It's been a while! I'm currently staying in Tokyo as the guest of my good friend and collaborator Shuya Okino, and whilst here I have the pleasure of spinning at my favourite (micro) club, pint-sized but thoroughly enjoyable: it's The Room!! http://www.theroom.jp/ Anyway should you happen to be a fellow gaijin living in Tokyo or happen to be passing through, drop us an e-mail and we may be able to sort you out on the guest list! I'll be @ The Room on February 20th for Shuya's birthday bash alongside my old buddy Alex from Tokyo, and then again the following Friday (26th) for the 8th anniversary of Champ, the funk and rare groove party with a young and vibrant crowd. Should be an "anniversaire extraordinaire" and has got be digging for some tunes I haven't played for a long time!! Finally I'll be back again the following night (27th) for my last session at The Room for a while.
However the main purpose for my stay in Tokyo is to work on the debut solo album from Masa Nakamura (project name as yet undecided) which I'm producing, and we're currently rehearsing material and will have our first studio session whilst I'm here. The concept for this project is all cover versions chosen by various djs and luminaries of the scene including myself, KJM, Jurgen from Jazzanova, Demus and Gilles P. There are some interesting choices, and hopefully we can do justice to them and still add some original twists!
I'll be returning to London on March 10th just in time for the first Inspiration Information (memories http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVvHTD5szeY )session of 2010 on the 12th which has now moved to a Friday night but will continue on a bi-monthly basis. Looking forward to hooking up with Phil Asher once again for our boogie inspired but thoroughly eclectic session of righteous grooves.
Just to catch up with past events here are some photos from the TCJF session which was a real highlight for me last year and probably the biggest crowd I've played to in a while, it was a pleasure and privilege to play in the main arena as the only foreign dj in the line-up.
Sacho from Soil and Pimp, Kiccio, Hiromi, and Sato from The Room
Ken from Root Soul, Toshio Matsura, Rob Gallagher, Ryota Nozaki (Jazztronik), andShige
DJ Kawasaki and Shuya Okino
It's been well over a year since the last Cosmic Jam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1q385-jyw and even I'm beginning to get nostalgic. I'm well aware that I haven't actually been that forthcoming with podcasts and mixes for those wanting to wrap their ears around some Cosmic Jam type of selections, and i know I've said this before, but soon come!! So if you're interested, sign up to the mailing list and you'll soon be receiving exclusive links to music selected and mixed by myself.
For those of you with a fascination for the Brazilian groove you may remember the Brazilian Funk Experience compilation I put together for Nascente, well if all goes to plan, volume 2 should be dropping later this year!
It's been a difficult time for the music business, just to state the obvious, and I was saddened to hear that Domu, an artist whose music I've loved and supported since his earliest drum and bass excursions for Reinforced, has hung up his headphones and stopped producing music. As it says when you try to log on to his Treble O website "this really is the end". Well I can only wish him luck and happiness for the future whatever course he chooses to pursue. For the rest of us there is no choice but to carry on! Music is a healthy addiction we can't give up. There's plenty of reasons to be cheerful and much to be excited about for the future, great projects in the pipeline, wonderful music being made. For the moment here's a little chart of things to check! (Mostly either available or soon come plus a couple of sneakies)
1.Silhouette Brown - Silhouette Brown 2 (2000 black)
2. Zara Mcfarlane - Captured (jazz version) (?)
3.Kuniyuki Takahashi - Walking In The Naked City (Mule Musiq)
4. The Souljazz Orchestra - Rising Sun (Strut)
5.Fanfair Odyssey/Playtime - V.A. (Capricorn Rising)
6.Tribe - Rebirth ( Planet e)
7.Blak n Spanish - No Compromise (restless soul)
8.Makoto and Kez YM - Chameleon (Mukatsuku)
9. Mark de Clive Lowe ft. Lady Alma - Believe (?)
10.José James - Black Magic (Brownswood)
Peace love and Music - Patrick.
