This is the fifth posting of Acid Jazz News, our free newsletter from Acid
Jazz Records in London. There seems to have been a bit of debate recently
about commercialism in this Mailing List; We have never received any
complaints in the past about AJN from here, but if anyone feels our content
is too self-promotional, drop us a line and we'll stop posting.
Cheers,
Matthew, Kevin and Ceri.
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ACID JAZZ NEWS 18 SEPT/OCT 1995
THIS IS THE NEWS
Mother's New invention
Word of the next Mother Earth album has reached the offices of AJ News.
'You Have Been Watching', due in the Autumn, is set to take the band
further down the road that started with 'The People Tree'. The album
contains a righteous selection of progressive grooves, which check such
varied influences as Norman Whitfield, Focus, The Muscle Shoals Horns and
even Joe Cocker's backing band along the way. It cruises between ballads
like 'The Desired Effect' (about an Ecstasy casualty) and loud and heavy
numbers such as "To War' and 'Very Together' (the first single from the
album). The band are touring Europe over the next month or so, supported
by Oz groovers Skunkhour, so for a sneak preview of the new material buy
your plane tickets now.
The Siberian Connection
Acid Jazz News is pleased to announce that it has forged links with the
former Soviet Union-sections of the newsletter are to be reprinted on a
regular basis in Siberian fanzine, NOMAD. We couldn't really understand
what the fanzine was about since it was written in Cyrillic, but we do know
that Sakha Arts, the organisation behind it also organise the Siberian
International Jews' Harp Festival, and you can't beat that for eclectic.
Expect full coverage next issue.
Romario in Recording Shock!
=46ootball fans and music lovers alike will be overjoyed to hear that star
Brazilian striker, Rom=E1rio, has signed a recording deal with Sony Brazil! =
A
'rap' album is expected on the Columbia label as soon as he has returned
from his current commitments in Japan. Could this be another Milton
Nascimento or Jorge Ben in the making? Will Romario be swanning up the
charts across the globe? Not in Italy, that's for sure=8A
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THE ROOTS OF ALL RHYTHM
Kevin Braddock profiles the bass shakers soon to be mashing up your record
player courtesy of Acid Jazz Roots.
Reflecting the ever changing nature of the global dancefloor where
styles, sounds and cultures clash, Acid Jazz wades further in this summer
with the launch of the Acid Jazz Roots label. When Gregory Isaacs' honey
tones and Benjamin Zephaniah's righteous urban polemic meet Dread
=46limstone's electro-dub and Michael Prophet's vocal dexterity, the result
is a sound which will set the shape of roots to come. If you don't know
them by now, here's your chance to get a little better acquainted with the
men themselves.
Gregory Isaacs
A man whose reputation precedes him by miles. Widely acclaimed as the
undisputed leader of the lovers rock school of reggae, Gregory Isaacs'
dominance of the dancefloor won him the well deserved title of The Cool
Ruler many moons ago, and the title has stuck. As a rudeboy outlaw who has
never had to pretend, Isaacs has recorded more than the space here allows
us to list. Beginning in the early seventies, worked with many of
Kingston's greatest producers before setting up his own African Museum
label in 1973. Gregory's early recordings were romantic ballads, but the
emphasis shifted during the mid-seventies to social protest and reality
songs. By 1980, Isaacs was a number one star in the reggae world and his
incredible output since then has been marked by boundlesss talent and
uncompromising attitude.
In an era where reggae bucks to an electronic beat, Gregory Isaacs'
recordings for AJ Roots signal a wind-down to a more seductive tempo,
classic reggae in the mould of his unparalleled back catalogue. Welcome the
return of The King Of Lovers and lock up your daughters!
Benjamin Zephaniah
Last seen bringing consciousness and enlightenment to record players and
classrooms across the nation, Handsworth's most famous son continues his
quest to take dub poetry to the masses with the first release on Acid Jazz
Roots, 'Back To Roots'. Renowned today as a poet, musician and DJ,
Zephaniah began writing as a teenager and his anthologies of polemic poetry
have met with critical success in literary and populist circles alike-he
was shortlisted in 1987 for the position of Professor of Poetry at Oxford.
Not to be outdone, Cambridge University countered by offering him an
Honorary Fellowship two years later. The Sun was outraged and screamed
'Would you let this man near your daughter?'. Unphased, The Zeph continues
and has recorded albums on Upright and Island Records. This year's 'Back to
Roots' sees the man reclaiming the spiritual territory of Reggae in a
collaboration with Dennis Rootical and Dr Love of The Hazardous Dub
Company.
Dread Flimstone
An all singing, all dancing, all skateboarding avant guard rasta, Dread
=46limstone is a true Californian whose music reflects every angle of cultur=
e
to be found in his home town of Venice, Los Angeles. He grew up on the west
coast drenched in the sounds of r'n'b, soul and rock guitarists like
Hendrix, Jerry Garcia and Jeff Beck. As the reggae influences of early punk
came through, he started playing keyboards in local bands and went on to
develop his talents as a singer, producer and DJ. Born of the myriad sounds
available, Dread's music begins with reggae, takes in funk, punk and hip
hop and ends up in a fantastic brew known only asThe Dread Flimstone Sound.
His LP of this year 'The Bionic Dread' and support slots with Ice-T & Body
Count, Fishbone and The Pharcyde set the tempo for the next stage in his
spiralling career.
Michael Prophet
Michael Prophet is a veteran of roots whose career has spanned three
decades and transported him across the globe from Kingston to Miami to
London. His debut 'Praise You Jah Jah' was recorded in 1977 for Channel
One after being discovered by the mighty rootsman, Yabby You. His career as
a vocalist continued through collaborations with the man many regard as the
creator of dub, King Tubby. The eighties saw Prophet step into the
dancehall arena with 'Gunman', giving him his biggest hit. Prophet teams up
with Dread Flimstone for his first outing on the AJ Roots long player
'Flimmy and The Prophet', a funked up slice of heavy roots guaranteed to
provide the perfect soundtrack for all non-work related activities.
Previous Roots Releases
* Back To Roots Benjamin Zephaniah and The Hazardous Dub Company (Dubid 1
LP/CD)
=46orthcoming Roots Releases
* Feeling Sad Tonight Gregory Isaacs (Dubid 3 T/CD)
* Flimmy & The Prophet Dread Flimstone and Michael Prophet (Dubid 4 T/CD)
* Private Lesson Gregory Isaacs (Dubid 2 LP/CD)
PREVIOUS ACID JAZZ Releases
* Dangerous Dubs Vol I The Hazardous Dub
Company (Jazid 52 LP/CD)
* Dangerous Dubs Vol II The Hazardous
Dub Company (Jazid 73 LP/CD)
* Dub The Millenium
Manasseh Meets The Equalizer
(Jazid 106 LP/CD)
Roots RECOMMENDS
1. My Time Barrington Levy
2. Paradise Jean Adebambo
3. Country Living Sandra Cross
4. Police and Thieves
Junior Mervin
5. Back A Yard In Crowd
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LIVE REVIEW
Brian Auger And The Friends Of Oblivion
It has been fifteen long years since any UK stage has witnessed the kind of
musical revelation that went off at the Jazz Caf=E9 on a sweltering July
night this year. Acid Jazz organ expert Greg Boraman tells the tale...
Brian Auger-the British fusion pioneer and master-was back in his home town
proving that he still is the Don of the black and whites. Backstage before
the show nerves were at fever pitch, not from Brian, but from Mother
Earth's Matt Deighton and Neil Corcoran. Brian had checked their 'People
Tree' album and decided these were the musicians to make up the band for
his UK shows. Consider the turnaround: four years ago Mother Earth were
jamming over Brian Auger samples, searching for inspiration for the 'Stoned
Woman' LP, now they were on stage with the man himself. Scary.
The evening's set featured most of the classic Trinity and Oblivion Express
tunes, like the monstrous 'Listen Here', or 'Second Wind' which chugged
along in a jazz-rock kind of groove. 'Straight Ahead' was just sublime, and
'Bumpin' On Sunset' plain beautiful (with Brian dedicating the performance
to the original writer, the late guitar maestro Wes Montgomery).
The audience by now were in a total Brian frenzy and who could blame them?
I have seen all the legendary organ players live, but I have never seen the
kind of energy and excitement generated by this man.
If you have never heard any of Brian Auger's work, may I suggest your next
record purchase is 'Augernisation', a 'best of' compilation just out on
Tongue & Groove records.
The Auge himself will be back to play in the UK later this year, and you
should reserve your tickets immediately or risk missing out on one of
music's most glorious sounds-a blistering Hammond organ solo courtesy of
the original innovator, Brian Auger. Acid Jazz just wouldn't be the same
without him.
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AJ NEWS CHART
1 Blueprint-Attica Blues (Mo' Wax) Roberta Flack for the 90's
2 Feeling Sad Tonight-Gregory Isaacs (Acid Jazz) The ruler returns righteou=
sly
3 Bug Powder Dust-Bomb The Bass (Stoned Heights) Stone groove remixed by
Kruder & Dorfmeister
4 She's A Woman-Jos=E9 Feliciano (RCA) McCartney Mania from the leader of
Latin croon
5 Waiting (Young Soul Mix)-
D-Influence (EastWest) Classy soul from the crew who know how
6 You're Losing Me-Izit (Tongue & Groove) Thank you Mrs Bright-Thomas
7 Fly Fishing With Monk & Canatella-Monk & Canatella (Cup Of Tea) A record
that's on first name terms with John Barry
8 Can't Deal With This-Cool Breeze (Dorado) Modern easy listening
9 Super Yob-T-Shirt (Future) Coolest T-shirt of the summer yet. Respect to
Dave Hill of Slade for original inspiration
MAGIC BUS CHART
(No particular order)
* Dance Cleopatra-Prince Buster (Blue Beat)
* I Bet You-Jackson Five (Motown)
* Music-Lalomie Washburn (Boogie Back)
* Get Back-Deirdre Wilson (RCA)
* El Pussy Cat-Roland Alphonso (Island)
* Heavy Love Affair-Marvin Gaye (Motown)
* Black Rite-Mandingo (Studio 2 Studio)
* The Snake-Al Wilson (Soul City)
* Sweetest Feeling-Jackie Wilson (London)
* Lady Marmalade-Labelle (Epic)
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ACID JAZZ MASS DEBATE
=46lavours of Phoenix
Dear Acid Jazz News,
After seeing the line up for this year's Phoenix Festival I must have been
one of the first to foolishly buy a ticket. It looked like a pretty funky
line-up, but the whole festival turned out to be an utter washout (quite
literally with Sunday's weather). For starters, the amount of bands who
cancelled was atrocious. Gil Scott-Heron, Warren G, and The Wildhearts to
mention a few blew the Phoenix out. But they were the lucky ones, they
didn't have to put up with the jobsworth security staff, no public
broadcasts telling us what was going on and a dismal lack of any sort of
festival vibe that you might expect at Glastonbury or even a Butlins
holiday camp in Bognor.
I'd also like to thank the festival organisers for allowing me miss the
Brand New Heavies who went on early in place of Warren G. I wouldn't have
minded if I'd purposely chosen to see Freak Power instead but when there
are no announcements, you have no choice. Thanks a lot Phoenix for one of
the worst weekends of my life. It wouldn't have been much worse if Paul
Weller's special guest had been Lionel Blair.
Yours, Alex Myershaw, Southend, Essex.
Please note that the views expressed in the letters section are not
necessarily shared by Acid Jazz News. In this case, however, they are.
Letter From Germany
Hi Girls, Hey Guys!
Since a longer time I appreciate your Acid Jazz compact discs.
In opinion the various sound of Acid Jazz and Hip Hop jazz in general is
the most 'hearable' music at all. To inform some other people how they can
make their lifes easier as well, I would be very pleased to receive some
stickers of your logo.
I saw them in Hannover in a music store and thought that they would fit my
car excellent!
Thank you very much for all the trouble. I am looking forward to hear from y=
ou.
Thomas P. K=FChn, Bamberg, Germany.
Not being problems, Thomas. Stickers for fitting your car excellent are the
post in.
Readers comments are welcomed on these or any other issues, marked 'Debate'
to Acid Jazz News, 1 Hoxton Square, London N1 6NU, or to
matt@acidjazz.demon.co.uk