As many of you know from listening to The Afterglow and some of my other DJ Sets, I love jazz. I can appreciate almost any type of jazz, but my favorite is the type that we heard on WJZZ here in Detroit when I was growing up. Jazz that incorporated elements of soul & funk, and later blended in elements of hip-hop as well. No one will ever accuse me of being a jazz purist.
The bad news is WJZZ left the airwaves back in the 90’s and those styles of jazz haven’t been heard on Detroit radio since then. The good news is there are still plenty of talented artists out there making that jazz that I love.
A great place to find those tunes is on 2 of my favorite Spotify Playlists: Jazz-Funk and Jazz UK
These playlists are loaded with artists who are Jazz players at heart, but have grown up immersed in hip-hop and a wide variety of electronic styles which they have naturally incorporated into their own music. The result is the natural musical descendants of what we heard from artists like Herbie Hancock, George Duke, Bob James and Roy Ayers in the 1970’s.
The Jazz-Funk playlist includes some artists from within and outside of the U.S. It also includes a few of those classics from the 70's.
The Jazz UK playlist is just what the title implies – artists from the UK who bring that patented UK style.
I have embedded both playlists below for your listening pleasure.