Customer Reviews

Jazz Funk

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

i own over 500 cd's and this recent acquisition is now one of my ten best cd's. when i first discovered incognito (among other great artists on amazon's acid jazz 75 bestsellers list), i thought they were very innovative and had a unique and appealing style, so i purchased '100 degrees and rising' and 'beneath the surface.' both are excellent albums. but this thing is an animal the likes of which i have never heard before. rather than delve into the finer musical points of this album, let me just say that while i am a jazz keyboardist who likes many types of music including acid jazz, techno/dance/house, classic rock, rap, latin jazz and avant-garde jazz, this transcends any of these styles in the sense that it is what i call 'real music.' as dumb as it may sound, this is music for people who know what music is about because many people really don't. they listen to their choice of music for image or because everyone else listens to it. i listen to music that gives me a chill when i hear it. this is music made by people who know what is funky in terms of both rhythms and chords, have the skill to execute that sound, and have the guts to put it on an album and call that album 'jazz funk.' if you think about the name it is actually quite obnoxious and conceited. they are basically saying that their music of the jazz/funk style is so good that they can call their album 'jazz funk' as though they not only capture the essence of that style of music, but are the epitome and defining factor of it. they are not saying, "we can play some great jazz/funk music." they are saying "other people can PLAY great jazz/funk but we ARE jazz/funk!" the whole beauty of the situation is that they are right. after hearing this, i will probably buy every incognito album. as for this album, i think that songs 1 and 3 are just plain funk on a stick. song number 4 is a gorgeous latin tune with some very slick percussion. song number 8 is a very beautiful song. it is a ballad with simple lyrics and melody that is so tastefully done and very soothing. but if you listen to song 7, you might hurt yourself because its just about the funkiest thing i've ever heard.

Although they are not anymore. I remember my brother introduced me to this classic gem. Another stellar set of music form his vast and valued "wax" collection.

I was schooled and it all started with this Diamond! Original 1981 release of jazz-funk-fusion! The beginning of it all! Terrific sounds! Still sounds as good now as it did then!

Perhapes not since none of the material here has the least bit of improvising...sort of.But this is a fine early 1980's
channeling of the funk-fusion sounds of Roy Ayers,Lenny White,
Herbie Hancock,George Duke and Patrice Rushen-all given that
hazy smoothness that ONLY Incognito have been able to dish out.
Actually this album doesn't sound all that different from some
of the bands newer albums such as the excellent "No Time Like The
Future" but the production is far lesser and the vocals and instrumentation alot sparser.Jean-Paul Maunick is apparently singing on some of the songs such as the dreamy "Smile Of A Child".However it's apparent his voice could be stronger,but at least he's honest-I can respect that in a singer more then showing off for the sake of it.But on "Shine On" and "Incognito"
the band deliver fine,dancable lite funk in the finest tradition
of the term.And on "Interferance" Incognito are SCORCHING as they
they indulge in some SERIOUS jammin' on the one on a burning
disco-funk jam.If you are interested in listening to this bands
music or discovering the earliest roots of todays acid jazz or
simply enjoy jazz-funk music (Nigel Hall I'm talking to YOU!!!"
then you've gotta' have this!!!!

First of all I want to say that the first guy doesn't know what the hell he's talking about I'm sorry to say that. The genre "Jazz-Funk" is more smooth that regular funk that is the definition of the stile so he just had the wrong expectations of his unawareness. This album is the best in this style it has this very early 80 spirit over it and every song is good. That is very rarely you can say that about a whole album. And it doesn't get to smooth in my opinion and the songs are very variated and not as monotonous as a lot of other records in this genre.
I just love : "Summer's Ended" and "Incognito".
Incognitos later albums with different musicians are defenently not as good as this album it's amazing.

It's true this album did sort of start a movement. But the movement started while the music that inspired was still in it's first run. It's sort of an interesting story in the end. Some of the members of the Brit Funk band Light Of Worlds,including guitarist Jean Paul Maunick decided to put together a new and somewhat anonymous band who called themselves (quite appropriately) Incognito. This solved the problem of revolving door personnel that some bands faced,especially during the funk/R&B unfriendly early 80's pop radio/record buying scene and allowed for the band to become very studiocentric. The question is why would anyone want acid jazz before it even needed to exist? Well for one thing all that was really being done here was the re introduction of the jazz-funk genre into the than burgeoning Brit funk scene. Pretty soon bands such as Level 42 would be mining this same territory. Right around the same time really. But during 1980 and 1981 when this album was recorded the UK jazz-funk scene this was a part of was still somewhat in the trial and error stages. But for those familiar with the bands 90's comeback this album may come as something of a surprise.

Amending the ten track album with the 1980 songs "Parisienne Girl" and "Summers Ended" (but for some reason omitting the excellent single "North London Boy",supposedly a tribute to Spandau Ballet) this album is nontheless has a vital groove throughout. Primarily devoted to uptempo music this album has contains some of the HARD CORE FUNK Incognito ever put to wax. With the space funk synths of "Shine On" to the deeply rhythmic,late 70's Herbie Hancock like "Interference" and the percussive "Incognito" we have a band not only capable of playing excellent jazz-funk of course but also of exploring every subgenre it has to offer as well. Other numbers such as "The Smile Of A Child" feature vocals. And especially on the chugging Becker/Fagen-like "Why Won't You Believe Me" the very un poppy and often untrained sounding singing gives it more the feeling of an instrumental element than a vocal element. After this album Incognito would not appear for another decade until the appearance of their 1991 release Inside Life. Soon after with the edition of singer Maysa Leak the had somewhat more of an identity. But based on music alone this album is definitely a winner on the funk end of things.

There wasn't one song that stood out for me on this effort, all very listenable. Another great disc from the group!
Just make sure you listen to tracks before buying to make sure this one is for you.

The re-release of this album is absolutely terrific. Incognito's 1981 classic, "Jazz Funk", is one of the ultimate jazz/fusion albums ever recorded. I was blown away by this album. I just recently discovered Incognito while looking up some of the bands from the British jazz-funk era in the late seventies/early eighties like Second Image, Freeez and Loose End(s). This is the standard by which groups like Jamiroquai and the Brand New Heavies followed. Anyone who is new to this genre of music should consider picking up this very excellent CD.

I was very excited about getting this cd based on all the great reviews written here. I had never heard Incognito before but it sounded like they kicked ***! But I must say I was a bit disappointed with this. The name jazzfunk makes me think that its going to be some kind of booty-shakin band with jamming horns ala James Brown-style but instead this is what Kenny G would sound like if he was black. This is smooth jazz with a few funky bass lines. If you're looking for party music that you can't help but dance to, this AIN'T IT!!!!