include
Lydia Lunch
Lydia Lunch (born Lydia Anne Koch; June 2, 1959)Martin Charles Strong. ''The Great Indie Discography''. 2003, page 85 is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no ...
's album ''
Queen of Siam'', the work of
James Chance and the Contortions
James Chance and the Contortions (initially known simply as Contortions, a spin-off group is called James White and the Blacks) was a musical group led by saxophonist and vocalist James Chance, formed in 1977. They were a central act of New York ...
, who mixed funk with free jazz and punk rock.
[ These bands, in turn, influenced the styles of ]the Pop Group
The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed d ...
and the Birthday Party. In London, the Pop Group began to mix free jazz, along with dub reggae, into their brand of punk rock. The Birthday Party's sound on '' Junkyard'' (1982) was described by one journalist as a mix of "no-wave guitar, free-jazz craziness, and punk-processed Captain Beefheart
Don Van Vliet (; born Don Glen Vliet; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist best known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as Th ...
angularity".
The Lounge Lizards
The Lounge Lizards were an eclectic musical group founded by saxophonist John Lurie and his brother, pianist Evan Lurie, in 1978. Initially known for their ironic, tongue-in-cheek take on jazz, The Lounge Lizards eventually became a showcase ...
[Bangs, Lester. "Free Jazz / Punk Rock". ''Musician Magazine'', 1979]
Access date: July 20, 2008. was the first group to call themselves punk jazz. Bill Laswell
William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, w ...
and his band Material
Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...
mixed funk, jazz, and punk while his band Massacre
A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...
added improvisation to rock.
James Blood Ulmer
James "Blood" Ulmer (born February 8, 1940) is an American jazz, free funk and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer plays a Gibson Byrdland guitar. His guitar sound has been described as "jagged" and "stinging". His singing has been called "ragge ...
applied Coleman's harmolodic Harmolodics is a musical philosophy and method of musical composition and improvisation developed by American jazz saxophonist-composer Ornette Coleman. His work following this philosophy during the late 1970s and 1980s inspired a style of forwa ...
style to guitar and sought out links to no wave. Bad Brains
Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this ...
, widely acknowledged to have established the rudiments of the hardcore style, began by attempting jazz fusion
Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, ...
. Guitarist Joe Baiza
Joe Baiza (born January 11, 1952) is a punk rock and jazz guitarist whom Eugene Chadbourne cites as one of the most noteworthy guitarists to emerge from the Southern California punk rock milieu.
Career
Baiza is a founding member of the bands S ...
executed his blend of punk and free jazz with Saccharine Trust
Saccharine Trust is an American punk rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1980 by singer Jack Brewer and guitarist Joe Baiza. The band would frequently perform with SST labelmates Minutemen and Black Flag. However, Baiza descri ...
and in Universal Congress Of
Universal Congress Of are an American jazz ensemble from Los Angeles, formed in 1986.
History
The project was started by Joe Baiza and continued to develop his own fusion of free jazz and punk rock after his previous band, Saccharine Trust, ...
, a group influenced by the work of Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer.
After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Howev ...
. Henry Rollins
Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1980, Rolli ...
has praised free jazz, releasing albums by Matthew Shipp
Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American pianist, composer, and bandleader.
Early life and education
Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and began playing piano at six years old. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford B ...
on his record label and collaborating with Charles Gayle
Charles Gayle (born February 28, 1939) is an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performs as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassist, and percussioni ...
. The Minutemen were influenced by jazz, folk and funk. Mike Watt
Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter.
Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...
of the band has spoken about being inspired by listening to John Coltrane.
Dutch anarcho-punk
Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...
group the Ex incorporated elements of free jazz and particularly European free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...
, collaborating with Han Bennink
Han Bennink (born 17 April 1942) is a Dutch drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured him playing soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, trombone, violin, banjo and piano.
Though perhaps best known as one of the pivotal fig ...
and other members of the Instant Composers Pool
Instant Composers Pool (ICP) is an independent Dutch jazz and improvised music label and orchestra. Founded in 1967, the label takes its name from the notion that improvisation is "instant composition". The ICP label has published more than 50 r ...
.
1990s
Free jazz was an important influence in the American post-hardcore
Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...
scene of the early 90s. Drive Like Jehu
Drive Like Jehu was an American post-hardcore band from San Diego active from 1990 to 1995. It was formed by rhythm guitarist and vocalist Rick Froberg and lead guitarist John Reis, ex-members of Pitchfork, along with bassist Mike Kennedy and ...
took Black Flag's atonal solos a step further with their dual guitar attack. The Nation of Ulysses
The Nation of Ulysses was an American punk rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in spring 1988 with four members. Originally known as simply "Ulysses," the first mark of the group consisted of Ian Svenonius on vocals and trumpet, Steve Kron ...
had Ian Svenonious alternating between vocals and trumpet, and their complex song structures, odd time signatures, and frenetic live shows were as much hardcore punk as they were free jazz. They even did a brief cover of John Coltrane
John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist
The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of br ...
's ''A Love Supreme
''A Love Supreme'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Ga ...
'' on their ''Plays Pretty for Baby
''Plays Pretty for Baby'' is the second album by the American punk rock band Nation of Ulysses.
Tracks 14-16 on the CD are not on the original album, and are taken from the 7" EP ''Birth of the Ulysses Aesthetic''.
"The Sound of Jazz to Come" ...
'' album, though they titled it "The Sound of Jazz to Come" after Ornette Coleman
Randolph Denard Ornette Coleman (March 9, 1930 – June 11, 2015) was an American jazz saxophonist, violinist, trumpeter, and composer known as a principal founder of the free jazz genre, a term derived from his 1960 album '' Free Jazz: A Colle ...
's classic album ''The Shape of Jazz to Come
''The Shape of Jazz to Come'' is the third album by jazz musician Ornette Coleman. Released on Atlantic Records in 1959, it was his debut on the label and his first album featuring the working quartet including himself, trumpeter Don Cherry, bassi ...
''. Chicago's Cap'n Jazz
Cap'n Jazz (sometimes stylised as caP'n Jazz) was an American emo band formed in Chicago in 1989 by brothers Tim and Mike Kinsella, who were joined by Sam Zurick and Victor Villarreal. After a number of name changes and the addition of guitaris ...
also borrowed free jazz's odd time signatures and guitar melodies, marrying them with hardcore screams and amateur tuba playing. The Swedish band Refused
Refused (also known as the Refused) is a Swedish hardcore punk band originating from Umeå and formed in 1991. Refused is composed of vocalist Dennis Lyxzén, guitarist Kristofer Steen, drummer David Sandström, and bassist Magnus Flagge. Guit ...
was influenced by this scene and recorded an album titled ''The Shape of Punk to Come
''The Shape of Punk to Come: A Chimerical Bombination in 12 Bursts'', often shortened to ''The Shape of Punk to Come'', is the third album by Swedish hardcore punk band Refused, released on 27 October 1998 through Burning Heart Records.
Although ...
'', where they alternate between manic hardcore punk numbers and slower, jazzy songs.
2000s–2010s
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police and media, by request of the police, call them , while the ''yakuza'' call themselves . The English equivalent for the term ...
from Chicago is comparable to Candiria
Candiria are an American progressive metal band from Brooklyn, New York. Formed in 1992, the band was part of the second wave of New York hardcore, but subsequently expanded its performance to also play jazz, hip hop and progressive rock.
The ...
, combining heavy metal with free jazz and psychedelia. Although Italian band Ephel Duath was credited with the inadvertent recreation of jazzcore on their albums ''The Painter's Palette
''The Painter's Palette'' is the second album by Italian avant-garde metal / jazz band Ephel Duath.
Track listing
# "The Passage (Pearl Grey)" - 4:11
# "The Unpoetic Circle (Bottle Green)" - 4:54
# "Labyrinthine (Crimson)" - 5:21
# "Praha (A ...
'' (2003) and ''Pain Necessary to Know
''Pain Necessary to Know'' is the third studio album by the Italian avant-garde metal
Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, and experimental) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentati ...
'' (2005), the band moved away from it to pursue a more esoteric form of progressive rock similar to the music of Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...
. Midori
Midori (みどり, ミドリ, , , ) is the Japanese word for "green" and may refer to:
Places
* Midori, Gunma
* Midori-ku, Chiba
* Midori-ku, Nagoya
* Midori-ku, Sagamihara
* Midori-ku, Saitama
* Midori-ku, Yokohama
People Given name
* Mi ...
made waves around Japan in the mid-2000s for their unrelenting and chaotic blend of hardcore punk and dissonant jazz before disbanding at the end of 2010.
Other punk jazz acts include Gutbucket, and King Krule
Archy Ivan Marshall (born 24 August 1994), also known by his stage name King Krule, among other names, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, rapper and record producer.
He began recording music in 2010 under the moniker Zoo Kid. The fol ...
.
Jazzcore
Jazzcore is a subgenre that incorporates elements of hardcore punk
Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...
and heavy metal music alongside typical jazz instrumentation and improvisation.
Further reading
*Berendt, Joachim E. (1992). ''The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to Fusion and Beyond''. Revised by Günther Huesmann, translated by H. and B. Bredigkeit with Dan Morgenstern. Brooklyn: Lawrence Hill Books. "The Styles of Jazz: From the Eighties to the Nineties," pp. 57–59.
*Byrne, David, et al. (2008). ''New York Noise: Art and Music from the New York Underground 1978–88''. Soul Jazz Records. .
*Hegarty, Paul (2007). ''Noise/Music: A History''. Continuum International.
*Heylin, Clinton (1993). ''From the Velvets to the Voidoids: The Birth of American Punk Rock''.
*McNeil, Legs and Gillian McCain (1997). ''Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk''. Grove Press.
*Masters, Marc (2008). ''No Wave''. Black Dog Publishing.
*Mudrian, Albert (2000). ''Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore''. Feral House.
*Reynolds, Simon (2006). ''Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984.'' Penguin.
*Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). ''New Wave of American Heavy Metal''. Zonda Books.
*Zorn, John, ed. (2000). ''Arcana: Musicians on Music.'' Granary Books.
References
{{jazzfooter
Punk rock genres
Jazz genres
Fusion music genres