Review: VA - If Music presents: You Need This! A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 4 compiled by Jean​-​Claude (BBE Music)

If you didn't know 'You Need This!', the fact that this is 'A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 4 compiled by Jean​-​Claude' is a big clue that you do.

A couple of years ago, Jean-Claude Thompson compiled 'You Need This: If Music Is 20' celebrating two decades of If Music  (see review HERE) and this new compilation, is a deep dig into the jazz vaults of the spiritual and dance.

We know UMO Jazz Orchestra from 

Kerkko Koskinen, Linda Fredriksson & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra's 'Agatha 2' (see review HERE) and the opening track is them and one of the best known Finnish jazz musicans Eero Koivistoinen with a deep orchestral OST fluter 'Kaamos'.   

This opener really sets the tone for a typical 180 degree turn to 'N'kon Kini N'Kon N'Kon' by Ginger Baker; yes, the original 'Ginger Spice' (Ed. or should that be 'Ginger Nut'?), he of Cream, Baker Gurvitz and, in this context, mate of Fela Kuti.  Here's is Mr Baker's small tribute to The Shine before Eko Kuango gets cookin' on 'Na Mawaso'.  Another big name is Dollar Brand (aka Abullah Ibrahim) who joined his then wife, (Salthima) Bea Benjamin on the modal mid-70s jazz backroom monster 'Africa'.

Still in the spirit of Africa, Phavia Kujichagulia's love poem to the dancefloor 'Fancy Footwork' is a perfect example of her Carib meets Gil Scot-Heron 'Jazzological Muse-oetry' [Ed. Note to self to investigate further].

Talking of dancefloors, Lonnie Smith's organ has graced many but perhaps not so much the title track of 'All In My Mind', the one with Smith in a turban on the cover looking far into the distance.

Now well over two decades of 'If Music', regular fans will not be surprised that the 9 selections are a varied and eclectic mix; the Celtic tembre of 'Croonardise' (Kan Digor) may not resonate, (unless you know your Rufus Harley) with the jazz-rock phreak out of Five Times Six or the last track, with a nod to J-Jazz label mates Higgins/Peden, Japanese Drummer George Hirota's 'Process Of Cloud'! 

And much like the recent compilation on BBE, Paul Hillery presents Folk Funk & Trippy Troubadours Volume 3 (see review HERE), Jean-Claude has a knack on hearing tracks that you didn't know that you needed, but the only way to solve that is to get 'You Need This! A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 4 (and all the others in the series).

Artist: Various Artists
Title: If Music presents: You Need This! A Journey Into Deep Jazz Vol. 4 compiled by Jean​-​Claude 
Release date: 28th February, 2025
Label : BBE Music
Catalog Number : BBE676
Format: 2xLP Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp 

Review: Audrey Powne - Feed The Fire (Atjazz & Musclecars Remixes) (BBE Music)

The next cab of the Melbourne musical rank of excellence is Audrey Powne and the fires are being fed with this single that brings the heat.

Ozzie heat in the case is not Damon Heta or the Australian Open but multi-instrumentalist Audrey with her composition and title track of the forthcoming album, 'Feed the Fire' that's a soul-jazz reflection on the bushfires that have plagued her homeland of late and the resistance of the powers that be to associate the problem with the climate crisis.

She's caught the ear of the likes of Gilles Peterson and Masta Ace in the past and BBE haven't been slow to spot the potential: and just to make sure she gets even more attention, the ever present master remix veteran Atjazz and NYC's musclecars have jumped at the chance for some mega remixers.

We're always in awe of the dancefloor skill of Atjazz (in this case, a set of remix, instrumental and the monster "Deeper" remix with instrumental) but last year you'll recall Jazzanova's 'Beyond The Dream' got a "remingination" by musclecars (see review HERE) which then got us excited about their work with Brandon Markell Holmes (see review HERE) and their single, 'Shelter (Building It, Still)'.

BBE don't let you down and if the album is as good as this single, we're in for a fantastic 2024; and just to set it up a bit more, the next single on the label is a musclecars' own single, 'Running Out Of Time' (what odds on a Audry Powne remix?)

Artist: Audrey Powne

Title:  Feed The Fire (Atjazz & Musclecars Remixes)

Release date: 2nd February, 2024

Label : BBE Music

Catalog Number : BBE753SDG

Format: Digital / Bandcamp 

 

Review: Various Artists - You Need This: If Music Is 20 compiled by Jean-Claude (BBE Music)

Twenty years ago you'd probably find Jean-Cluade Thompson in this shop in Soho, If Music..., thinking about what to put on his compilation 'You Need This'

As well known then as 50% of The Amalgamation Of Soundz, who'd have thought a couple of decades on that they'd be a double LP (180g heavy vinyl at 45rpm) and digital release of a retrospecitive celebrating why we need 'You Need This'.

As the ninth in the series, regular fans will not be surprised that the 9 selections are a varied and eclectic mix.

There's some old favourites like Emanative (with Liz Elensky) and Tenderlonious (22a) ironically each with exclusive tracks for this compilation plus Emanative's mate, Tamar Osborn (from this Rocketnumbernine release,  coincidently 20 years ago, in 2013) and Sarathy Korwar; 'Speed Of Light' being one of the highlights of the album.

So you might be thinking this all sounds very progressive Café OTO (tin rendy Dalston), JC is known as someone who can dig out a vinyl - and boy! has he found one with the jazzy Christine Schaller's 'Fidji' from 1980 [what a tune that is for all WeOutHere type festivals] and you won't be surprised that a track called 'Turkish Showbiz' could have appeared on Batov's 'Middle Eastern Grooves' compilation.

It really is a odd that including tracks by French sax player Sylvain Kassap, Greetje Bijma Kwintet (really cool world track, 'big Kalimba' fit in with something so simply beautiful as Ola Szmidt's minimal 'We Are Not Invisible'.

As you can tell, we this that 'You Need This' and all the others in the series.

Artist: Various Artists

Title: You Need This: If Music Is 20 compiled by Jean-Claude

Release date: 25th August, 2023

Label : BBE Music

Catalog Number : BBE711 

Format : Vinyl / Digital / Bandcamp 

 

Interview: Jean-Claude (If Music, Amalgamation of Soundz)

Record shop owner, renowned DJ and one half of respected production duo The Amalgamation Of Soundz, Jean-Claude has been a mainstay of London’s music scene for almost 4 decades now. Alongside artists such as Kruder & Dorfmeister and Saint Germain, The Amalgamation of Soundz championed a genre defying, jazz influenced style that became the soundtrack to the late nineties and early naughties for many music lovers. Their 2003 Fabric compilation is a slept-on classic, flying in the face of convention with cinematic elegance and off-kilter weirdness whilst retaining the DNA of the pair’s memorable DJ sets, which included a Glastonbury appearance in 2005. More recently, Jean Claude has been busying himself with new projects of late: namely running his record shop If Music, hosting shows on NTS and Soho Radio and curating a series of compilation albums. The latest of these, A Journey Into Deep Jazz (out now on BBE Music) sees Jean-Claude digging deep into his formidable collection and emerging with a fantastically eclectic haul of rare musical gems. We caught up with the man himself to find out more.

How did you get your start in music? Were you collecting records for a long time before you began DJing? 
Apparently I was obsessed with buying and owning my own music since the age of six (so the story be told by my late mother). I had my first ever DJ-gig at the age of fifteen for the school party.

You clearly have wide-ranging musical tastes. As a DJ, do you pull it all together in a way that makes sense? 
As a DJ I have learnt that unless it is a residency each gig has to be approached as if it’s the first time. If it’s a Fabric on a Saturday night, of course I’m playing Disco, house/Techno and I will throw as many breaks into that mix as I can. If it’s a Plastic Peeps (legendary and sadly missed London venue Plastic People) scenario then I’m going stupidly heavy and playing the most obscure shizzle I can get away with. When it’s a Glastonbury, you hit them with the shit they know and want but, everything with my own way of delivering the party. We all have the same records, it’s just how one plays them. The right notes in the wrong order or maybe the wrong notes in the right order!

You've been a DJ for well over three decades now. Please describe how you've seen the scene change and evolve in London during that time. 
 I have DJd man and boy for nearly forty years and the evolution of the DJ is hand in hand with technology as it constantly evolves. For the past ten years or more it’s been all about turning your back on vinyl and the basics, to let the computers do all the work for u. Not surprising really, with the advancement in technology that has transpired over the last twenty years!

We hear your record shop, If Music, has just moved to new premises… 
We are coming up to our 14th b/day and after a seven year absence we have returned to Soho (our 1st spot was in Green’s Ct. back in Jan. 2003). This time we are on D’Arblay Street, right opposite where Black Market Records used to be (serendipity? For sure).

What's it like running a record shop now compared to back in the 90s? 
Indie record spots like ours still function in the same way they always have: we break acts, we turn on the players from all over the world to the latest heat and the classics they need, we introduce the next generation of new talent to the established underground Dons and Donettes and even to the major labels so, the wheels of the music industry keep on truckin’. Running a small record emporium has always been a ***ed up double-edged sword: on one hand, great to be surrounded by brilliant music all day and have the dream job where no two days are the same but, not likely to make millions from doing it. Saying that, one doesn’t do it for the money, I guess.


Your 'Journey Into Deep Jazz' LP on BBE is a very special compilation. How did you go about selecting (and ordering) the music? 
I chose an X amount of records from my collection. Whatever we were able to license was licensed and hey presto, job done!

What's next for Jean-Claude? 
We have the label tie-in with Ninja Tune, so, we will have an array of artist albums continually released on IF Music, there are a host of different comps I’m putting together for BBE et al. There’s the NTS & Soho Radio shows which are a lot of fun, gigs and a busy shop to run……

Jean Claude's 'Journey Into Deep Jazz' is out now on BBE Records.
Check out the 'If Music' online store here

Review: Inkswel - Super Foods Vol. 3 (BBE Music)

The final installment in prolific Australian producer Inkswel's 'Super Foods' album series, this LP features exclusive remixes of the tracks from the previous two records, as well as exclusive new material. Simple, soulful music over crunchy, chunky beats define Inkswel's sound; a sound which is swiftly earning him fans from across the musical spectrum.

Highlights for us have to be the brilliant Kid Sublime remix of 'Flashing Lights' and the head-nodding 'Applause' which features creative NY hip hoppers Scienz Of Life.

As the label put it: "Sitting somewhere between deep house, boogie, soul and electronica, Superfoods Vol.3 takes the listener on a mouth-watering journey from head-nod to dance-floor and back again, all cooked up expertly by your Chef Du Party, Inkswel."

Super Foods Vol. 3 is out now via iTunes

Review: Vursatyl - Super feat. Dion (BBE Music)

It’s really a pity that in the Abrahamic tradition (i.e., Judaism, Christianity and Islam,) that the snake got a bad reputation.  In the Native American and African tribal legends, the snake was revered for its changing skin, a symbol of rebirth or renewal rather than being the bad guy in the legends of Abraham’s descendants.  Its counterpart in ancient Egypt is Osiris and the Norse had Baldr—both gods who were regularly reborn.  Hip hop music seems to be shedding its skin at the moment, maybe doing a bit of soul-searching.  It started out as a Bronx thing, spread all over NYC, then the East Coast and then all over the USA and Caribbean before leaping across oceans to first infuse and then reproduce itself in the UK, Japan, the European continent and beyond…  It was underground, then crossed over before eating whole, then redefining mainstream music. 

Hip hop music has been pretty busy since the late 70s spreading its message of… 
…Well, that depends on how you were introduced to it.  Initially it was party music, then it got more sophisticated and realized there was more to be talked about—such as social issues.  There was Black Nationalism and the rise of violent gangs on the West Coast. Back in NYC (and the East Coast in general,) Black Nationalism gave way to Afro-Centrism and a particular strain of Islam (“5% Nation,” later known as “Nation of Gods & Earths.”) The 90s brought us jazzy beats & rhymes, paeans to Mary Jane, “Thug Life” and “conscious rap.”  Another equally important, yet understated development was the abstract and sometimes instrumental output of the Solesides (later called Quannum) collective, which included Latyrx (Lateef the Truth Speaker and Asia/Lyrics Born,) Blackalicious (Chief Xcel & Gift of Gab) and, most famously, DJ Shadow.  Although they weren’t major label talents, they were licensed in the UK by a very influential label: Mo’Wax.  DJ Shadow has gone on to be a hiphop legend based on his revered instrumental album, Entroducing, which really works as a long-form piece.  While Blackalicious never reached the stardom of Shadow, they have a lot of artistic capital.  Fortunately for us, they used some of that to back a group from the hip hop non-mecca of Portland, Oregon known as The Lifesavas. 

From this group, comes the MC Vursatyl, whose “Super” sounds a bit like J-Live produced by J-Dilla.  Dion’s vocals play the proper support role, yet stick in your head (isn’t that why it’s called a “hook?”) In place of J-Live’s “Gods & Earths” we get a quick reference to Vursatyl’s Christianity, “…the Messiah was on the cross between two crooks.”  Despite this, braggadocio is still on full “…You’re trying to reach your potential, but I keep raising the bar.” His delivery is confident and his flow dances around the beat, making him a joy to listen to.  He’s had a few years on stage going toe-to-toe with Gift of Gab and it really shows.  Rolling Stone tapped Lifesavas as “a group to watch” a number of years ago and they were onto something.  “Super” should be bumping in everyone’s car, iPod, home or what/wherever they dig on music.  I’m sure there’s more to come and I, for one, can’t wait to see where Vursatyl goes with Hip hop wearing its new skin…

'Super' is out now on iTunes and all major download stores.

Review: DJ Spinna - The Sound Beyond Stars: The Essential Remixes (BBE Music)

Spinna was an icon of the indie hip-hop scene who switched rides on an early lap some way round the course of his DJ/production career, and, if he hasn’t yet reached the finishing-line, has accumulated trophies already in the form of some sizeable dance hits. The biggest of those, his mix of Shaun Escoffery’s ‘Days Like These’ is inexplicably not on either of the two lavish double albums (one track per side apart from LP 1, side C, which has two) this comes as, though it IS found on the CD. That early release (and its immediate predecessor, ‘Space Rider’ which was particularly big in New York) immediately put Spinna up there with the big boys in the world of house, and he’s stayed there pretty much ever since. If there’s a better vocal record in the last few years, I’d like to hear it (and please post it to me via this site)!
 
A high proportion of the material here is also vocal, but there are a couple of deeper, techier instrumental  tracks to spice up the vibes (and one of those, his Acid Power mix of Karizma ‘The power’ seems to be exclusive to the vinyl). Anyone who likes their house music rooted in the black American tradition will find much to enjoy here, but don’t expect four sides of gospel-style wailing. The original material is quite disparate, but there’s a marked tendency for Spinna to work with bands, and tracks that start out more ‘musical’ in the first place. A Spinna sound, grooving and funky, but never ‘hard’,  unites all the material here. A few personal favourites: Louie Vega with Raul Midon ‘A Better Day’, like sounding like a 21st century Jose Feliciano.; Fertile Ground, ‘Live In The Light’ –fierce, spiritual – and Tortured Soul ‘Why’, deep and dark. This is a well-deserved first retrospective for someone that’s helping to keep alive a vital strain of our dance music heritage.

The Sound Beyond Stars is available on vinyl, CD and MP3 directly from BBE
Or via iTunes