Pictured: United Vibrations (Photo courtesy of United Vibrations)
The intriguing thing about jazz in the UK in the 21st century is its social activism. It is not sitting in the clouds preaching; it is on the ground building social projects to produce meaningful change.
"Some of our lyrics are about trying to walk the walk, not just talk the talk", says Kareem Dayes of United Vibrations, a band with strong jazz crossovers. "I’ve been inspired by people like Bob Marley and Fela Kuti in terms of having a message in the music, but we don’t want to stop there – we want to do something."
For United Vibrations, social change was a key goal when the 4-piece formed in 2009. With the support of their parents, three brothers Kareem, Yussef and Ahmad Dayes, and friend Wayne Francis, set up their own label with profits from their first EP going to creating a community land trust to build sustainable housing called R.U.S.S.
Having recently won a contract from Lewisham council, they are about to embark on the huge project of building 30 homes in the borough of Ladywell with the aim of not only regenerating energy and resources, but also a sense of community.
"Ultimately for all of us, we want to live in a way that is not embedded in some kind of global violence" says Kareem, "so growing our own food, producing our own energy and living in a way that has a beneficial footprint on the planet and isn’t toxic and destructive, which is the paradigm we’re on at the minute in London. This is the meaning behind their track 'Grow' from their latest album The Myth of the Golden Ratio.
"It all comes from the fact that we’re Londoners at the end of the day and this is recognising our place in the world and that we are integrally plugged into a system of violence. Instead of fighting against that, it’s about becoming absent from that and creating something new which is embedded in the earth."
Since 2008, world-renowned saxophonist and rapper Soweto Kinch has been responsible for five Flyover Shows. These are festivals staged underneath motorway flyovers in his native Birmingham. The purpose is to move so called "high art" from its traditional space to inspire neglected urban areas, thus "restoring pride, social possibility and creative opportunity", not least through a series of workshops to engage local youth.
The concept has proved so popular that Kinch plans to take the show worldwide to inspire other urban communities. He is a key figure in the new front with this bold experimentation and outspoken personality (his most recent album The Legend of Mike Smith spans 41 tracks and includes hip hop, spoken word, and jazz inspired by the seven deadly sins and Dante's 'Inferno').
He also must be one of the few jazz musicians to hold a degree in modern history from Oxford University.
Fresh Chapter
Both Kinch and United Vibrations are emblematic of a fresh chapter in jazz which looks to have real tangible impact on society. Just as this music traverses genres, so it attempts to bypass the negative social constructs which have been built.
What is happening in the UK jazz scene is not a resuscitation, or even a second, third, or fourth coming, since many would argue that jazz never went away.
But, among this new breed of musicians, there is something honest. They don’t resist traditions for the sake of it; the old masters are just as revered as they ever were. And while there are crossovers into other, more modern genres, the purpose is not to pander to fashion, but simply to test new sonic landscapes in the best experimental traditions of Coltrane and Davis.
To the new front, jazz is not something to bring up to date. For them it is neither modern, nor old-fashioned. Jazz simply is...
BBC Radio 3's 'Jazz Now', hosted by Soweto Kinch, Emma Smith and Al Ryan, airs every Monday night at 11pm
Macho Zapp would like to sincerely thank all those who contributed to Reawakening:
Zuri Jarrett-Boswell
BBC Radio 3
Alexandra Heybourne
Madeleine Castell
Fran Muro
Binkler and Moses
Theon Cross
Gearbox Records
Al Ryan
Emma Smith
Wozzy Brewster
Kareem Dayes
Jazz Refreshed
Mark Gilbert
(and the bouncer at Mau Mau)