- Man Jumping
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Famously described by Brian Eno as 'the most important band in the world'[citation needed], Man Jumping were formed in England in the mid-1980s from the members of Lost Jockey who were variously described as playing 'systems music' (which refers to the repetitive musical loops and themes of avant garde US composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass and Terry Riley) or 'systems funk'.
The band formed Man Jumping to get away from that tag. Instead they drew on jazz fusion, ethnic musics, electronics and funk to create an alternative world dance music from a heady mix of influences (keyboardist Orlando Gough said in an interview in March 1985, 'I suppose there is some kind of nebulous central core of ideas, which may to do with us all having come out of systems music and our interest in foreign music but actually we are influenced by Steely Dan, James Blood Ulmer, Bach, Beethoven').
A demo produced by Mike Hedges led to a contract with Bill Nelson's Cocteau Records who released their first album Jump Cut in early 1985. Produced by Philip Bagenal, it attracted rave reviews. Time Out said, "Man Jumping merge the exacting algebra of systems music with the warmth, wit and passion of dance music and, in their own small way, are revolutionary, unique. I adore this album".
A series of 12" remixes whilst immaculately produced, failed to fully crossover to the nascent dance scene of the era however.
The original LP with the additional 12"s and alternative mixes was reissued in 1999 on the Shaping the Invisible label (since deleted but available again on the Carbon 7 label).
A long out-of-print second album appeared on vinyl (and briefly on CD) on EG Records in 1987 entitled World Service. Less organic than its predecessor and more obviously electronic, it occupies a similar space to The Penguin Cafe Orchestra (of imagined ethnic music from the Tropics and Eastern Europe) and the Miles Davis 80s electric work with Marcus Miller.
Of the band's members, John Lunn and Orlando Gough went on to have the most visible solo careers - Lunn in television music, and Gough as composer for multi-disciplinary a capella group The Shout and music for dance companies. Despite many apparent requests, Gough has stated that he has no interest in reforming Man Jumping.
External links
- Man Jumping at Allmusic
- 1996 Interview with Orlando Gough
- Cocteau records at www.billnelsonmusic.com
See also
Categories:- British electronic music groups
- World fusion groups
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