Roots of Acid Jazz was compiled by people who have only a passing knowledge with acid jazz and believe that any old jazz record can be reworked into a jazz/hip-hop/dance fusion. Of course, that isn't true, as anyone trying to sample Dizzy Gillespie's "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac" will be likely to tell you. Most of
Roots of Acid Jazz is comprised of similar hard-bop which skirts at the edge of funky soul jazz. A lot of major artists are on the compilation, to be sure -- including
Stanley Turrentine,
Sonny Rollins,
Keith Jarrett,
Quincy Jones,
Coleman Hawkins,
Yusef Lateef,
Shirley Horn, and
Pharoah Sanders -- but very little of this music will appeal to its target audience of acid jazz, hip-hop and groove fans.