Brassy New Sound of Acid Jazz

A saxophonist and a guitarist, members of a group called Jive Five, play jazzy riffs as a deejay lays down thumping hip-hop beats.

An eclectic crowd of collegians, Bohemians and gangster wanna-bes stands silently by in a dark, secret nightspot location, a second-floor venue in a seedy part of Hollywood.

The odd scene is a recent staging of Brass, a nightclub that brings together rap, funk, reggae and jazz under the title “acid jazz.”

Brass resembles a scene of bold performance art: Because of hipper-than-thou peer pressure, the crowd nods in approval.

But is L. A. really ready for this?

“We sort of forgot about live funk in America,” said Brass co-promoter Orlando Aguillen, who also signs artists for Delicious Vinyl, a local rap label. “But over in France and England they were savoring it.”

“We’re trying to bring that whole vibe out,” he said. “We’re saying, ‘This is the way we feel, we hope you feel the same way.’ ”

Around for more than a year, Brass does pack them in.

At the recent event there were more people and cigarette smoke than the fire marshal would ever stand for.

But, these cap-wearing, parka-sporting people only start dancing when the artsy acid-jazz collaboration of the evening ends and the deejay-spun hip-hop portion begins.

“I’m into hip-hop and rap,” said club-goer Trag McCallun, 24. “This is too artsy.”

Yet the attempt to bring live funk to Los Angeles was not lost on much of the crowd.

“I love acid jazz,” said Andrew Raphael, a 26-year-old native of New York City, as he held a $3 cup of spiked punch (punch, mixed with some unidentified liquor, and beer were the menu).

“It’s a great mix of music that you don’t hear anywhere else in Los Angeles.”

Actually, you do. Acid jazz is being heard more and more around the Southland--at Blowfish (Friday nights at Kelbo’s in West Los Angeles) and in San Diego where a Brass night was held last month.

The form of music, as Aguillen pointed out, has roots in recent European interpretations of American funk. Acid jazz began to take hold in New York and Los Angeles in 1990 as the Giant Step club on the East Coast and One Giant Step in Southern California (an occasional club organized by Brass) collaborated to bring the sound to America.

Now Aguillen and his co-promoters, two deejays, plan to bring Brass to a yet-to-be-announced Hollywood club every Thursday night. Brass organizers are also trying to stage the club once a month in San Diego and occasionally in San Francisco.

Indeed, it looks like the West Coast hipsters are ready for this phenomenon, even if all they do is gawk with jaws ajar.

Club Notes: Death has come to Truth, the twice-monthly club at the Park Plaza Hotel that was one of the first underground-style spots in Los Angeles.

But promoters Brad X. of the Artist Groove Network and Steve of Moonshine have only, in effect, changed its name and locale.

Now the truth can be told at Orbit, to be held at the Variety Arts Center in downtown Los Angeles every Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. for those 21 and over.

The club will feature deejays Dom T., in town from London, John Williams and Michael Cook. Information: (213) 243-9994.

Name: Brass. To be held temporarily at 912 S. San Pedro in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. Promoters are negotiating for a new locale in Hollywood that would house the club every Thursday night. For more information, call (213) 557-4949.

Cover: $10. Must be 21.

Door Policy: May change from night to night. Having a pulse was all that was required for admission during a recent Brass event.