TCJF!!!TCJF!!!!=Tokyo Crossover Jazz Festival

Wow! It's almost here already, this unique event, that this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of it's founder and guiding light, my good friend, Shuya Okino, who has managed two decades behind the decks, producing the likes of KJM, Cosmic Village, United Legends, as well as his own stable of artists from Sleepwalker to DJ KAwasaki, has his own club (The Room), writes, informs educates, entertains, the list is endless! Like so many Japanese, the man seldom stops, and this festival is a testament to his work ethic and infectious spirit and enthusiasm. In fact it's mind boggling the dedication both he and his staff have shown in producing this festival for the last few years, and let's just hope it's shown the love and support it deserves, so it may continue for years to come.

This year highlights include live sets from the impressively groovy Root Soul the iconoclastic Soil and Pimp Sessions (whose forthcoming album is undoubtedly their best yet), and a finale from Shuya with a cast that includes Monday Michuru and Masa Nakamura all of whom have their roots in Mondo Grosso, and will finish with sixteen people on stage and no doubt a few surprises!

The DJ Line up is a who's who of all the talent Japan has to offer from legends such as Kei Koya bashi and Raphael Sebbag to new schoolers like DJ Mitsu and Jazztronik!! Check it all out at

http://www.tokyocrossoverjazzfestival.jp

Really looking forward to being a part of it!!!

House Dance Competition!!!

Here's all the info for the Groove Sanctuary party at Jo Jo's !!!!!!!

GROOVE SANCTUARY

HOUSE DANCE COMPETITION!

 

Groove Sanctuary’s weekly Sunday session at Madame JoJo’s is firing on all cylinders, and we’ve decided to celebrate and highlight the growing House Dance culture, so we’ve teamed up with D-LO Entertainment to put on a House Dance competition of our very own. With £100 cash prize plus a bag stuffed full of goodies, t-shirts & CD’s up for grabs this is gonna be one serious battle for the title of UK House Dancer Supreme!

 

Groove Sanctuary has always had a reputation for it’s dancers and that reputation just keeps growing as more and more dancers from around the globe grace Jojo’s floor with their finest moves. It’s developed into the one stop club for dancers visiting London, students and professionals alike (Madonna’s dance team are regular visitors, and will judging the competition)

 

Joining us for this special event is legendary DJ Patrick Forge, one of the pioneer DJ’s of the Jazz Dance scene. Patrick comes armed with years of experience of DJing to the highly energetic needs of the dancer, and for this set he’ll be selecting the hottest House tunes as well as digging in his vast collection for those long lost Disco Boogie gems. Now residing on the idyllic Japanese island of Okinawa this is a rare visit to London for Patrick and a unique opportunity to catch the maestro at work.

 

SUNDAY 28^th JUNE 2009

THE GROOVE SANCTUARY

HOUSE DANCE COMPETITION

WITH SPECIAL GUEST DJ

PATRICK FORGE

Time:    09:00pm – 03:00am

DJ’s:     Jimbo (raw deal), Joey Vieira & Patrick Forge

Music:  Deep Soulful  House & Boogie Beats All Night Long!

Price:   £5 All night or FREE on the guest list.

             E-mail info@groovesanctuary.com or TEXT D-LO on …..

             07958 211 462  for the guest list.

Venue: Madame JoJo’s, 8-10 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1 OSE.

Tel:       020 7734 3040

Web:    www.madamejojos..com

             www.myspace.com/groovesanctuary

             www.myspace.com/dlolife

The Snowboy Tome

It's been a long time since I anticipated the arrival of something with such excitement, when I finally received an e-mail saying that Mark"Snowboy" Cotgrove's book on the history of the jazz-dance movement  was finally available to order, my fingers flew, and then there was the wait as it winged it's way to me here in Okinawa. In the hours post delivery I was virtually unreachable, as I hungrily devoured the contents; my wife and daughter gave up trying to communicate and left me to it.

Of course I didn't know prior to actually reading the book how good it was going to be, I was just insanely curious. Mark had interviewed me some time ago for the project and I'd not thought about it much until a conversation with Swifty (the book's designer) last summer really whetted my appetite. It was then that I realised just how much dedication and work Mark had put in to it, literally ten years of research and graft, although pure sweat and thoroughness don't necessarily make for a captivating read! To be completely honest I had my reservations, I  knew Mark could be opinionated and headstrong in his dedication to the cause and was a mite concerned as to whether he'd be able to keep the text from turning into a rant!! Apologies Mark! My fears were totally unfounded, and on reflection the conversations I'd had with him of late had revealed his sensitivity and plain and simple love of music, we'd even had a couple of deep discussions about broken-beat; a style I was surprised to discover he had a passion for.  Anyway suffice to say that although he's by no means a fundamentalist when it comes to jazz-dance, a close read of the text does reveal his view, but by no means is it obvious. In fact that's the book's great strength, the lack of authorial intervention, he literally let's the story tell itself. There's a simple time-lined history of the scene and and the dance styles, then Mark let's the interviewees tell the story. Robert Farris Thonpson's remarks about Snowboy's writing style in the preface are bang on, when he does want to say something he says it in plain and direct language , and the book is all the better for it.

Anyone who has even the vaguest of interest in dance music history should read this book. It redresses the balance back to the U.K. and the incredibly innovative and pioneering djs and dancers who created a scene that is without parallel in the U.S. Recent histories of dance music and dj culture have tended to focus on  the States and have underestimated the value and originality of the U.K. scene. Read the book, and raise your hat to the true pioneers, Bob Jones and Colin Curtis to name but two, and the chronicler of it all, Snowboy.  Find out more here.

Naha to London (news and gigs)

I'm not going to curse the dysfunctionality of my website but the contents of this blog should be in my news section, but as I can't include any links there it's pretty redundant for the time being! Anyway, no worries, it's good to be blogging again and I'm reminding myself of a few things. Firstly, I have an as yet unpublished post entitled "Across The Jazz Divide" which is basically a bit of a rant/tirade about how I feel about certain musical issues. I should finish it or bin it! Secondly it's about time I sorted out the podcast side of things, hold tight it's coming! Suffice to say that I'm in a much better position  to focus on the music now that I'm more settled into my life here in Okinawa. I've only recently completely sorted out my vinyl and cds since the move but as you can see I'm ready to get busy now! 

Although I've played a couple of parties here in Okinawa in the past, I haven't done anything since my re-location here. Well all that's set to change over the course of the summer. As a prelude to getting a regular session going I'm doing my first  party on the island on June 6th Musicas Para Ti at Mafali Cafe, a nice intimate little space that should give me  a good chance to assess the vibe here. Club-land here in Naha is a little low key at the moment despite the tireless efforts of Viva Gilberto a dj and promoter who's pretty ubiquitous here! He's a great character alot of fun to hang-out with and has recently adopted the "don't mind if i do, don't mind if i don't" catch-phrase from Gavin and Stacey, which is particularly hilarious from his lips. By the way, although 100% Okinawan, he was born in Sao Paulo and speaks fluent Portuguese, hence the name. Joining us on the decks will be Takuji who used to be a resident at The Room in Tokyo, it should be a fun session.

I'll be back in London at the end of June, however almost en route I'll be dropping some tunes alongside my good friend Yoshihro Okino (KJM) at Club Metro in Kyoto on June 20th. the following Saturday it's my enormous pleasure to be back at East Village for another Inspiration Information session, this time we pay our respects and welcome a dj who is rightly described as a legend, a man whose prowess on the decks, his feeling for the music, and not forgetting his formidable dancing skills have made him a significant influence on myself, Phil Asher and countless others. TROUBLE!!!!!!!! Yes it's Paul Anderson playing the original music that put him on the map long before the for on the floor took over, nobody can play and feel the boogie like Trouble, back in the day nobody could touch him for the energy and spirit of his sets. Yes indeed i'm looking forward to this one! Check here.

The following evening it's my pleasure to be reunited with Jimbo at Groove Sanctuary. I've always had enormous respect for this guy, as a dj and producer, and the way he's just kept his thing running. At Madame Jo Jo's he's built a groovy little scene and won the respect of some serious dancers;now on a Sunday night this will be a fine way to round off my first weekend back in town! What's more he's chosen this date to run the first ever Groove Sanctuary House Dance Competition, so for all hoofers, shakers and shifters this one is a must. Check here

On Sunday 5th of July I'll be joining Nikki Lucas at her future fusion session at the The Green Carnation in Greek St, Soho: a chance to get global, bruk and any which way, should be fun! Check here

Finally, for one night only, (though we have to stop saying that if I keep popping back to do it) Brazilian Love Affair returns to NHAC on Sat July 18th. Lucia Possass was threatening to hang up her headphones when we had our final session last November, it was an emotional affair, and it seemed strange to be cutting my ties with a venue that I'd been working with for 11 years! However Lucia was thrilled when I e-mailed her and said we could revive the party for a one-off in March, and she came down fresh from the Rio carnival, and as ever, we had a ball that night! It always leaves me with huge grin on my face, it must be the power of the music ,the swing of the samba, the sheer love of it! Strictly old school Brasilia and modern interpretations, no baile funk etc. Check here

When I was last in London I did a little impromptu set for the Space Bass crew at their night at Home bar. Following that Liam asked if I'd drop a funk/boogie mix for them, I called it Naha City Block Party

There's plenty more to come!!

Homage to The Room

For a phenomenal seventeen years this intimate basement in the heart of Shibuya has welcomed music lovers for a truly intimate clubbing experience. It's a testimony to the energy and enthusiasm of Shuya Okino that it remains such a vital part of Tokyo nightlife constantly belying it's small size with events that are large in their musical wealth!

It's been my pleasure and privilege to have enjoyed many great nights at The Room. I've always likened the experience of playing there to be something like this; until about 4-5 am it's just a great small club with an intense and appreciative atmosphere, from around that time onwards it's like playing in your own living room with a bunch of your new best friends. Sessions there can roll on well into the morning and many a time I've stumbled into the daylight with a feeling of ultimate satisfaction, smiles all round, having enjoyed a feast of music with some lovely people!

This weekend was  no exception, and Friday night's release party for the So Especial compilation showcased The Room at it's packed and hyped best. An excellent live showcase from Root Soul brought the atmosphere up to fever pitch, and great sets from both Okino brothers and the currently massive DJ Kawasaki delivered on every level. It's incredible that a space as miniscule as The Room can put on live events on a busy night, but the experience  of performers literally cheek to cheek with the crowd brings something very special to the session. Root Soul were only three parts live, with Ken rocking the bass lines and live percussion and vocals set against backing tracks, but still live enough to inject some good energy into proceedings. (the Root Soul album should be finished soon, with contributions from Vanessa Freeman and Mark de Clive Lowe, and hot on it's heels comes the excellent Latin project Mano Ariba, Ken is surely another star to emerge from The Room and KJM)

On Saturday night I was behind the decks once again in my favourite club, and, having had some time out from playing, I couldn't think of anywhere better to get back to  business. It may not have ranked alongside some of the past sessions I've had there but was once again a thoroughly enjoyable experience that left me feeling truly humbled by the level of appreciation.

So respect not only to Shuya but to Sato and all the staff at The Room who continue to give this small space a massive reputation.

Why Inspiration Information still matters...

Back in '97 when Inspiration Information kicked off it's ten year stint at NHAC nobody would have expected it to still be a vital part of London club culture 12 years later. Yet Inspiration has survived  the transition from those original intimate basement sessions, to flourish in it's new bi-monthly guise, spread out over two rooms at East Village. The new location has allowed us to bring in  some great guests, and with two rooms running we've been able to expand our musical horizons. However what has remained crucial to the session is our love and respect for the classic traditions of dance music, and each guest who's graced the decks downstairs has been carefully selected to offer their unique take on the music we all love and cherish. From lesser known names (in London)  like Christian Pronovost and The Grasso Brothers, to dance music stalwarts such as Joey Negro, each one fully embracing the Inspiration philosophy and dropping sets of "proper classics".

For me it's been an honour and a pleasure to work alongside Phil Asher running this session, his (restless) energy for the music and deep roots and grounding in it's history have enriched my experience as a dj. Thanks dude! For ten years the two of us would rock up on a Friday night with a bag full of (mainly) twelves and a few hot cdrs, and this ritual appreciation of the boogie vibe has had a lasting effect on my dj style. Whilst other folk may worry their heads with the latest craze, the Inspiration vibe has become ingrained on my soul, and has given me much strength and guidance for the last twelve years. 

This feeling stays strong as we continue our parties at the new location and even though I'm now based far away I will try to be in London ( at least in spirit) whenever Inspiration Information is happening. Luckily for the next session I'll be there in every sense (jet-lag allowing), and I'm already excited! I was in The Room (Shibuya) last Friday night and DJ Kawasaki began his set with Dee Dee Bridgwater's "Bad For Me" and immediately it made me think about Inspiration, 'ah yes, one of Phil's favourites'. The tradition of dance classics is long and deep  and I just hope we've made a contribution to keep the fire burning, and can continue to do so. When you're lost in the dance music maze and you need a compass.....

Okinawa

So here I am away from the doom and gloom of the UK, escaping the arctic weather (though for a sub-tropical island it's quite chilly here at the moment), and adjusting to a whole new life.

En route here I stopped off in Osaka and spent a very enjoyable couple of days with my old pal Yoshihiro Okino (KJM) and we had a great session at his legendary Freedom Time party. Yoshi is about to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his Especial label with the release of an excellent compilation So Especial,with some great exclusive tunes including a nice collaboration between Aaron Jerome and Paul Randolph. I'll be in Tokyo at the end of the month for the release party at his brother's club The Room, and I'll be playing there on the 31st.

It's been good to have a bit of a sabbatical from spinning, and highly necessary what with all the palaver of moving, but hungry to get back on it now and eagerly anticipating being reunited with my vinyl and decks in a couple of weeks time!

Totally enjoyed my farewell(?) gig at Dingwalls with Gilles P at the end of Nov, the jazz pulse is still coursing through my veins! Just as relevant now as it was twenty years ago, it's hard to imagine that kind of atmosphere with any other music!

Back in London at the end of February and looking forward to another Inspiration Information session at East Village with Phil Asher on the 28th (guests t.b.c.). 

PEACE