Nu jazz

History and character

Nu jazz (or "jazztronica") is the fusion of jazz and electronic music that emerged in the early 1990s in several countries (the UK, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, the United States, Brazil) and flourished between the mid-'90s and the early 2000s. Its roots lie in the electrification of jazz in the '70s (Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock), in Hancock and Bill Laswell's "Future Shock" (1983), in the jazz rap of Gang Starr, A Tribe Called Quest, and The Roots, and in British acid jazz (Gilles Peterson, Talkin' Loud, Jamiroquai, Incognito, Galliano), of which nu jazz is a more electronic cousin, less tied to the blues.

The key figures: St Germain (Ludovic Navarre: "Tourist", 2000, over a million and a half copies, with "Rose Rouge" and "So Flute"), Jazzanova (Berlin), The Cinematic Orchestra (Ninja Tune: "Every Day", 2002; "Ma Fleur", 2007), Bugge Wesseltoft ("New Conception of Jazz", 1996) and Nils Petter Molvær ("Khmer", 1997, ECM) in Norway, Jaga Jazzist, Koop (Sweden), Nicola Conte and Schema Records (Milan), Kyoto Jazz Massive and Jazztronik in Japan, Trüby Trio, Compost Records (Munich), 4hero and the West London broken beat scene (IG Culture, Bugz in the Attic, Kaidi Tatham), Thievery Corporation. The new London jazz scene of 2010–2020 (Yussef Kamaal, Ezra Collective, Kokoroko, Moses Boyd, Alfa Mist) and groups like BADBADNOTGOOD and Robert Glasper pick up many of these ideas.

The sound: samples of jazz records, electronic beats (house, broken beat, breakbeat, downtempo, sometimes drum and bass), live jazz instruments played over the top (trumpet, sax, Rhodes, upright bass, flute), soul vocals or vocal samples, modal or jazz-funk harmony, and an elegant club atmosphere. As the press of the time put it, "the star of nu jazz is the music, not the virtuosity of the musicians".

Scales and keys

Dorian (the Club-Jazz Mode)

• Formula: 1 2 b3 4 5 6 b7 — W H W W W H W. On F: F G Ab Bb C D Eb.
• Characteristic note: the major 6 (D): it allows the IV7 (Bb7/Bb9) and the bright ii.
• Chords: Fm9 (i), Gm7, Abmaj7, Bb13 (IV), Cm7, Dø7, Ebmaj7.
• Use: Rhodes and bass vamps on i9–IV13, trumpet and sax solos over the electronic repetition.
• Real example: St Germain — Rose Rouge (minor vamp over a house beat).
• Common mistakes: too many altered tensions on the vamp: nu jazz lives on modality and repetition.

Aeolian and Natural Minor

• On A: A B C D E F G. Characteristic note: b6 (F). Use: melancholic, cinematic downtempo (The Cinematic Orchestra).

Minor Pentatonic and Blues

• On C: C Eb F G Bb (+ F#). Use: flute and trumpet hooks, repeated samples, bass lines (St Germain — So Flute).

Lydian and Major with 9 and #11

• Lydian on Db: Db Eb F G Ab Bb C. Characteristic note: #4 (G). Use: "cosmic" pads and chords of Nordic nu jazz (Wesseltoft, Molvær), suspended maj7#11.

Phrygian (ECM/Nordic Color)

• On E: E F G A B C D. Characteristic note: b2 (F). Use: dark, cinematic atmospheres (Molvær — Khmer).

Melodic Minor (Sophisticated Chords)

• On C: C D Eb F G A B. Use: mMaj9 chords and "Glasper" voicings in more recent nu jazz.

How to Choose

Harmony

Loops and Modality

The harmony is almost always a loop of 1–4 chords, often taken from or inspired by a jazz or soul sample, repeated throughout the track; the form is built by adding and removing layers (as in electronic music) and leaving room for solos.

Typical Chords

• m9, m11, 13, maj9, maj7#11, sus.
• i9–IV13 (Dorian), i9–VIImaj9, IVmaj9–iii7 (soul).
• "Rhodes" chords in close-position inversions, quartal voicings, soft clusters.
• Bass pedal under moving chords.

Harmonic Rhythm

Slow: one chord every 1–4 bars. The strongest harmonic change comes in the "breakdowns".

Voicings

Rhodes with rootless and quartal voicings; wide electronic pads; filtered chord samples; synth bass or upright bass holding the root.

Typical progressions

Rhythm and groove

Feel

The beat is electronic or "played like a machine": four-on-the-floor house (St Germain), syncopated broken beat with sixteenth-note swing (West London), downtempo and trip hop at 80–100 BPM, sampled breakbeats, sometimes jazz drum and bass. On top, the jazz instruments play with swing and freedom.

Machine Swing

MPC swing on the sixteenth notes (54–60%, i.e. 10–25), hi-hats with velocity variations, quantized kick and snare: the contrast between the grid and the soloists' phrasing is the character of the genre.

Accents

House: kick on the quarter notes, open hat on the offbeats. Broken beat: broken-up kick, snare on 2 and 4 with added hits (see r-nu-jazz-broken-beat). Downtempo: kick on 1 and the "&" of 2/3, snare on 3 (half-time) or on 2 and 4.

Microtiming

Programming with swing and slight snare delays; played parts (live drums in modern groups) that imitate the precision of samplers ("J Dilla drumming").

Drums

Principle

Nu jazz drums are programmed or sampled (jazz breaks, drum machines, sampled acoustic kits) or played by drummers who imitate machines (Richard Spaven, Moses Boyd, Yussef Dayes, Chris Dave). The groove is fixed and hypnotic; the soloists move above it.

Kick

• House: quarter notes (pos. 1, 5, 9, 13), short, soft sound.
• Broken beat: syncopated (pos. 1, 8, 11 and two-bar variants).
• Downtempo: 1 and the "&" of 2 or 3 (pos. 1, 7 or 11).

Snare and Clap

On 2 and 4 (house, broken beat) or on 3 (half-time downtempo); added ghost notes and rim hits in broken beat; dry, short sound, often sampled from jazz records.

Hi-Hat and Cymbals

Sixteenth notes with swing and variable velocity (accents on the eighth notes), open hat on the offbeats in house, a sampled or played jazz ride as a bed.

Percussion

Congas, bongos, shaker, bells, Brazilian percussion (electronic bossa and samba: Bebel Gilberto, Thievery Corporation).

Dynamics and Velocity

Constant; variations come from filters, subtraction, and effects (dub delay, reverb).

Interaction with Bass and Soloists

The bass (sampled upright or synth) is the "engine" with the kick; the soloists are free.

Sections

Intro with a sample or pad, beat + bass, theme, solos, breakdown (kick out, Rhodes remains), drop, outro.

Fills

Short programmed variations, filtered snare rolls, "stutter" and glitch, acoustic fills in live groups.

Sounds

Sampled jazz breaks (vinyl, crackle), acoustic kits with sampler compression (SP-1200, MPC), 808/909 for house.

Typical Mistakes

Beats that are too "EDM" (they lose the elegance), missing swing, samples that are too clean, drums that cover the trumpet.

Bass

Sound

Upright bass (played or sampled), electric bass, synth bass (Minimoog, Juno, sine sub in downtempo).

Notes

One- to two-bar ostinatos on the modal tonic, sampled walking lines, syncopated house lines, pedal points in Nordic tracks.

Relationship with the Kick

House: bass on the offbeats between the kicks; broken beat: bass filling the syncopations; downtempo: long notes under the kick.

Examples

St Germain — Rose Rouge (looped sampled upright bass), The Cinematic Orchestra (Phil France's upright bass).

Harmonic instruments

• Fender Rhodes: the signature harmonic instrument (m9 chords on the offbeat, tremolo, phaser).
• Acoustic piano (often sampled or processed).
• Analog and digital pads and synths (wide pads, arpeggios).
• Chord and horn samples from jazz and soul records.
• Clean jazz guitar (chords and octaves).
• Strings (The Cinematic Orchestra, orchestral arrangements).

Melody and vocals

Solo Instruments

Trumpet (often with harmon mute or effects: delay, reverb, harmonizer — Molvær), tenor and soprano sax, flute (St Germain's hooks), solo Rhodes, vibraphone.

Vocals

Soul and jazz voices (Fontella Bass and Patrick Watson with The Cinematic Orchestra, Ursula Rucker, Bajka), spoken or sung vocal samples, filtered vocalizations.

Hooks

Short, repeated melodies (1–2-bar riffs) that act as the "chorus".

Effects

Dub delay (tape echo with high feedback), long reverbs, filters, granular and harmonizer on the horns, bitcrusher and "vinyl" saturation.

Instruments

• Drum machine, sampler (MPC, SP-1200), sampled jazz breaks
• Acoustic drums (live groups)
• Upright bass, electric bass, synth bass
• Fender Rhodes, piano, synths, pads
• Trumpet, sax, flute, vibraphone
• Jazz guitar
• Strings (in some projects)
• Vocals and vocal samples

Drum patterns

Synths and sounds

• Stage-73 V — Rhodes: The genre's harmonic instrument: slow stereo tremolo, phaser, a bit of drive, low-pass filter automated in the breakdowns.
• Jun-6 V — Pad: Soft pads with Chorus II and a closed filter; sustained m9 chords under the horns.
• Mini V — Synth bass: Sub and house bass: one sawtooth oscillator + sub, closed filter, short envelope.
• Piano V — Piano: For "homemade" jazz piano samples: record 2–4 bars, then process them (filter, crackle, pitch).
• Prophet-5 V — Arpeggios and leads: "Cosmic" arpeggios and leads of Nordic nu jazz.
• Wurli V — Wurlitzer: A grittier alternative to the Rhodes for broken beat.

Song structure

Club Form (5:00–8:00)

• Intro (8–16): sample, pad, or Rhodes.
• Beat and bass (16).
• Theme (16) – Verse/solo (16–32).
• Breakdown (8–16): kick out, harmony remains.
• Drop (16–32) with solos and hook.
• Outro (16).

Downtempo/Song Form (4:00–6:00)

Intro – Verse (vocal) – Chorus – Verse – Chorus – Instrumental solo – Chorus – Orchestral or electronic coda.

Arrangement

Layered logic: every 8–16 bars an element enters or leaves (hat, percussion, Rhodes, horns). The solos are played live over a constant backing track.

Mixing and mastering

Sonic Goal

Club but warm: solid, clean bass and kick as in electronic music, jazz instruments with their acoustic breath, samples with a "vinyl" character, space and depth for the horns. References: St Germain — Rose Rouge, The Cinematic Orchestra — To Build a Home (acoustic version) and All That You Give, Jazzanova — 2000s productions, Yussef Kamaal — Black Focus. Loudness: club −10/−8 LUFS; downtempo −13/−10.

Kick

HP 30 Hz; 50–70 Hz +2 dB; 300 Hz −3 dB; 2–4 kHz +1 dB; light compression/clipper; center, mono.

Snare and Clap

HP 120 Hz; 200 Hz body; 4–6 kHz crack; "sampler" saturation (12-bit bitcrusher at 20–30% mix for the SP-1200 effect); plate/room 0.8–1.2 s.

Hi-Hat, Ride, and Percussion

HP 400 Hz; swing; hat pan 20%, percussion 40–70%; sampled jazz ride HP 300 Hz, LP 12 kHz.

Bass

Sampled upright bass: HP 40 Hz; 80–100 Hz; −3 dB at 220 Hz; +2 dB at 800 Hz. Synth/sub bass: HP 25 Hz; mono below 120 Hz; light sidechain from the kick (2–3 dB) in house.

Rhodes and Pads

Rhodes: HP 80 Hz; −2 dB at 300 Hz; presence 2 kHz; stereo tremolo; compression 2–3 dB. Pads: HP 200 Hz; wide; sidechain 2–3 dB from the kick in house tracks.

Horns and Flute

• Trumpet: HP 120 Hz; −2 dB at 1 kHz if nasal; presence 2–3 kHz; compression 3 dB; dotted-eighth delay (feedback 30–40%, filtered HP 300 Hz LP 4 kHz) and hall 2–3 s.
• Sax: HP 90 Hz; −2 dB at 400 Hz; presence 2 kHz; compression 3 dB.
• Flute: HP 250 Hz; air 8–12 kHz; de-esser for the breath noise.

Vocals

HP 90 Hz; 300 Hz −2 dB; 3 kHz +2 dB; compression 4–5 dB; plate 1.5–2 s; filtered tempo-synced delay.

Samples

EQ to fit them in the mix (HP 100–150 Hz if they have their own low end); tape saturation; crackle at −30/−35 dBFS as glue.

FX

Dub delay with high feedback and automated filters, long reverbs on the horns, filters on the music bus in the breakdowns, "tape stop" effects.

Buses and Groups

Drum bus (glue 2:1 2–3 dB, saturation), jazz instrument bus (1–2 dB), sample bus.

Sidechain

Bass and pads from the kick (2–4 dB) in house tracks; no sidechain in downtempo.

Master

Chain: EQ (HP 25 Hz) – compressor 2:1 1–2 dB – tape – limiter. Target club −9/−8 LUFS, downtempo −12/−10, true peak −1 dBTP.

Common Mistakes

Acoustic instruments crushed by an "EDM" master, samples with no character, too much low end between the upright bass and the sub, unfiltered dub delays that fill the mix.

Mix Reference Tracks

St Germain — Rose Rouge; The Cinematic Orchestra — All That You Give; Jazzanova — Theme from Belle et Fou; Nils Petter Molvær — Khmer; Yussef Kamaal — Strings of Light.

Reference listening

• Bugge Wesseltoft — New Conception of Jazz (album, 1996)
• Nils Petter Molvær — Khmer (1997)
• 4hero — Two Pages (album, 1998)
• St Germain — Rose Rouge (2000)
• St Germain — So Flute (2000)
• Nicola Conte — Jet Sounds (album, 2000)
• The Cinematic Orchestra — All That You Give (2002)
• Jazzanova — In Between (album, 2002)
• Koop — Koop Island Blues (2006)
• The Cinematic Orchestra — To Build a Home (2007)
• Yussef Kamaal — Black Focus (album, 2016)