Gota - Day & Night

Acid Jazz Album - Gota - Day & Night
After setting the smooth-jazz world ablaze in early 1999 with his second Album, Let's Get Started, drummer and studio musician Gota Yashiki returns with another solid album that effortlessly bridges the gap between the English acid jazz-funk movement and the American smooth jazz scene.

From the sly reference to Curtis Mayfield on "Around the Corner," to the obvious Tower of Power tribute on "What's Up, Charlie," Gota waves the 1970s funk flag high throughout Day and Night. He also keeps a prevailing acid-groove bed, with a smooth-jazz sheen as a covering.

"Sweet Emotion" is a perfect example of Gota's mix. It starts off with a motif straight out of Stevie Wonder before Gota's perfectly programmed percussion kicks off a funky midtempo beat that immediately leads to a sweet sax line that builds into a radio friendly hook taken in unison with a synthesizer that leads to a nice melodic guitar solo.

Former Brand New Heavies keyboardist Neal Cowley shines throughout as Gota spreads his musical wealth around among some great players from the U.K. Even though the last track is a ballad, this is a record that builds in intensity and emotion from the first few smoother tracks to the latter more acidic stuff.

1. Cruisin' Your Way
2. Around The Corner
3. All Together Now
4. Unforgettable Feeling
5. Sweet Memories
6. Day & Night
7. Sunnyside
8. Sweet Emotion
9. What's Up Charlie?
10. Chase In The Urban Jungle
11. In The Past

Gota's Homepage
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What is Acid Jazz?

Acid jazz (also known as club jazz) is a musical genre that combines elements of soul music, funk, disco, particularly looping beats and modal harmony. It developed over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance/pop music.

The compositions of groups such as The Brand New Heavies and Incognito often feature chord structures usually associated with Jazz music. The Heavies in particular were known in their early years for beginning their songs as catchy pop and rapidly steering them into jazz territory before "resolving" the composition and thus not losing any pop listeners but successfully "exposing" them to jazz elements in "baby steps".

The acid jazz "movement" is also seen as a "revival" of jazz-funk or jazz fusion or soul jazz by leading DJs such as Norman Jay or Gilles Peterson or Patrick Forge, also known as "rare groove crate diggers".