With this week’s Jazz Mix showing the influence jazz had and still has on hip hop, we thought it would be interesting to dive deeper into the relationship between jazz and hip hop. One of the rising trends in recent jazz music, especially on the London and New York jazz scene, is fusing jazz with other genres. Whether it’s grunge guitar and vocals being mixed with miles-esque trumpet or EDM bass synths as the foundation for a post-bop tenor freakout, this melting pot approach to jazz composition is the new swing for young musicians.
This being the case many musicians, noticing the jazz elements in popular hip hop, have incorporated hip hop elements into their innovating music. Everything from rappers taking a verse as if it was a solo to wonky syncopated drum beats inspired by producers such as J Dilla, hip hop is by far the genre most fused into modern jazz creation. Some of JAZZ LOCKDOWN’s favorite hip hop influenced jazz includes Avantdale Bowling Club, a New Zealand based group who blend Coltrane-like improvisations with rapping and hip hop drum beats, and the Nicholas Payton Trio who subtly blend vocal samples and hip hop beats with jazz that explores rhythms through the eyes of the Black Experience.