gaz66

Yes it's really sad, Mark did go way too early. He was always amazing. I have played with Shawn a couple of times. He played drums on some tracks on two projects I did after I left JTQ- The Super-Phonics and The Sound Stylistics. Jan from the Heavies also did some drums on The Super-Phonics album. Shawn is an incredible musician and he's great on all instruments.

The great thing about the Acid Jazz scene in the 90's was that a lot of the bands who were hardly household names could go out and play to a 1000 or more people up and down the country and do proper tours and actually make a living from it. There really was a great scene and a lot of people were into it. In all the bands there was great scope for playing and trying stuff out. I doubt that could happen again as the business has changed so much and there are nowhere near as many venues out there or people buying music.

I think Incognito came out of the Brit-Funk scene [ Beggar & Co, Light of the world etc..] and became associated with acid jazz when they signed with Giles's Talking Loud label and released "Always There" which became a hit in 1991 [ JTQ actually did a version of that tune on "Do your own thing" in 89/90 which predates the Incog version and has similar horn arrangements ]. Some of the more well known "acid jazz" bands existed a few years before the label such as the Heavies, Push/Galliano, JTQ and Incognito when it was the Rare Groove scene and others came along once Acid Jazz the label was established such as Mother Earth, Corduroy, Sandals and Jamiroquai etc..

Acid Jazz really came out of the rare groove scene that was happening in the mid/late 80's and bands like Push and the Heavies were part of that. In fact the first Acid Jazz release was a single by Rob Galliano called "Frederick lies still" in 1988. Chris Bangs did come up with the name as Meterman says but Eddie Piller really established the genre and label and was the real force behind it all. James Taylor Quartet didn't appear on the Acid Jazz label until 1995 with the "Hand of the inevitable "album having previously been on Polydor and then Big Life records. There was loads of stuff being put out in those early days and the Totally Wired compilation albums on Acid Jazz have a lot of interesting bands on them. The label itself is still running and releasing new material.

As mentioned James didn't found the label Acid jazz. It was founded by Eddie Piller and Giles, but totally run by Eddie from around 1990. That album was a fair bit before Andy McKinney's time and was recorded in 1995. I played in the band from 1990-2007 and played on that record.

You're correct about the sticker BlueMoon, although many don't have them as well. Burns are quite random with serial numbers and stickers but it's definitely a mid '64 as the Bison was changed in late '64 and looks quite different. The controls are a four position selector, an A&B selector, volume and tone. A BlueMoon says "Wild Dog" is one selection and probably the least useful! Very thin and out of phase.

That's in a sad state, but yes that's a 1964 Burns Bison. I have one and the serial number is also in the 5000"s. The tuners aren't original, they should be the black Van Ghent ones and it's missing the headstock badge, bridge cover and mute assembly. The polyester finish did crack and come off a lot on these so I guess it made sense at the time to strip it back. It would certainly be a project and spares are very rare. The electronics on these are complicated, I can let you know what each setting is supposed to do. Does it work? I'd be interested to see some more detailed photos.

Graham bought my Arion Flanger. Nice prompt payment and an easy transaction. Recommended. Gary