As much as I hate to parrot Simon Reynolds,
here's another origin theory (pulled out of
a list archive):
<<Generation Ecstasy P.257:
'Even the name "jungle" comes from Jamaica (as does its more baldly
descriptive synonym, "drum and bass"). According to MC Navigator from
London's ruling pirate station Kool FM, "jungle" comes from "junglist", and
was first heard in 1991 as a sample used by Rebel MC (who pioneered British
hip-house in the early nineties, then formed the proto-jungle label X
Project). "Rebel got this chant - 'alla the junglists' - from a yard tape,"
Navigator told me, referring to the sound-system mix tapes imported from
Jamaica. (Yard is a slang term for Kingston and the root of "yardie", a
hustler or hoodlum.) There's a place in Kingston called Tivoli Gardens, and
the people call it the Jungle. When you hear on a yard tape the MC sending a
big-up to 'alla the junglists,' they're calling out a posse from Tivoli.
When Rebel sampled that, the people cottoned on, and soon they started to
call the music "Jungle."'>>
Additionally (I'm not sure if Reynolds gets into
it or not), 'jungle' has been around as both a
musical adjective and noun since the 1940s. I
don't really know anything about jazz but I think
the term started during Duke Ellington's "jungle
period" (e.g. 'Jungle Money' LP) in the 40s. It
described a particularly frenetic, funky, 'African'
style of rhythm. The term was racist and derogatory
by the 1950s. People would frequently deride the
nascient rock 'n roll as Afrocentric 'jungle music.'
I have no idea how this old use of the term
relates (if at all) to the current sense (drum 'n
bass), but there's obviously some parallels there,
in both the funky syncopation and the race issue.
_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at
http://www.hotmail.com.
Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org