Nu jazz

{{Short description|Music genre combining jazz and electronic music}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}}

{{Infobox music genre | name = Nu jazz | image = The cinematic orchestra.JPG | caption = The Cinematic Orchestra performing in 2009 | stylistic_origins = Jazz, electronic music, acid jazz, jazz fusion, jazz-funk, downtempo, house music, techno, trip hop, ambient music, jazz rap, breakbeat | cultural_origins = Early to mid-1990s; Europe, Japan and North America | instruments = Saxophone, trumpet, piano, electric piano, synthesizer, sampler, turntables, drum machine, bass guitar, double bass, drum kit, laptop | derivatives = Electro swing, broken beat, future jazz | fusiongenres = Jazztronica, jazz house, nu soul, trip hop, downtempo | regional_scenes = United Kingdom, France, Germany, Norway, Japan, United States, Brazil | other_topics = Acid jazz · Jazz-funk · Jazz rap · Ninja Tune · ECM Records }}

'''Nu jazz''', also written '''nü jazz''' and sometimes called '''jazztronica''', '''future jazz''' or '''electro-jazz''', is a broad music genre that combines elements of jazz with electronic music, funk, soul, hip hop, house music, techno, downtempo, ambient music and other forms of contemporary popular music. It emerged during the 1990s and early 2000s as musicians, producers and DJs began using jazz harmony, improvisation and instrumentation within electronic and club-oriented production.<ref name="jazztimes">{{cite web |url=https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/jazztronica-a-brief-history-of-the-future-of-jazz/ |title=Jazztronica: A Brief History of the Future of Jazz |last=Nicholson |first=Stuart |website=JazzTimes |date=17 September 2024 |access-date=31 May 2026}}</ref>

Nu jazz is generally more electronic and studio-based than acid jazz, although the two styles overlap. Acid jazz is usually rooted in jazz-funk, soul, rare groove and live-band funk, while nu jazz often places greater emphasis on electronic textures, sampling, programming, atmospheric production and hybrid forms of jazz performance.<ref name="jazztimes" />

The term has been applied to a wide range of artists, including St Germain, Jazzanova, The Cinematic Orchestra, Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Petter Molvær, Jaga Jazzist, Bonobo, Matthew Shipp, Squarepusher, Koop, Fertile Ground, The Dining Rooms, Nostalgia 77, Skalpel, Lamb and others. Because of its wide stylistic range, nu jazz is often understood less as a single fixed genre and more as an umbrella term for the meeting point between jazz and post-1980s electronic music.

== Terminology == The phrase ''nu jazz'' is a stylized form of “new jazz”. The spelling ''nü jazz'' was also used in the 1990s and 2000s, reflecting the influence of electronic music and club culture. The related term ''jazztronica'' emphasizes the fusion of jazz with electronic instruments, sequencing, sampling and digital production.

The term ''future jazz'' has been especially associated with European scenes, including Scandinavian electronic jazz and German club-oriented jazz. These labels are not always used consistently: one artist may be described as nu jazz, jazztronica, future jazz, jazz house, downtempo, broken beat or electronic jazz depending on the context.

== Characteristics == Nu jazz is defined by the combination of jazz-derived musical language with electronic or contemporary production techniques. It may include live improvisation, extended harmony, modal melodies, acoustic instruments and jazz rhythm, but also programmed beats, samples, loops, synthesizers, digital editing and DJ techniques.

Common features include: * use of jazz harmony, modal melodies and extended chords; * combination of acoustic instruments with electronic production; * programmed drums, breakbeats, house rhythms or downtempo grooves; * sampling of older jazz, soul, funk or soundtrack records; * live improvisation placed inside loop-based or studio-built structures; * atmospheric sound design and ambient textures; * use of turntables, laptops, samplers and sequencers alongside traditional jazz instruments; * influence from club culture, hip hop, techno, house, trip hop and drum and bass.

Nu jazz varies widely in sound. Some artists, such as St Germain and Jazzanova, are closer to jazz house, deep house and club music. Others, such as The Cinematic Orchestra, use live jazz performance, orchestral textures and cinematic arrangements. Scandinavian musicians such as Bugge Wesseltoft and Nils Petter Molvær often combine improvisation with electronics, ambient music and Nordic jazz traditions.

== History ==

=== Precursors === The roots of nu jazz can be traced to earlier experiments in jazz fusion, electric jazz, jazz-funk and studio-based jazz. During the late 1960s and 1970s, musicians such as Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Weather Report, Sun Ra, Tony Williams and Ornette Coleman expanded jazz through electric instruments, rock rhythm, funk grooves, synthesizers and studio manipulation.

These earlier developments did not yet constitute nu jazz, but they helped make electronic sound, electric instruments and cross-genre experimentation acceptable within jazz. Later, hip hop producers and club DJs also played a major role by sampling jazz records and reintroducing jazz sounds to new audiences.

=== 1990s emergence === Nu jazz became more clearly visible in the 1990s, when electronic producers and jazz musicians began to work more directly across genre boundaries. The growth of sampling, affordable digital production tools, club culture and independent electronic labels created a space in which jazz could be reshaped through modern production.

In France, St Germain became one of the most widely known artists associated with the style. Blue Note described Ludovic Navarre, who records as St Germain, as a producer who pursued a fusion of jazz and house music.<ref name="bluenote">{{cite web |url=https://www.bluenote.com/artist/st-germain/ |title=St Germain |website=Blue Note Records |access-date=31 May 2026}}</ref> His album ''Tourist'' became one of the most commercially visible examples of jazz-influenced electronic music at the turn of the century.

In Germany, Jazzanova developed a collective approach that combined DJ culture, remixing, production, radio programming, live performance, funk, jazz, disco, Latin music and soul.<ref name="jazzanova">{{cite web |url=https://www.jazzanova.com/ |title=Jazzanova |website=Jazzanova |access-date=31 May 2026}}</ref> The group became one of the key names in European club jazz, future jazz and nu jazz.

In the United Kingdom, labels such as Ninja Tune helped develop a related sound through artists who combined jazz, hip hop, downtempo, sampling and experimental electronic music. The Cinematic Orchestra, formed by Jason Swinscoe, became one of the most important groups associated with this area of the genre. A 2000 profile in ''The Guardian'' described the group’s process as recording live jazz sessions and then sampling, sequencing and stretching those sources into new forms.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2000/sep/27/artsfeatures8 |title=Cinematic Orchestra |website=The Guardian |date=27 September 2000 |access-date=31 May 2026}}</ref>

=== Scandinavian future jazz === A separate but related strand developed in Norway and other parts of Scandinavia. Bugge Wesseltoft’s project New Conception of Jazz was especially important in combining live jazz with electronic club music. Wesseltoft’s official site describes the project as blending electronic club music and live jazz, and as a leading figure in electronic jazz.<ref name="bugge">{{cite web |url=https://www.buggewesseltoft.com/ncoj |title=New Conception Of Jazz 2016 |website=Bugge Wesseltoft |access-date=31 May 2026}}</ref>

Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær also became central to the development of atmospheric electronic jazz, combining trumpet improvisation with ambient music, programmed rhythm, rock textures and studio processing. Groups such as Jaga Jazzist expanded this approach into large-ensemble forms, blending jazz, post-rock, electronics and progressive music.

=== 2000s and later development === During the 2000s, nu jazz spread into several related styles, including broken beat, jazz house, downtempo, trip hop, future jazz, electro swing, nu soul and parts of experimental hip hop. It also overlapped with the work of artists associated with labels such as Ninja Tune, Compost Records, Sonar Kollektiv, Jazzland Recordings and !K7.

By the 2010s and 2020s, the term ''nu jazz'' was used less frequently as a fashionable label, but its ideas became widely absorbed into contemporary jazz and electronic music. Many modern jazz artists now use electronics, sampling, hip hop rhythms, loops and production techniques without necessarily being labelled nu jazz.

== Relationship with other genres ==

=== Acid jazz === Acid jazz was an important predecessor and close relative of nu jazz. Acid jazz is usually more strongly rooted in 1970s jazz-funk, soul, rare groove and live funk performance. Nu jazz tends to move further toward electronic production, ambient textures, sampling and digital sound design.

=== Jazz-funk === Jazz-funk provided many of the rhythmic and harmonic foundations for nu jazz. Funk bass lines, electric keyboards, horn arrangements and danceable grooves were central to both acid jazz and many early forms of nu jazz.

=== Jazz house === Jazz house is a club-oriented form that combines house music rhythms with jazz chords, samples or instrumental solos. Artists such as St Germain and Jazzanova have often been associated with this area.

=== Trip hop === Trip hop and nu jazz share an interest in sampling, atmosphere, downtempo rhythm and jazz-influenced harmony. Trip hop is usually darker and more cinematic, while nu jazz often retains a stronger connection to jazz performance and improvisation.

=== Broken beat === Broken beat developed in London in the late 1990s and 2000s, drawing on jazz, soul, funk, house, drum and bass and electronic production. It overlaps with nu jazz in its use of complex rhythm, jazz harmony and club culture.

=== Jazz rap === Jazz rap combines hip hop lyricism with jazz samples, live jazz instrumentation and jazz-influenced production. Nu jazz can overlap with jazz rap, but it is usually broader and may be instrumental, electronic or club-based rather than MC-centred.

== Notable artists == * St Germain * Jazzanova * The Cinematic Orchestra * Bugge Wesseltoft * Nils Petter Molvær * Jaga Jazzist * Bonobo * Koop * Matthew Shipp * Fertile Ground * Nostalgia 77 * Skalpel * The Dining Rooms * Trüby Trio * DJ Cam * Squarepusher * Spring Heel Jack * Carl Craig * Innerzone Orchestra * Club des Belugas * The Comet Is Coming * Moses Boyd * Flying Lotus

== Notable albums == * ''New Conception of Jazz'' — Bugge Wesseltoft (1996) * ''Boulevard'' — St Germain (1995) * ''Tourist'' — St Germain (2000) * ''Motion'' — The Cinematic Orchestra (1999) * ''Every Day'' — The Cinematic Orchestra (2002) * ''In Between'' — Jazzanova (2002) * ''A Livingroom Hush'' — Jaga Jazzist (2001) * ''Khmer'' — Nils Petter Molvær (1997) * ''Waltz for Koop'' — Koop (2001) * ''Skalpel'' — Skalpel (2004) * ''Dial 'M' for Monkey'' — Bonobo (2003) * ''Black Sands'' — Bonobo (2010) * ''You're Dead!'' — Flying Lotus (2014)

== Influence == Nu jazz helped normalize the use of electronics within contemporary jazz. It showed that jazz could exist outside the traditional club, concert-hall or small-combo format, and could instead operate within electronic production, DJ culture, sampling, remixing and dance music.

Its influence can be heard in modern jazz scenes that freely combine improvisation with hip hop, broken beat, ambient music, house, techno and experimental production. It also contributed to a wider understanding of jazz as a flexible language rather than a fixed historical style.

== References == {{reflist}}

== External links == * [https://jazztimes.com/features/profiles/jazztronica-a-brief-history-of-the-future-of-jazz/ Jazztronica: A Brief History of the Future of Jazz — JazzTimes] * [https://www.bluenote.com/artist/st-germain/ St Germain — Blue Note Records] * [https://www.jazzanova.com/ Jazzanova — official website] * [https://www.buggewesseltoft.com/ncoj New Conception of Jazz — Bugge Wesseltoft] * [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_cinematic_orchestra.JPG The cinematic orchestra.JPG — Wikimedia Commons]

Category:Nu jazz Category:Jazz genres Category:Electronic music genres Category:Fusion music genres Category:Downtempo Category:1990s in music Category:2000s in music