Yoshihiro Hanno

Jazzstep is a subgenre of drum and bass that fuses jazz harmony, timbres, and an improvisational sensibility with the fast, syncopated breakbeats of the UK jungle/DnB continuum. Typical hallmarks include swung and ghost‑noted breakbeats at 165–175 BPM, upright or electric "walking" basslines, lush Rhodes piano or vibraphone chords, and saxophone or trumpet phrases—either sampled from classic sessions or performed anew. Harmonically, it favors extended chords (9ths, 11ths, 13ths), chromatic passing tones, blue notes, and modal colors, giving it a smooth yet propulsive, late‑night club atmosphere. Compared with adjacent styles like liquid funk, jazzstep leans more explicitly into jazz vocabulary and instrumental colors, while retaining the momentum and dancefloor architecture of drum and bass.