A few months ago, Stormy Monday ran a first volume of the Ghosts of Jambands Past featuring a selection of scene staples from the turn of the century that are no longer with us, bands like Ominous Seapods and Percy Hill. This second installment focuses on the new groove/nu jazz/acid jazz revival movement.

The late 90’s and early 00’s was a golden era for the groove, when backbeats were thumping and the bass was funky, B-3 solos stretched for miles and lavish horn arrangements were the order of the day. Within that world, bands tended to fall into two loose categories- those that crushed the groove, and those that tended to push boundaries, drawing more from Miles Davis-style fusion than from Grant Green.

Addison Groove Project, Boston’s best and brightest, made a name for itself as the former, but in the later years, especially around the time bassist John Hall passed away from cancer, the band began to venture into more open-ended territory, increasingly relying on Rob Marscher’s exceptional keyboard work, as on the opening track, Neo-Geo. By contrast, critic’s choice Fat Mama used to bill itself as inspired by Miles Davis albums like Dark Magus, and their Blood Born Pathogens is a decidedly twisted take on a classic afrobeat idea. It starts out with heavy flourishes that might seem at home in The Budos Band, but it quickly becomes clear that something is very different is going on.

Read on for the rest of the track list…

Next up is John Scofield doing what was really a defining tune for his band(s) from the immediate post A-Go-Go days right up to 2003, when the band was put on the shelf: Jungle Fiction. It was a staple for years, going unnamed until the unfortunately titled Uberjam album, and this version is from 2003, featuring the core trio (Sco, Adam Deitch on drums and Avi Bortnick on rhythm guitar and effects) plus Gov’t Mule bassist Andy Hess, who took over for Jesse Murphy in the later years.

Now Zero doesn’t exactly fit the mold here- wrong coast, wrong time period (having its heyday in the mid 90’s), and this cut even comes from last year (the ban having reformed for a few short tours and festival gigs). But there is no doubt that the band could get down and freak out with best of them, so in honor of Mrtin Fierro who died last week, we close out with a stunning Greg’s Eggs from outside Grand Central Station on a gorgeous Saturday morning last Earth Day. Meester babbling while the song took shape, screaming up through the concrete canyons- man, it just doesn’t get any better. This is a great one. As always, enjoy!