Jazz-Jungle fusion in 1995 DnB borrowed chord textures but not improvisational process, producing what Reynolds called 'fuzak'

A major 1995 DnB trend was explicit reinvocation of 1970s jazz-fusion — lambent textures, jazzy cadences, smooth melodic overlays. Reynolds argues this ‘jazz’ signifies ‘flava not process’: no actual improvisation-combustion, just a specific set of chord sequences that connote sophistication and upward mobility in a British Black tradition. The result, typified by DJ Krust’s ‘Jazz Note’ or LTJ Bukem’s oceanic ambience, he terms ‘fuzak’ — functional muzak with a jazz sheen. The critique is analytically productive: it distinguishes surface genre signifiers (chord colour) from generative process (improvisation), a distinction applicable to any genre that ‘borrows’ from jazz, soul or classical music.

Examples

Artists like E-Z Rollers pioneered the style with jazz-tinged chords over ‘float-like-a-butterfly breakbeats.’ What began as distinctive — ‘mellow mellifluousness’ — quickly became a hegemony of ‘tepid tastefulness.’ LTJ Bukem’s ‘Horizons’ represents the endpoint: oceanic synth-arpeggios and maya angelou poetry, described by Reynolds as ‘closer to jacuzzi than gulf-stream.‘

Assessment

Distinguish between borrowing a genre’s sonic markers and borrowing its generative process. Apply this distinction to jazz-Jungle and one other cross-genre borrowing you know. Why might a critic call smooth jazz-influenced DnB ‘depoliticising’?