interview

And hasn’t it been a long wait? Five years to be precise, since their first groundbreaking 12" ‘Fedime’s Flight’ was released on the newly born Jazzanova Compost Records and, although few realised it at the time, the term ‘new jazz’ was born. But hey, that’s not Jazzanova’s fault, it’s just that they’d done something new and fresh, and it bore the hallmarks of jazz. Genrification (sic) is nothing if not frighteningly literal. The intricacy, musicality, and swing of jazz; not to mention Latin, Brazilian, soul, and funk, had found itself brought bang up to date with contemporary production sensibilities and dancefloor suss. People, rightly, got excited, and awaited the album. And waited. And then, dangling the jazz carrot ever more tantalisingly, Jazzanova went and put out a remix album instead.

"We had a long discussion about the ‘K+D effect’, where you do the remixes first", says Jazzanova’s Alexander Barck, remarkably laid back considering there’s literally a queue of journalists waiting to talk to them. "I think it’s a good idea, somehow the idea of this time, how the second view of things can sometimes be more important than the original. It also bought us a bit more time to finish the album. You have to be ready to do that, and we didn’t feel ready. When we sometimes work for three or four months to finish a remix, how long will it take us to do an album of thirteen songs?"

Suppressing thoughts of the Grolsch advert (Stop! This jazz isn’t ready yet!), its worth remembering that ‘Jazzanova: The Remixes 1997-2000’ contained more innovation than many artists manage in a lifetime, and has now sold over 100,000 copies. It not only spread the Jazzanova name like wildfire, it pre-empted the distinct possibility that if they didn’t release it, someone else would capitalise on their painstaking remix work.

That done, thoughts turn towards their album, the real proof of how much difference they can make, and whether that ‘jazz thang’ is gonna remain in the select hands of Straight No Chaser, and Giles and co. or really make it’s mark on the mainstream.

I don’t know what you expected, but ‘In Between’ is a bloody marvel. It’s also somewhat of a surprise. The awesome last single ‘That Night/Days To Come’ isn’t even on there – "that was a present for the people" said Alex on Radio 1 recently – but a new standard for, amongst other things, new jazz, is. With bells on.

"We always want to make people surprised" says Alex, turning out to be the main spokesman for six assembled Jazzanova members, "then realise that they are hearing something special, not just for this LP, but for everything. It’s a very good reaction, I have to say. If they are surprised they are more likely to be shaken awake to get it. That’s what we want because there are so many possibilities in music, so many CDs to buy, that even if you have a name, it’s hard to be noticed by more people than knew you at first."

‘In Between’ is the record to do that. Heavily vocal based, with universally superb contributions from Vikter Duplaix, Ursula Rucker, Capitol A, Clara Hill, and Valerie Etienne amongst others, it’s far from ‘Fedime’s Flight’, or for that matter ‘That Night’, times thirteen. Changing tempos and rhythms with almost bewildering pace and ease, it moves ‘in between’ the styles of music that we are familiar with. What is this music? It’s brand new, and it encompasses everything without sounding like any of it. As Alex says, "There is no real concept, maybe only that it is just music that we feel."

That feeling has been with them from day one, when they not only set about releasing records, but they began setting up the Sonar Kollektiv of labels, musicians, and DJs in Berlin for people who were into soulful, complex modern music, when trance and techno ruled the roost. They never contemplated 100,000 LP sales, but they knew they could make a difference.

"From the beginning", says Jurgen Von Knoblauch, "when we did those first three tunes, the way we all worked together for those years, we thought ‘yes, there is something possible with this way of working’. We knew there was the potential to start something, and we wouldn’t have gone on if we didn’t have this feeling."

Having had the mantle of spearheading a new sound thrust upon them, Jazzanova realise the pressure this entails, but enforce the fact that they are only part of a growing worldwide family.

"Definitely we feel the pressure", says Jurgen. " But the good thing is we are six, so we can talk about it and share it between us".

"The most important thing is not to make a record", follows Alex, "but to make others try to do it. We are in our little corner, and there are all the others. It is still small; maybe you can count it on the fingers of two hands! I have the feeling though, that the whole thing can cross over, and if we or others can open the door, then many more can pass through this corridor. We will try to push the door as far open as we can, to make it possible for interesting and complex music to enter the world! It sounds a bit strange but it is like that. Even back in 1996 we felt that our music can be played on radios everywhere, and I feel it is a very interesting period for good music right now."

Masters of the understatement to the end Jazzanova are about to give that door a damn good kicking, with ‘In Between’ as the fresh air ready to rush in. Something’s missing? Not any more. The final piece of the Jazzanova puzzle is here, and the big picture was well worth the wait.

(This article originally appeared in IDJ magazine)