ISSUE 36 FEB-MARCH 2012 WEB VERSION by The Soul Survivors Magazine

the info provider for the soul survivor ISSUE 36 Feb/Mar 2012 edited web version

Interviews with

Brenda Russell Patti Austin Neil Rushton Joyce Sims Syleena Johnson and regular features

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Dear Fellow Soul Survivors

WHAT’S INSIDE? 2 MEMBERSHIP 4 Fitzroy talks to BRENDA RUSSELL 8 DARRELL’S FUNK BOX Welcome to Issue 36 wh ich is full of So 10 WE LOVE SOUL REVIEW four out of the five interviews being ul Sister girlpower! With with women, I fear Neil Rushton may feel a little 12 Fitzroy chats to overwhelmed! I person ally feel these are some of Fitzroy’s best inte PATTI AUSTIN rviews and I have no do will find Patti Austin’s rec ubt you ollections almost unbel 16 JUMP START - WORDS ieveable. Fitzroy has been snowe by Ginger Tony d under with new releas es to review but unfortunately we don’t have the space to put eve 18 NEIL RUSHTON talks to rything in. If you would like tracks rev iewed then please send them in now! Fitzroy Our ‘Members Only’ ma gazine has been going 22 Fitzroy talks to down well and is our way of thanking tho se who support us by join ing up. It is just £25pa and you get JOYCE SIMS the mag. and a few oth er bits sent directly to your door every mo 24 RECORD REVIEWS nth. (Join during Feb/M ar send you both previous Mags) The next ‘Member and we’ll 27 BACK ISSUES s’ issue in March will include Gre g Edwards and (fingers crossed!) Kenny 28 Fitzroy chats to Gamble, which we are really excited about. SYLEENA JOHNSON We have lots of events all over the country in this issue and our 30 OUT OF THE BOX new website is working well dar. You can read the list so I have now updated the calenwith Marcia Carr ings in the back of this issue and the full info on the website. ww w.thesoulsurvivors.co.u 32 EVENT REVIEWS k/whats-going-on/ We have a number of oth 36 WHAT’S GOIN’ ON? but you will have to wa er treats for you hidden up our sleeves it a little longer for those! 39 SOUL RADIO Sadly we have had the pas MacDonald and Jimmy sing of Etta James, Johnny Otis, Ralph they Rest In Peace and Castor in the past couple of weeks. May legacy of music that wilknow that they have left this world with a l live on forever. Thank you to all those Sit back, chillax and rea d on....... who have contributed by sending in adverts, reviews, photos, articles, listings and emails; we can’t do this without you.

Anna & Fitzroy The Soul Survivors

CUT OFF DATE FO R Members Issue: 6/2/ 12 Apr/May Issue: 5/3/ 12 The Soul Survivors

PO Box 377, West Malling, ME6 9DQ 01732 844246 PRINTED BY SCARBUTTS All adverts are placed in good faith and The Soul Survivors take no responsibility for any issues arising from the use of those who have advertised. All dates are correct at time of going to print - please check with venue or promoter if unsure. All rights reserved 2008 Copyright The Soul Survivors Magazine

For adverts, events and reviews contact Anna anna@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk or 07939 248983 facebook.com/AnnaMarshallSoulSurvivors twitter.com/SoulSurvivors1 http://uk.linkedin.com/in/annamarshall1 Record reviews and interviews contact Fitzroy fitzroy@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk or 07956 312931 Facebook: Fitzroy Facey (Da Buzzboy) www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk www.facebook.com/TheSoulSurvivors www.myspace.com/thesoulsurvivorsmag

BRENDA RUSSELL SPEAKS TO FITZROY

Born of musical parents and flitting between Canada and New York, Brenda Russell served her musical apprenticeship to produce a landmark debut solo album totally alien to the music domination of the time. Her songs attracted the attention of Quincy Jones, Luther Vandross, Roberta Flack, Oleta Adams and Earth Wind & Fire. She’s a proud and humble Native New Yorker soon to visit our shores, so here’s “A little bit of love” from Brenda. I guess you were destined to become a musical genius with your father Gus being a one time member of the The Ink Spots. What memories do you have of growing up surrounded in one way or another by music? My father replaced one of the Ink Spot’s members and was a great music collector and had tons of albums so I’d listen to them, especially broadway shows, with me requesting him to sing songs like Happy Talk off the song sheets. My mother is a singer-songwriter and she always wrote songs, so I grew up thinking that’s what mum’s did, cook the food 04 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

and write songs (Brenda chuckles). During the 1970’s there was quite an influx of male and female couples getting record deals, like Peters & Lee, R&J Stone and of course you with your then husband part of Brian & Brenda. How did you manage to get signed to Elton John’s Rocket Label for two albums, World Called Love and Supersonic Lover? There was a huge gap from listening to my mom and dad’s music before I got my deal on Rocket Records. I was in the musical Hair and in local groups in Toronto, Canada where I got my real learning of how to sing with a large Canadian group, Dr Music and The Tierra’s, an all girl band. I learned from working background vocals and being hired to get singers. I learnt a lot about producing records when working on these sessions by listening and realising how to talk and not to talk to the singers to get the best out of them. It was a great apprenticeship working clubs, which a lot of people don’t get the opportunity to do today as they get thrown on some TV show.

They miss out on that experience of working and writing with people to find out who they are as an artist and getting your feet wet. But however it comes you hope it works for you. We made two albums for Elton’s label when we happened to send our demo in and Elton’s producer Gus Dudgoen listened to our tape, the last one on his desk, and liked it. What memories do you have of working with Robert Palmer as Brenda and Brian on his Double Fun album? Yeah... I knew we did something like that but I thought I dreamt it as it’s so long ago! Do you have a recording of that as I’d love to hear it? I was testing Brian the other day and he couldn’t remember, so thanks. I loved Robert Palmer he was a very gifted writer. Neil Sedaka was also responsible for getting us on Rockets, do you remember that song I Hear Laughter In The Rain? We did background vocals with William Smith for him when Neil signed with Rocket on his comeback. We also did a few gigs with Neil, so our signing came from two directions. I discovered a few days ago, to be honest, a Tom Moulton Disco mix of Gonna Do My Best To Love Love by you and Brian and it’s really nice, do you remember that song?

Sure I can. Excellent. Your debut solo album, the self titled Brenda Russell, on A&M’s subsidiary soul jazz label Horizon showcased your now legendary writing and arrangement skills. With the aid of Victor Feldman, Jerry Peters, Doug Richardson and The Seawind Horns, the album, mixed with acoustic folk soul and latin overtones, has remained to date a classic album. With So Good So Right, You’re Free, the enticing In The Thick Of it (my first introduction came from a school friend bassist called Wayne Batchelor) and the conscious gospel filled A Little Bit Of Love. How was the album’s success measured on a personal and a business level? Aah I love A Little Bit Of Love also. At the time it was my first album and I didn’t know anything about the business per se. In a way it was a good thing as I wasn’t writing for any radio formats like others who were trying to please radio other than concentrating on their gift. That record was so different at the time as it came via the disco era and it wasn’t disco. But people loved the record, including the critics, and a lot of college students, from places like Howard University, were touched by it as it made them laugh and cry.

Yes I do but not familiar with that mix, can you send it to me?

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW IN THE PRINTED VERSION OF THE SOUL SURVIVORS.......

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INTERVIEWS WITH JUST SOME OF THE FOLLOWING ARTISTS: JOCELYN BROWN - LEROY BURGESS - TEENA MARIE MICA PARIS - OMAR - LEON WARE - MELBA MOORE FRANKIE BEVERLY - LARRY BLACKMON SMOKEY ROBINSON - PATRICE RUSHEN ALONG WITH DJS CHRIS HILL - COLIN CURTIS - DEZ PARKES ROBBIE VINCENT - GREG EDWARDS AND MANY MANY MORE. We have some great interviews lined up for the next issue...... watch this space!

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s ’ l l e r r a D funk box

s experience alive sion have kept thi y 2tuff, Dezzie ca oc ul ulf so s thi ck ar popularity for 20 years. Dj's Brotha Nick, Ri to puff out their for ce for this, the ye g ht pie t rig kin firs kic ery d ev my an to ve ha ul Soul hts in and Paul and welcome ed year of wonderfd of the Rankin, Flex, Conroy arguably one of THE top soul nig it's Hello everybody of from another pack is en of 2012. So apart ve we got to look forward to? The lendar, chests as Soul Train ll be hard pressed to find another ca wi ha . events, what else s right. According to the Mayan race will the UK and I for one e of the 1500+ punters will agree n at' on City world............. 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The wh tifully turned out 11 20 d de en I w one a 0 beau d by the This is ho Soul Cruise, hoste best kept every t dinner for over 12 waited successful London thout doubt one of the Soul scenes a small with a scrummy buffe s dinner so special is that you are one thi wi ly s is on ke is dine. As on t ma u nd ha yo t Lo W ils le. in McGreal. Th wh op ld w pe he ords" is boat is ul Network cre , obviously, secrets. Though rty heads are from The Smoke. Th a really on by the whole So me, "so you lot don't just play the rec my ed pa percentage of the ads from all over the UK and areg with a feaster commented to er glass of champagne and avert d at he rte attended by Soul not long before you're boogyin , there is as I poured her anoth som! The build up to midnight sta Soul. bo o It's ors . Ne ple flo d wd 2 am an g r cro ul rin he ly ve So m nd Co ium frie es fro m! on all lliant New Millenn th an ample boso . Musically, ey charming lady wi Soul, R 'n' B, House and Funk e never 8:30pm with some bri A Week' is slowly gathering pace nce of da u'v ys ce yo the Da t , lan n on tha ve ba pti e ng 'Se ce a uniqu somethi Dante's was no ex aranteed to hear , Vivy B, ors and this night you really are gu the right dance flo grooving. DJ's Tony Rodriguez ve the ly ve en e. ha ms ga uld sudd illia s W wo u wa rk yo heard befor or e Ma flo zin tic ga fantas s rs ma The Soul Survivo took place Fitzroy, myself and the journey to see them into 2012. It ha In the last issue of vert for Soul Train in Bristol. This musical a musical to g the on M4 sh thr pu the ad to led up the ts , mb gu trip se me as make the seen, like ts ork has the with great to be said that Soul Netw th so I decided to night has it's roo on December 27 remarkably easy city to get to limit. Though the ul, the DJ's that play the too 't to sn s wa a I rie is so da boun oove and So this function Bristol, which ntly set in Rare Gr was my first visit to to throw down UK nk Holiday motorway links. It ct. Soul Train is held every Ba in room predominaoul Network) night aren't afraid a crowd that are to ma pe sure what to ex roomed venue called Motion. The dy Else's on this (S use and even old school Jungle it’s genres. Soul 4 Ho bo all e, ge me hu in rag a 'So Ga in sic n ay Mu ow nd ck Br Su e, name in anthems; Jocelyn tive of quality Bla ion which, as I typ caters for the big room lends the event it's other c Dezzie apprecia xt party is in Bristol at The Mans your tickets for the ne er t s ati ge oth ork d igm An tw an en al. Ne ite the webs er by Guy' et king from Sold Out! Check the d was presided ov Reggae Train an along with the R'n'B room, was roc r in the is already sh. NOW! ee ba s ready m, ch ary roo ge is bru hu Fe eived a Rankin'. Th d and, phew! I wa r was big tunes that rec er done and duste das Touch', the off. One of the 1986 hit by Midnight Star - 'The Mi has been So that was Decemb It was with great relish that the ca Soul t ry T! R'n'B room was the t surprise seeing as it’s a song tha on The for a little break. NO to wing my way up to The Luxu home e an M6 which was a pleas ny years. (This was also a big tun ence). packed and I hit the This was the 10th Anniversary at it's nder. urg ke overlooked for ma so maybe it's time for a musical res s on the Weekend in Blackpool. th in a series of the Luxury Wee the e wa I uis Cr en ul wh t So ou on ht Hilton and the 17 rooms there is music to please even d nig Lond the ct in rfe pe d the an en an hn 4 os e Jo g ch se rin B, d to ve Al ha e, I co t by ibl ew en ss ed kn ev nn y impo But I ith the which was ably ma and it's difficult, na ge and s dropped. W JazzFunk terrace, 'Backed Up Against The Wall' wa friendly hardest connoisseur e to stay in two rooms, The Loun that I lly os g's ch rea I Kin . a ill ng W every DJ are thi m ery wd fro ev ts cro Lee, and ar e se he Th nt . llia were bri s just Trust me soul heaven I was in perfect s to us Big people. s a single The Lancaster. There on Friday night in The Lounge wan jazz from mid twentie s bunch and range r ones know their stuff! And if I wa solutely caught, Andy Davie now legendary Saturday afternoo side ge women here are ab bosom! awesome, as was the eestyling crew. If there is one down . It though, the youn ort Fr ment because the ple guy I'd be in my ele n't help but glance at the odd am t I chose session hosted by the experience is that it’s just far too shender ca ol bu u ek po yo re, we ck d the an the Bla ys s at gu ou ole s wh rge the wa t go the on something abou her lewd comments. The to ed like everyone who was anyone room without stopping The wife did menti d and ignore s an seem ng to get into a un ha d gro r an l he fee hig of the d ale’s ample bosom. find yourself battli to take night a festival kin beverage of choice. and you d maybe a glance at a lovely fem ole wh the es an ur g yo hu y venue giv a bu for to ich y Darrell rs from wh o originall abundance of ba xander and Johnny Stallard, wh love and Roll on BLSW 2013. r Hats off to Paul Ale er as a one off, and the shee eth put this night tog

08 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Photos supplied by Scott Miller It takes some solid deep rooted soul seeds to flourish the fruits from the root and sustain that perpetual growth and We Love Soul is a prime example of a consummate event that covers the hunger of those who love their soul food. Ex Soul II Soul dancer and hardworking club promoter Tony Houston and his partners in rhyme HB wanted to bring the boogie element that was missing back to the then 70’s & 80’s teenage generation who still have a spring in their step. Many travel from beyond the M25, M1 and M6 in cars and coaches to sample this savoured flavour. Predominantly held 10pm7am on the Bank Holiday Sundays, the meticulously chosen Club Hidden venue in Vauxhall SE11 has three spacious arenas with some phat sound systems. With easy accesses to each room, a mature dressed to impress gathering, three bars, a VIP area, an outside heated area for smokers, jerk chicken BBQ and some CD giveaways, this is a one stop shop mother of an event. Room 1 hosts 80’s soul, classic 90’s R&B, future 2000 soul, rare groove and some soulful lovers rock riddems. The incredulous party atmosphere created in that room has witnessed some established live PA’s over the past two years, including Juliet Roberts, Omar, Noel McKoy, Don E, Soul II Soul’s/ Colourful radio’s tower powering HB who is the room’s main resident. IT has embraced some of the creme de la creme mix masters on rotation with an eclectic history and the honorary list includes Jazzy V, Jigz, Gordon Mac, Vivy B, Dave VJ, Jerry Bascombe, Dj Vybz, Lewis (Mastermind) and Dezzi D. The room is often comfortably packed like Wembley Stadium on Cup Final Day. Room 2 generally hosts the Jazz Funk and Boogie selection, where the dancin’ and prancin’ like Candido is taken seriously, with friendly dance off’s and unified euphoria. The hardcore, mixed and educated guys and girl dancers know their music, and so long as it has a bad boy groove they will always move. Colin Scott, Da Buzzboy Fitzroy, Sticko Zaza, 10 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Lee Drummond, Paul Trouble Anderson, Bobby & Steve and Cleveland Anderson are some of the dancers/Dj’s who keep your body working like Kleeer. On occasion, when there is a live PA or special promotion, the room is switched to room 3, where recently on the December 27th 2011 2nd anniversary, Mr Boogie Leroy Burgess packed out the larger room to capacity. Room 3 sometimes swapped to room 2, is where you celebrate 10 years of soulful house and the bass in that place will thump you in your face. The legendary Paul Trouble Anderson always draws and entertains an anticipating audience, amiably joined by some of the premier mix and blend skills of Neil Pierce, Clemy Riley, Bobby & Steve, Jazzy Q and Johnny Reckless. So if you like pumpin’ and thumpin’ soul house music all night long, here you can bop till you drop! The 2nd Anniversary on Dec 27th had queues going round the corner, a first of many from here onwards, and was buzzing from early doors. This joint was definitely jumping in all three rooms. As you entered room 2 the melodious soulful house was sending happy vibes and spreading love like Al Hudson. Room one was jam like MJ all night and the We Love Soul ensemble was in full soul sonic force!! Room 3 was partly due to the performance of Leroy Burgess, a serious boogie oogie oogie affair. The adulation bestowed on this man as he performed Barely Breaking Even, Get Loose, Mainline, Lets Do It and You Got That Something was nothing short of emotional and his adopted backing vocalists, the audience, sang freely with plenty of love. Stepping it up for 2012 - on the 25th February ex Hi Tension front man David Joseph performs his Hi Tension, There’s A Reason, You Can’t Hide Your Love and Joys Of Life repertoire. I’d hurray like a murray and get your advance tickets and look out for the future bank holiday dates, Easter Sunday 8th April, Bank Holiday Sunday 6th May and Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd June.

Aged four, Harlem’s globetrotting Patti Austin, was the African American dream musical talent, similar to California’s child prodigy starlet, Shirley Temple. Confidence and determination propelled her into a remarkable almost 60 year show biz career. Her “Gonna Be Special” intro to the business is the most jaw dropping entry I’ve heard yet. The saying, ‘out of the mouth of babes’ is personified here. Enjoy..... How does a 4 year old Patti Austin manage to get a record deal with RCA, sing at the Apollo and have Dinah Washington and Quincy Jones for godparents? Well ironically yesterday a friend of mine sent me a link of a little girl who performed on The Ellen show here in the States imitating Nicky Minaj and I found it fascinating to watch as it reminds me of me. I then questioned how did I do that at four and get a record deal. My case was unique as my father was a jazz musician playing trombone and music was always around me. He’d play notes and have me sing them back to him and be his metronome. He taught me many songs whilst we lived in Bayshore Long Island, an agricultural and fishing community, and he worked in Manhattan. My parents would drive into Manhattan on a Sunday with a picnic lunch to Central Park and go to the Abyssinian Baptist Church and hear many gospel artists, from Clara Ward to The Five Blind boys, perform and Adam Clayton Powell snr was the very charismatic preacher at the time. The Apollo in Harlem used to host 6 daily shows and we went one day to see Dinah Washington, whom my dad had previously worked with and was a good friend. I was introduced to Dinah back stage and she bent down, shook my hand and said “Hi honey I’m Dinah Washington and I’m the singer you saw in the show” I replied “Well I’m a singer too and I’m Patti Austin” She said “Well really if you’re a singer your gonna have to come on stage and sing on the next show”. As a precocious little twit I agreed and with that she introduced me to her music director who was amongst a dressing room full of people who were laughing at her every remark, but I’m taking this all very seriously. Her director asked what will I sing and I chose Teach Me Tonight, a Dinah song. He chuckled and asked what key do I sing it in, I said B flat and everyone stopped laughing. They asked how did I know what key and I told them my dad’s a trombone player. The song was in Dinah’s repertoire and the arrangement was in a different key but the director told his musicians, who were great, to play in B flat for me. 12 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Patti Austin

talks to Fitzroy

This interview just got better and better.....to read the full version you can sign up to become a Member and receive the full printed version.

t r ta S p m Ju

S D R O W with Ginger Tony

“Well that was a tidy one...” The transition from twenty-eleven to twenty-twelve was particularly smooth (well I thought so anyway). I think a lot of that was down to the late influx of top drawer music – so good in fact, that it seemed a crime to wipe the slate clean and start the new year a-fresh. So I didn’t! ☺ “Off to a flyer...” Great to have Valique back with his storming new album “Ever And So far”. Having progressed (my word, not his) from what was described as “Raw Jungle/Industrial” music to Funk/Breakbeat/Nu-Jazz, he’s had my full attention both as an artist and remixer and this new album doesn’t disappoint. The first 2 single releases (“I’m Here” and “Here Comes My Sun”) were absolute gems and amongst the other standouts are “Over & Over” and “Let It Go Now”, both featuring vocals from Maya and both equally cool! “Ever And So far” is available now on Infracom Records and is highly recommended. Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised (after all, it is an Agogo Records release), but I’m really enjoying the debut album from The Soul Session. Entitled “One”, this is one for the thinkers, cleverly made and very hypnotic in parts. Sometimes it’s easy for covers of classics to get noticed, but these new attempts at “Light My Fire” and the epic “Horse With No Name” (spread across 3 tracks, creating a 10+minute Suite) are quite something. The latter with De-Phazz vocalist Karl Freirson is particularly grabbing and has been getting some positive reactions from “Jump Start” listeners. More about great compilations later :-), but around about now the very wonderful chaps at Freestyle Records have an absolutely wonderful collection of Funk/Afrobeat/Latin/Soul tracks for us all. “Sounds From The Soul Underground” has been lovingly compiled by Freestyle’s Greg Boraman and includes some essential grooves that are guaranteed to keep your feet moving. Any collection that includes Speedometer, Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra, Frootful and Renegades Of Jazz will always be a winner in my

eyes. “It’ll come around quick...” I must squeeze in a quick mention for 2 events taking place later this year: Firstly “Revenge Of The Soulboy part 1” which takes place in Chalfont St.Peter, Bucks on Monday 4th June (The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Bank Holiday) and features some of the best DJs in the game (alright I’m biased.lol) Dr. Bob Jones, Nicky Holloway, Stretch Taylor, Chris Bangs, Eddie Piller, Bob Masters, Terry Jones & many more. Coaches are being arranged from all around the M25 area, so get in touch with any of the DJs, Crazy Beat Records, Music Meltdown or the Facebook event page for more info. Once again on Halloween weekend we’ll be gathering at The Carrington Hotel, Boscombe for The Bournemouth Soul Weekend, if you’ve been before you’ll know exactly what to expect, if you’ve yet to join us, please do – you’re assured of a fun weekend. “Here we go again!!!” Unashamedly I’ve got to end this column with a blatant plug for the latest addition to the “Jump Start Music” series with news that Volume 3 is about to be released. Once again we’ve gathered 14 funky, jazzy, dancey numbers onto one CD and the end result should be available very, very soon from all the usual music emporiums, including Amazon, Crazy Beat Records, Soul Brother, Music Meltdown and many more (including directly from myself). I must admit I’m very excited about some of the latest artists to join the “Jump Start” series: The RJE Project, Jen Kearney and the wonderful Grupo X as well as the return of some JSM regulars: Shuya Okino, 45 AKA Swing-O & Smoove & Turrell. I’m hoping you will all approve. Ciao for now! ☺ GT X

'Jump Start' Saturdays 8 till 10am. www.solarradio.com Sky Digital channel 0129 www.soulfunkandjazz.com/playlist.html www.myspace.com/djgingertony 16 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

TICKETS & INFO www.clubbinggateway.com £10 - Online £15 - On the door £12 - On the door with a Soul Survivor Magazine!

Imagination featuring Leee John and special guests Saturday 18th February

Lead singer Leee John recaptures the spirit of their early 80’s success with a special concert celebrating 30 Years of Brit Funk Soul.

Original ‘Betcha by Golly Wow’, Remixes and Unreleased Album all available through www.cherryred.co.uk, ITUNES and Amazon

www.leeejohn.com WANTED

Leicester Square Theatre 6 Leicester Place, London WC2H 7BX

http://leicestersquaretheatre.ticketsolve.com/shows/126521565/events

Video tapes, photos or any memorabilia from the 80’s for a documentary. www.flashbackprojectuk.com Send to: info@flashbackprojectuk.com

NEIL RUSHTON Excuse my ignorance in only knowing Walsall for being a 3rd division footballing team in the 70’s, but it appears you were their home grown premier league music and media mogul around the same time. How did you, coming from an industrial and revolutionised midland surroundings, first get into black music and by the age of 21 become an established writer for Black Echoes, a working DJ and a successful promoter by the age of 21?

I was no mogul, but a kid mad about Soul Music from about 15 years old. My family moved from Birmingham to Walsall when I was 10, so I have always supported Birmingham City though Walsall did have a great 3rd division team with the likes of Alan “Sniffer” Clark and Colin “The Hardest KIck” Taylor while I was at school. Moving to Walsall meant I was exposed to the growing Rare Soul movement much more than if I had stayed in Brum where clubs were by and large much more into the mainstream. Walsall, Dudley and Wolverhampton have always been towns mad about Soul music. One of the best Rare Soul venues in the country was The George Hotel in Walsall and I went there at 16 and was DJ’ing there by 17. The Catacombs Club in Wolverhampton was at one stage the leading Rare/Northern Soul club in the country and we started going there in 1972, and I was lucky enough to become one of the resident DJ’s there in 1974 before it closed. You had to know your stuff to play records there and it was an amazing thrill to Dj there on Saturday night, like being at the very centre of the Universe. So being in the industrial Midlands exposed me and my mates to lots of Soul Music. It was our religion. I worked out that getting DJ bookings was all very well but it would be better to promote your own events as I could always spot faults in clubs I went to. After The Catacombs closed myself and a pal started Soul nights, and then an All-Dayer at Dudley Zoo. That gave me a taste for it and I moved on to promote AllDayers at a Mecca venue, Tiffany’s in Coalville and the manager there recommended me to his pal Brian Thompson who managed The Ritz in Manchester, and invited me along to the venue and asked if I wanted to promote All-Dayers there. That was in 1975 and I remember being on the train in a daze pinching myself ...it changed my life. At the time I was an apprentice newspaper reporter and one day I got a call in the office from a lady telling me about this new publication called Black Echoes and asking me if I wanted to advertise in it? I said yes but I would be more interested in getting a job as a reporter! My apprenticeship was for three and a half years but was running out that December, so I was free to move, before that I would have been indentured and had to stay. So I went for the interview and got the job as their first staff writer was able to start work the very week the paper needed me. Amazing timing! The first issue of Black Echoes came out on January 30, 1976, which was my birthday. It was more great timing and being in the right place and right time for both The Ritz and Black Echoes. But I was a pushy so and so then, and it made things happen for me. Who were the pioneering Dj’s you admired that championed the Northern Soul phenomena before the farore that came with the 18 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

talks to Fitzroy

new emerging middle passage of Jazz funk fusion and disco?

DJ’s I liked were Graham Warr, Pep, Ian Levine, Richard Searling and Colin Curtis. My first DJ hero was Carl Dene from The George Hotel. But I was more interested in the records than the DJ’s. We spoke at length in Blackpool on our perspectives of the regional and racial differences of the so called North and South divide in the 70’s. You were more than qualified to commrnt on this as you were travelling back and forth with your journalist work and I guess your hunt for music and record distribution business, so what’s your summation? I found London a funkier and more cosmopolitan place than the Midlands and loved working there. It was the days of record company excess and loads of parties and ligs and very fast moving. But having worked as a newspaper reporter on the 2nd biggest evening paper in Britain for those three years, it would have taken a lot to shock me! I guess the number of reggae producers who failed to turn up for meetings at the Echoes office on Monday mornings because they had been arrested over the weekend and charged with anything up to murder was a bit stunning! The staff at Black Echoes was multi racial which was a new experience for me and I had the deep privilege of interviewing my musical idols, most of whom were black, but the black and white thing was never an issue for me. When Echoes started myself and Pete Harvey, the editor and a great guy who died early, were interviewed on one of London’s radio stations and the (black) interviewer said how come a young white guy (me) had the right to write about black music? I said cause I loved it, which looking back sounds a bit glib. To be candid I was a bit taken aback by the question as I never thought about it like that so maybe I was a bit naive. And we had a backlash when we did one front cover, out of 52 in the year, when we put just white Soul acts on it. I think the white Soul fans were the most outraged! The fact is we did it to illustrate an article about a growing number of white artists making Soul music, like The Average White Band, we were not making any political points. You used to get some of music from Solar Radio’s head honcho Tony Monson back in the 1970’s, what sort of advance things was he getting that no one else was? For a while, before importing in records myself from the USA, I took all the new imports every week from Tony and distributed them to shops in the Midlands and the North. Tony was really upfront, and used to get advance copies of loads of stuff, too many to mention. Some of the one-off demos he promised me never turned up and I found out years later, when I signed Inner City to Virgin, that Mick Clark, who worked part time for Tony, used to grab some of the one-offs for himself and hide them in the toilet away from Tony, so Tony could not find again these records he promised he would send me. Mick was our A&R manager at Virgin and we sold millions of records through him, just shows what a small world it is!

I have been told by a few Northern Soul diehards that the defining cross over Northern to contemporary record was The Carstairs’ It Really Hurts Me Girl, a 7 inch on the late Gene Redd’s (father of Prelude’s starlet Sharon Redd) Red Coach label from 1973. As noted in your Northern Soul Stories book, Ian Levine relates his painstaking holy grail mission to get his hands on this forgotten but later raided gem from the lost archives. Ian took a chance pacifying the Blackpool Mecca crowd with a speech to give them a taste of this current but 60’s vocal biscuit and they became hungry for it forevermore to this day. You in 1979 secured the recording on your Inferno label with a bonus unreleased Tom Moulton mix on both 7 and 12 inch for $1000. What are your memories of what is deemed the track that bridged the gapping gap, that led to your major success in providing a platform of listening to the amalgamated Northern soul jazz funk fusion and disco between 1975-1980 at infamous all dayers at The Ritz in Manchester? I love “It Really Hurts Me Girl” and got to know Cleveland Horne, who wrote the song, when we got him to bring a Carstairs group over to perform form at Blackpool Mecca in 1999. I was stunned to hear a year later that he’d died. Richard Searling announced it at A Ritz Allnighter and I was choking back the tears. Cleveland was a real gentleman. My mate has found an acetate of another Tom Moulton mix of it, not the one I released on Inferno, which he is letting me borrow to play at The Ritz on March 25. The Carstairs was first played in 1974 and The Ritz did not start until 1975 and so it was never a Ritz anthem. Ian playing it did open the doors for new releases and it was that rush of records by The Brothers, Fantastic Johnny C, Johnny Baker, The Montclairs, Gil Scott-Heron, The Temprees, Lilly Fields, Danny Reed and 100’s more that got the Northern scene into new music as well as material from the 60’s. They all sounded so great they gave the Northern scene a new impetus. You had a premiership team consisting of Colin Curtis, Richard Searling, Ian Levine and Ian Dewhurst playing on these1700 strong crowd all dayers with the cutting edge artists of the Northern Soul and Jazz Funk world and advised me of the music, social and racial harmony, combined within it’s sphere. What tunes and acts were unifying this Northern eclectic soul family? The Ritz All-Dayers ran from 1975 to 1980 so there’s a lot of records! I would say “It Looks Like Love” – Goody Goody, “You’re Something Kinda Mellow” – Johnny Williams, “Cathedrals” – DC Larue, “The New Killer Joe” – Benny Golson, “Keep Your Body Working” – Kleeer, “Phoenix” – Aquarian Dream, “Captain Connors” – Norman Connors, “Dreamin’ A Dream” – Crown Heights Affair, “This Will Be A Night To Remember” – Eddie Holman “Nine Times” – The Moments, “Disco Connection” – Isaac Hayes, “Law Of The Land” – Alfie Khan , “Movin” – Brass Construction, “You’re Gonna Get Next To Me” – Bo & Ruth, and “Could Heaven Ever Be Like This” – Idris Muhammad were some of our biggest records. And that’s not even taking into account the Northern Soul singles. The above are all well know classics but there were also lots of more underground stuff played too, and the turnover of new music was frightening. Live acts I promoted at The Ritz and our (bigger) sister All-Dayers at Blackpool Mecca included Tavares, Archie Bell & The Drells, Roy Ayers, Crown Heights Affair, Sylvester, Al Hudson & The Soul Partners, Ronnie Laws, Players Association, Hi Tension (to this day never got my VAT receipt!), Kandidate (they were amazing). Edwin Starr, Gloria Jones, and The Moments with The Rimshots. The only act we advertised who cancelled his tour was Eddie Kendricks. Looking back not a bad selection! How did that transcend in terms of the different dance styles of the

(assuming due to the demographics of the times) established athletic and gymnastic Northern soul dancers, mostly white, and the hardened Nicholas Brother hoofing and energetic jazz funk fusion dancers predominately black? The Ritz was a mash up of styles and that is why it worked. We had the baggy trousered and vest Northern crew, some of whom had been to Wigan Casino the night before, but we also had the more fashion orientated Blackpool Mecca crowd. We had all the “Levine Must Go” stuff but that was really because Ian could and can start a row in an empty phone box. If you get to know him he is lovely. When the jazz funk era came in and we got more of a black crowd there was no tension between black and white. What did happen was that two black crowds, one from Moss Side in Manchester and one from Bradford, decided they wanted to battle each other. That culminated in a girl being stabbed at our last Blackpool Mecca All-Dayer which was in August 1980. Soul Sam famously said that you and Colin Curtis should be hung in a letter to Black Echoes. How much of a backlash did you get in that cross over period of the mid 70’s - 1980? Martin (Soul Sam) had a letter printed in Black Echoes saying Colin and myself should be hung as people were coming to The Ritz wearing plastic sandals and bin liners. Of course they were, punk had come in and we were playing cutting edge music in the middle of Manchester but we didn’t think we deserved being executed! We had people wearing all sorts. Some people on the Northern scene did not like us promoting new music at the same time as classic Northern, but most people loved it, which is why it was the most popular venue attendance wise apart from Wigan Casino from 1975 to 1980. I remember on the Sunday before one of the Bank Holiday All-Dayers at Blackpool we had a mass football match, maybe 30 a side, and it was Northern Soul oldies fans, Mecca disco heads, jazz funk dancers, all joining in. The camaraderie was one of the great things about the era. There was also the famous occasion when we had a tug of war at the Mecca between the Northern Soul crowd who had the Highland Room for the day and the Jazz-Funkers who had the big downstairs room. The Northern lot won by putting the rope around one of the pillars! So most of the time everyone had a good time with each other. Nowadays you hear different recollections but the way club culture gets re-invented always makes me laugh. On Sunday the 25th March, 30 years after the last Ritz All dayer, some of the original Dj’s, yourself, Colin Curtis, Richard Searling, Ian Levine and John Manship return to the decks with Mike Stephens, Ralph Tee and Roger Williams in the second room. How excited are you to return to this legendary bouncy castle dance floor venue and how is it looking in terms of an expected attendance at this stage? The old building has been given a massive refurb by the HMV group and it looks as good as ever, and there is now the bonus of the downstairs room which I would have loved to have in the 70’s. Richard Searling and myself are promoting it and we are both really excited about the event. Tickets are flying out and being purchased by people from all over the UK so it’s going to be a very special day. It’s going to be very nostalgic for me. Cheers Neil for the education. You’re welcome Fitzroy.

JOYCE SIMS talks to Fitzroy What were you doing prior to landing your record deal in 1986 with Sleeping Bag records after studying music and learning various instruments? I was singing with different local bands and performing and writing songs. My family had a soul food restaurant where I worked and did my performing in the evenings and on the weekends. The music thing was so unexpected as I was going to college and meeting friends who lived in Brooklyn and started networking. How did you end up getting the deal? My friend lived in Brooklyn and was a fashion designer and knew people in the industry and introduced me to Robbie Watson who was an engineer at a studio in Manhattan. Robbie gave some spec time and we worked on All & All, Come Into My Life and It Wasn’t Easy which were all on my first album. Robbie knew Will Socolov at Sleeping Bag records who liked the album and the rest is history. Around that time the sound of soul was changing to electro boogie with Lisa Lisa I Wonder If I Take You Home and Magic Man by Rochelle. This was prior to you exploding, so how was it for you when it finally happened for you first in America and then the UK and beyond? It was unbelievable, I never thought the songs would explode the way they did. I just wanted to record music and perform and travel. It was so unexpected on my part and things started happening so fast as I was working so much. Every weekend I was travelling back and forth from New York. Most artists have a history of 5 years at least before they land a deal. So had you mapped your future out by working in the family business, even though you loved music as you were 26, which is kinda late to break into the industry? 22 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

I was always working on the music and had aspirations to get out of Rochester. Having studied it I was always singing and wanted to travel but I needed to make the right connections as deep inside I knew. When it happened it caught me off guard. My family owned a restaurant and my mother really needed me and I didn’t want to leave her. One day I told her I couldn't do my music in Rochester and she gave me her blessing and it was a weight off my shoulders. I remember All & All being played on all the soul sound systems, the equivalent of your block parties in the Bronx and Brooklyn, up and down the UK in derelict house and warehouse parties. Here in the UK Dj’s coming from the Afro Caribbean background didn’t have a lot of outlets to do the major clubs but eventually that filtered. Simultaneously we had two scenes, a soul scene and a reggae scene which were often split, but in between there were certain records that crossed over and the reggae crowd accepted. Both All & All and Lifetime Love are examples, they were produced by Kurtis Mantronix. So how did you meet with him? Kurtis was signed and also doing A&R at Sleeping Bag records. Will introduced Kurtis to my tracks and Kurtis wanted to work on the tracks, so I was told. Did you do Top Of The Pops when you came here and how different was the response compared to America? Top Of The Pops was a lot of work with all day filming but it was good as I met a lot of musicians and artists. There was a lot of business transcending then and I remember being busy and getting tired after doing TOTP as I’d do a gig after at some venue. But the crowd was always very receptive. I remember the first time I heard Come Into My Life, it was 5am one week day on LWR when I used to leave my radio on throughout the night and I woke up just in time to hear the intro. Above and beyond anything you’ve done that is my favourite cut. What’s the story behind the making of that and what sense of achievement did you have once you heard it back, compared to the original demo? I was listening to Patti Labelle, of whom I’m a big fan, and she did an album called Come Into My Life. I loved that album and wrote around the title, which sounds like such a universal phrase. It’s a love song but it was easy for me to write it. As far as the end product, the piano part stayed the same but what changed was the beat with Kurtis and the backing rhythm. It’s very close to the original demo. How complimentary was it to discover that Randy Crawford covered it with her own innovative style and that Angie Stone and Snoop Dog improvised it on I Wanna Thank You? When I heard Randy covered it I thought it was great as I love her as an artist and it was an honour that she even knew who I was. The same with Angie Stone as there are so many artists they could have covered. I am so humbled that they choose that song.

I like the Spanish version of Come Into My Life released in 1994 and played it on my show recently. Have you heard a track called Dheere Dheere Meri Zindagi Me Aana from a Bollywood film called Aashiqui. No I haven’t. Ok I’ll send you the link from Youtube and someone commented on how blatantly it’s ripped off Come Into My Life. The music and the melody is very noticeable. Wow please send it to me. My friend Dez Parkes said he was flown to a club called Maxim’s in Dortmund Germany to warm up before your concert there and said you tore Germany up. Do you have much memories of that? I do recall performing in Germany several times but can’t remember that specific club but I’ve been fortunate that my live performances have a loyal and faithful audience and I really appreciate them. You’ve done quite a few things since the first album. I understand even some film productions? Yeah Species, a si fi movie, which had a remake of Come Into My Life. What do you have in store for the Concerts in Manchester & London? We are gonna have a lot of fun and working with a band of UK Musicians. One of the guys is Micky Sims and we’ve been working on some tracks. I’m so excited as I haven’t been in the UK for a while..it’s going to be a lot of fun. You Haven’t Seen Nothing Yet is a cultural musical comedy being celebrated in the 50th year of Jamaican independence and is a collaboration of BCos Productions and ACLT. This is being performed at the Catford Theatre on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd of April 2012 including matinees. With a Caribbean twist on the classic Whoopie Goldberg film Sister Act it’s produced and directed by Cosmo Morgan and multitasking nubian songstress Bashiyra. The show unfolds the comedy of errors involving a singer seeking refuge within the Jamaican church after fleeing from an unpleasant attack on her backing singer friend. Her integration with the church choir singers displeases the head pastor and her amorous affect on him prompts his spurned advances to seek dark occult forces to convert her feelings. With a spicy sauce of jerk chickened flavoured reggae, gospel, soul and funk music, cooked up by the Mac Band, and an ackee, salt fish and dumpling cast, this family friendly show, like Shaggy, hosts a boombastic fantastic line up of entertainment. Established reggae and soul singing sensations Tippa Irie and Junior Giscombe, Bashiyra, renowned comedians Wayne Dibbi Rollins, Kane Brown and the recently honoured ACLT, co-founder Orin Lewis OBE, exercise their patois and acting skills. Flying the yellow, green and black flag with pride, like Usain Bolt, check out this Funking For Jamaican offering.

Speaking of your new material, I got sent mixes of Running Back to You and Back In Love. There's an acoustic mix with Afrika Bambataa, when are they being released? February. Ok so you’ll be performing that in Feb? Yes and All & All, Lifetime Love and Come Into My Life. How many albums have you done over the years? I’ve done four. Ok have you done more songwriting and live performances in between the albums? Both really. I’ve been busy earning a living as a songwriter and a performer. Well I know Simon quite well and he looks after his artists very well, he’s had N’Dambi, Rahsaan Patterson and other nu school artists but you’re his first old school artist and I know he’ll put in the work to put bums on seats. I have heard he’s a good guy. Yep he’ll look after you. How long will you here for? Around a week as I’ll be doing rehearsals before the first show. Ok thanks for your time Joyce and see you next month. Thanks Fitzroy

Record reviews Mascara - See You In LA. Expansions Funk Mafia DJ Consigliere and Ensign Record owner spoke of his project in our interview 4 years back recording 3 in demand session singers, the immortal Luther Vandross with David Lasley and Ula Hedwig. Hear Luther lead vocally on the album and radio versions of See You In LA, Jet Plane Ride and It’s Cool. Ula Hedwig leads on a cover of David Bowie’s Golden Years, for whom Luther sang BV’s for on his Young American project. Sounding very Chic (Dance Dance Dance rumbling bass line) is my favourite If You Don’t Wanna Be In My Life. The European Donna Summer I Feel Love vibe is etched on Comin’ Home Baby, Ula Hedwig’s caressing voice graces the ballad I Feel So At Home Here. Produced by ex Salsoul’s Jurgen S Korduletsch, purchase this £100 vinyl album on cd for roughly one tenth of the price and recognise the late Paula Yates’s torso on the front cover! The Warriors Behind The Mask - Expansion From the mother group that were inspired to name their group after a Kool & The Gang album title Light Of Worlds, a third outfit undresses themselves in the guise of Jean Paul Maunick, Pete Hinds and the late Paul Tubbs Williams. With a chosen few souljah’s they form The Warriors, a splinter project after the Incognito Jazz Funk template. The intricate rhythms of jazz soul and funk fusion featuring instrumentals Hot Apple, The Warrior and Bustin’ Loose 30 years later have that quintessential UK uniqueness compared to an American production. The brilliance of the UK’s baddest bass player of his generation, the late Tubbs Williams and the entourage of musicians is interwoven within this musically tapestry on cuts like Drive and the vocal funk cut What’s My Destination. Down tempo cuts like Midnight Oil and Je Ne Sais Quoi should not be overlooked cause these warriors...came out to play!! Lee Fields and The Expressions Faithfull Man (Truth & Soul) If James Brown was ever curious if he had a lost the twin he’d been separated from at birth he needn’t have looked too far, as North of his native South Carolina, Lee Fields was soulfully residing. Since the mid 60’s the voice of Martin Solvieg’s funktastic I’m A Good Man remix still sounds as raw and impassioned as ever. Timeless, exquisite and embracing what Sharon Jones & The Dap Tones have captured, every track is pure southern comfort soul. Faithful Man, I Still Got It, the down beat and funky You’re The Right Kind Of Girl and Who Do You Love recite every lyric and musical octave with the utmost clarity. Even the short and sweet instrumental Intermission talks without lyrics. Pleading and preaching like JB and Sly Johnson, Lee embodies the richness, depth and underlined core of what southern rhythm & blues flowers from the root to the fruit. Brilliant is an understatement!! Khari Cabral Simmons - Clementine Sun (Dome) PE’s Flava Flav famously quoted “bass in ya face” and this Electric Bassist Khari Cabral Simmons shows this subtly with a wonderment of fabulous music and musicians.The title track echoes the splendor of George Dukes Summer Breezing with India Irie’s tantalising vocals on the slow samba Never In Your Sun. Coolamon Waltz, an interluding instrumental sounds gorgeous with a vibraphone solo from Kevin Leahy. Khari’s bass and production skills remind me very much of a 70‘s Chick Corea’s bassist Bunny Brunel and trumpeter Al Vizzutti fusion especially on Ninos, and taking flight check out an amazing Mile Davis Shout riffed The Dove. Elements of Azymuth are present in Belle Of Byron May and it’s bassist Alex Malherios’s daughter Sabrina sings and scats on Major Bossa. Incognito bring their inimitable jazz soul and disco vibe to How Can We Go Wrong. This is a complete and consummate album in my humble opinion. Fabtabulous! The Last Poets - This Is Madness (Charly) Saying it loud I’m Black And I’m Proud was not only a pioneering James Brown song, but more of a defining mantra statement in raising the 1960’s decade’s awareness of the African American experience. 1960’s black-tivities gave a voice to the likes of Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Mohammed Ali, The Blank Panthers and uncompromisingly... The Last Poets. Relentless in telling the brutal truth to free African Americans from mental slavery and the ill treatment by their oppressor the Caucasian white race, in fuelling the niggertivity within their own black race. The language is uncompromised over the rhythmic African congas, repetitive chanting and articulate spoken word aimed to educate all races with the black community’s struggle. Substance abuse, optimistic and revolutionary dreams are told on Disc 1‘s titles Niggers Are Scared Of A Revolution, New York New York, Jones Comin’ Down, Black Wish and Two Little Boys. Hip Hop and Rap’s rapping reverends Public Enemy and KRS 1’s were clearly influenced by The Last Poets. Disc 2 echoes the real sounds of blackness in Black Is Chant, Black Is, White Man’s Got A God Complex and Opposites. As a bonus hear 3 versions of the Grandmaster Flash & The Furious 5‘s Hustler's Convention influence Lightning Rod featuring Kool & The Gang and Jimi Hendrix. This double cd set with sleeve notes is essential listening!! 24 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Philadelphia International Classics - The Tom Moulton Remixes (Harmless) Needing no introductions, the PIR catalogue and music maestro Tom Moulton set the anticipation of a bonafide success as if the late JB and MJ were to perform on the same stage. Celebrating 40 years, this is another package separate to the already previously reviewed Re Edits, featuring 35 original, lost and new Tom Moulton mixes, some of which were unaccredited prior to the Disco 12 phenomenon. Too many to mention but elongated versions of The OJay’s Back Stabbers, The Intruders’ She’s a Winner and The Three Degrees Dirty Ol Man should hint of what is to come. An 11 minute version of MFSB’s Love Is The Message, Archie Bell & The Drell’s 10 minute Lets Groove and Lou Rawls charismatic 9.57 minute version of You’ll Never Find, may have PIR fans salivating at the thought. Still hungry ??? Archie Bell’s Where Will You Go When The Party’s Over, Jean Carn’s My Love Don’t Come Easy and The Jones Girls Nights Over Egypt are all at least 9 minutes long. It’s simple musical mathematics... PIR + Tom Moulton = Philly Harmoultonic’s Orchestration...in abundance!! 2012 Luxury Soul Weekender - Expansions 2012 Luxury Soul Weekender is the 10th anniversary celebratory cd selection of artists who have graced both the Blackpool and Birmingham weekenders for the past decade. Eric Benet improvises a cover of the PIR classic Wake Up Everybody and pursued closely by Frank McComb’s Action Speaks Louder Than Words. Maysa and Tony Momrelle’s synergism on Incognito’s It’s Just One Of Those Things is pure lushness. Sunburst Band’s uplifting and infectious Rough Times and Tropical Fish feat Omar’s fantastic melodic jazz soul dancer Rubber Soul puts a pep in our soul steps. Reel Peoples Sure feat Darien is a nice acoustic latin samba number preluding Real’s smooth oozed Satisfaction. An impressive and catchy soulful jazz 80‘s electro boogie produced Love Beat by Cool Million feat Laura caught my attention and Dennis Taylor’s massive Enough Is Enough highlights the dance floor aimed selection of CD1. Let You Get Away features Adriana Evans’ vocals on a southern soul food flavoured retainer. Anthony David’s melodious 4EverMore and Rahsaan Patterson’s Straighten It Out represent Dome Records impact on the Luxury weekender’s roaster. Howard Hewitt excels beyond expectation on a mellow Crystal Clear and Sheree Brown’s beautiful and seductive Just A Simple Love was one of my 2011 highlights. CD3 has some strong vintage contenders with the gravel voiced Bobby Womack and June Yamagishi, Chapter 8 and the majestic Ashford and Simpson. One of the most well received acts The Valentine Brothers’ Just Let Me Be Close To You still sounds orgasmic after 30 years. The weekender's first lady Jean Carn’s charming larynx incinerates on Flame of Love and Keni Burke zaps the album with I Get Off On You. Al Olive’s sounds like a Luther reincarnation on the warm Slow Down complimented by the falsetto king Lenny Williams bringing the LA sunshine on Inner City Rainbow. Ray Gaskins and Mr Vibes Roy Ayers close the album with a spin tingling Lullabye. This really is a luxurious goody bag of choons. All reviews written by Fitzroy

SEND IN YOUR REVIEWS OR TRACKS FOR REVIEW TO fitzroy@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk The Soul Survivors PO Box 377 West Malling Kent ME6 9DQ 07956 312931 (Send in early....we only have so much space!!!)

Sandy Barber - The Best Is Yet To Come (BBE) This vintage disco boogie album escaped me first time round but sounds good over 30 years later..like fine wine. Sandy Barber’s effortless voice is powerful and soothing at the same time over some equally melodic soul and disco productions. Look Out Of The Sky’s smacks of Nancy Wilson’s Capitol classic Flying High. The serenading ballad The First Time Around embraces some lush strings followed by a rollocking upbeat Don’t Worry Baby. There are 3 versions of I Think I’ll Do Some Stepping Of My Own, a percussive John Morales and my preferred instrumental mix by Al Kent. Apart from a funky disco version of the Wonder Woman theme, one of the longest and best cuts is a very sensual Diana Ross, Love Hang Over vibe without the disco boogie break. So if like Skyy you missed this first time around, don’t miss the soul boat this time. Quality! Kenny Wellington - In Retro Spect One of the UK’s most consistent trumpeters has been for 35 years at the top of his game and is one third of an ongoing splinter group Beggar & Co. Kenny Wellington manages to mix a variety of classic/contemporary sound and genres on this colossal jazz funk album. Knowing Kenny it’s no surprise that he interpolates the jazz and funk with a subtle hint of soul influence from his nurturing years. His horn blowing prowess allow him to fit into a balance of funk fusion on Free Your Mind, my ultimate favourite the smooth latin samba on Bahia, freestyle expression on Lets Get Dizzy and for some jazz hip hop afforded to the versatility of Donald Byrd, Mile Davis and Wynton Marsalis, check out The Shake Down, The Mysterious Traveller and Chilli. Another inspiring and brilliant resilient jazz based album from another original jazz funk musicateer!!

Dwight Trible - Cosmic Katalyst Don’t be surprised upon hearing the esoteric sounds emitted from Dwight Trible that his conduit voice transmits a vibration spiritually through your body. With some spoken word on spirited jazz rhythms previously championed by Pharoah Sanders, Norman Connors and Lonnie Liston Smith, he continues in the vein of vocal gymnasts Leon Thomas and Andy Bey. Arranged and produced by Dwight you’ll become enticed by the opening tracks Algeriangles, Haiku For Peace/Come Ye and the classic I’ve Known Rivers performed previously by Gary Bartz to Cassandra Wilson. Dwight’s voice, almost an operatic one, bellows with an array of rhythm and blues orientated genres, raising spiritual octaves on It’s All About Love and a pin drop listening moment on Little Africa. His covers of Duke Ellington’s In The Beginning God and especially the Stairsteps inspiring Ooh Child may send you multiplying chills like Danny Zuko. Like Mass Production pure Cosmic Lust! Augie’s Side Effect - About Time Malindi The saying better late than never resonates here on a 2010 soul boat that sailed past me till now. Augie Johnson the multi tasking bandleader of the soul jazz be bop dancing outfit Side Effect graced many an At Home Production under musical maestro Wayne Henderson from La Boppers to Light Of The Worlds Round Trip album. He re-injects the fun element covering MJ’s The Way You Make Me Feel,Cab Calloway’s Minnie The Moocher, Judy Garland’s Over The Rainbow, Billie Joel’s The Longest Time and his own S.O.S with variable fashion. If those don’t tickle ya fancy I guess the jazzy sensual ballad Slow Dancing duet may do but it’s worth getting for just one incredible reminder of Augie’s Be Bop Jazz Funk legacy About Time definitely going “way back into time” as stated by the recently departed E Man Boogie maverick Jimmy Castor. It’s defo Bop Time!! Extend The Knowledge - Marc Mac (Omniverse) If you know the 1981 Roy Ayers production Rick Holmes’ Remember to Remember you’ll recall the lyrics “pass the information...extend the knowledge”. Well all round musicologist Marc Mac (4Hero) does this with a blackenized concept like JB’s Hank Ballad’s 1969 civil rights production. With a subtle balance of hip hop soul jazz loops, political speeches, commentary and comedic remarks from non and profile individuals, the message is clearly within the music. The African Americans struggle to seek equality is highlighted on New Awareness, Side You On? I Am A Human Being, What’s My Name, Rosa Parks and The Right Message. This educational musical scripture is getting worldwide acclaim and attention on various blogs, websites and music forums. Also check out his sharp Marc Mac’s the knife productions, Its Right To Be Civil prelude comp, The Visioneers 7 inch classy instrumental project It’s Simple/The World Is Yours, and an exclusive mix of Mass feat Leroy Burgess’ bumping military broken mix. Essential!! Imagination feat Leee John - The Fascination Of The Physical - Cherry Red After much success and a series of events, including Errol Brown and Ashley Ingram’s departure and the group’s manager Brian Longley’s sudden death, Leee John pursued a new line up of Nat Augustin and Peter Poyer to secure a dream deal with Motown around 1989. Unfortunately it didn’t come to fruition and this is the unreleased in the UK project with alternative mixes. From an album mixture of soul, hip house and swing The Best Of My Life utilised The Soul Searchers infamous Ashley’s Roachclip break and the infectious Ooh Aah loop Raze’s Break 4 Love. Loving Tight gets the Teddy Riley Swing thing in motion and the ballad The Night We Loved gets the Stylistics treatment. The single The Fascination Of The Physical would have made a great and possible chart bound impact, if the masses had been exposed to it. Disc 2 has three alternative mixes of Work and I Like It, two of The Best Of My Life and three of I Like It. Once In A Lifetime is not included on the first cd and neither is Feeling Free with a nice a cappella. Catch Leee celebrating 30 years and with a concert 18th Feb and his Flashback documentary later this year. 26 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Back Issues

all available Back issues t h or full se c a e 0 .5 2 £ t a xcl 1) with available (e hip for £50 s r e b m e m l annua

Dez Parkes Will Downing

Issue 12

Tribute to Dick Griffey

Issue 20

Chris Hill Jeffrey Daniel

ISSUE 5

Issue 13

Jocelyn Brown

Melba Moore George Power

Issue 6

Issue 14

Issue 22

Tashan Beggar & Co

Frankie Beverly Ronald Khalis Bell Amp Fiddler

Mary Davis Teddy Riley & Chauncey Black Freddie Lee

Issue 7

Issue 15

Issue 23

Brand New Heavies Colin Curtis John Legend

Smokey Robinson Larry Graham Mint condition Angela Johnson

Issue 16

Issue 24

Issue 8

Michael Henderson Teena Marie pt2 Richard Searling Ralph Tee

Mica Paris Noel McKoy Erik Rico

Tributes to James Brown

Dr Bob Jones

Issue 27

Issue 19

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Tributes to Teena Marie Gary Dennis Conya Doss Heston

Thelma Houston Eric Roberson Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson

Issue 21

Issue 29

Teena Marie Chaka Khan Steve Arrington Maxwell John Morales

Eddie Amoo Alex Lowes Les Spaine 8.+ /3,4 564:/*+6 ,46 8.+ 7491 796:/:46 96 8. 33/:+67'6= !!# 93+ 91=

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SYLEENA JOHNSON talks to Fitzroy

There is no escaping the mammoth influence your father Sly Johnson has on the soul world with Wu Tang sampling Could It Be I’m Falling In Love and Is It Because I’m Black appearing on a few compilations and being sampled. How was life growing up around music in the the Johnson household? For me it was normal, like what happens in most homes I guess but it was definitely musical. My dad had a studio in the basement with microphones and pianos as he would rehearse in there. We’d always listen to albums and dance and my father would play the guitar every day. That embedded in my system. I think a lot of the sounds when I sing comes from the riffs from the guitar. I’ve got what I believe is your first album Love Hangover, a version of Diana Ross’s with your very slick version of Baby I’m Scared Of You. Did you ever get an approval from Womack & Womack? I was trying to create that album with my dad and we ended up shopping it to Jive Records. Womack & Womack’s daughter contacted me on Twitter to say that she loved it. I didn’t hear anything from Diana Ross’s people but I made that track from the sample created by Ian Isaacs and my father bought the track from him and put it on the album. Like another favourite southern singer Leela James, you do have the most distinctive and recognisable soulful blues voice, with the richness of the history of the troubled but spiritual south. How did you deal with the vocal nodules aged 15 that threatened your singing career and you overcoming it with the aid of speech therapy? They are like callouses on your vocal chords. From high school to college I sang classical music and you’re supposed to stick to a strict diet and look after your voice. I wasn’t doing that, as being a typical college student I was out partying, drinking, smoking, shouting, screaming and eating the wrong foods, basically ignoring the disciplines. I developed acid reflux which flashes up on your vocal chords and inflames them, and if they are irritated and constantly rubbing together, things like alcohol and smoking causes strains on the callouses. It causes hoarseness and pain and I had to go through speech therapy and see doctors. This is reversible and I chose not to do surgery as it could have changed my voice. Your record deal with Jive came a couple years after an album you did in 1995 with your father, This Time Together Father & Daughter..that must have been quite a moving, enlightening and memorable experience. How did that project come together? My father sometimes did things that I didn’t know about, which would explain the sophomore college photo on the front LOL. After it came out it was ok as I used to write songs and sing background vocals for him.

The Love, Pain and Chapter album from 2001 is the start of you chronicalling your life experiences and singing the blues with the emotion that can only come from a southern soul singer. I love and played the remix using William De Vaughn's original slow 70‘s version Be Thankful Of What You’ve Got on I Am Your Woman. I regularly played that when I could. Penned by R Kelly, was it as much therapy exposing this to the world potentially, as well as challenging yourself as an artist coming through with something deep and real, compared to the R&B trivia that was coming out at the time? 28 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

It wasn’t hard, as when I went to Jive I was already writing a journal of what was happening in my life so I just turned them into songs. It was like it was meant to be. With R Kelly he wrote the song purely from my personality which was amazing as I was going through that situation at that time. Chapter two saw the single Tonight I’m Gonna Let Go featuring Busta Rhymes on his rhythm of Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See, and it was a huge club classic in the circles I was working in. I read from that album that you class No Words as the best song you never wrote. How so? Lol. Because there are no lyrics in the verses and we are trying to capitalise on the emotion of the song without a verse bridge or hook etc. That was done by myself and Calvin Haggins and I went in the booth and it was a one take one shot deal. I don’t think anyone’s done that before. I didn’t put pen to paper and what you hear is the end result. From Chapter 3 you liaise with Anthony Hamilton on the sweet and wonderful More. Every song he graces on his own or as a duet is nothing less than spectacular and the poetic conscious soul bro flow of Common graces Bulls Eye (Suddenly)..How was it to work with those two? Anthony Hamilton is one of my favourite artists to work with as he is such a nice guy and he’s similar to me in his approach to a song with a passion. Although I’m not from the south I have a southern approach to singing, maybe it’s because my dad is from Mississippi. But me and Anthony feel the same emotional attachment to the song and that’s why we work. He’s absolutely amazing and awesome live and his voice is distinct and no one sounds like him. With Common I wasn’t in the studio but I was soooooo excited as I like him from I Used To Love Her back in the early 90’s and he’s from Chicago. I was so in love with and had a crush on him. And to have him sing on my track was like things going full circle for me. You’ve been nominated for several BET and MTV awards as well as an acting career and you’re a mum too. How do you juggle that? I don’t know lol, with great patience and prayer and sometimes I don’t know whether I’m coming or going. But with the grace of god, my husband and my family’s support of my career, I have a great foundation. It’s with great difficulty and skill and sometimes I want to run away and not come back, but it’s worth it and rewarding. What can we expect in London and have you performed here many times before? I’ll be doing Manchester, Birmingham and London but I start the 23rd - 27th of March 2012. I have never performed my own material in London and I’m honoured to be asked. This is my first Syleena Johnson review. I came here before with Kayne West but that doesn’t count. The promoter has given me an idea of the tunes that are popular and I wanna do the new material and have an awesome show. It’s a full blown show and I’m so excited about this. I want everyone to want me to come back. I have no doubt that you will wow the audience Syleena... thank you for your time. Thank you Fitzroy.

Out The Box

......its not all four to the floor you know! Words DJ Marcia Carr Spring time - invokes a call upon the birthing of much that is good, and already the Underground Dance scene is ripening with much musical goodness; a few of those bits and bobs that are much sought after are covered here, so enjoy the read. Tapping into pastures previously tread, this 3rd single from musician/producer Robert Strauss’s project Personal Life ‘Distance Can Be Sweet’ (Solid Wax) looks at the notion of relationships growing sweetly again if love is restored. Set down on a bed of bold drum licks, the vocal tone of freshman Stuart Lisbie is interspersed with sassy sax (Max Grunhard), some smooth keyboard from Xatone Blacq that Leon Ware would be proud of, along with sumptuous violin string overlays on this passionate-sounding piece of sentimental two step Soul - for fans of Marvin Gaye, Bobby Caldwell, or the Jimmy Messina persuasion – can’t wait to check out this band live. Soul-electronica outfit Part-Time Heroes are back in the game strong with this latest offering for WahWah45 – label head Dom Servini has always had inspired musical vision – and he is also a great DJ. Lead cut ‘Folded’ features the scorching vocals of Sarah Scott fronting a string-clad sensual, blues-happy score – turned into two fine remixes; the LPZ Vocal is an effervescent old-school House romp for late night club floors and the Paper Tiger Remix presents itself as an entanglement of Dubstep meets Lover’s Rock. Artist Colonel Red makes a stunning guest appearance on the dubby, brass and bass cut ‘Close’, while ‘Wood’ is a sombre and subtle instrumental – all lifted from their coming long-player ‘Lightfalls’. Will Holland; the musician/producer behind Quantic and Combo Barbaro, who pride themselves on making Latin fusions of Afro, funk, jazz and more, have raised the bar on this high-flyer ‘Look Around The Corner’, a superb cocktail inclusion of Blues, Gospel and soulful folk, which utterly dazzles with Brit recording songstress Alice Russell’s powerful soul forte. Both artists signed to Tru Thoughts records have had a few previous collaborations, but there’s something about this musical love affair of the 70’s alà Minnie Riperton - they’ve beautifully articulated an era that may seemingly be over, but in a live setting today can work very well - and is far more satisfying to one’s precious - surely this is going to open many golden doors for them onto big live festival arenas – available on limited deluxe colour 10” vinyl, you need this! Hit pick single Broadcite records’ motto “fusing sounds for the musically aware” has kept the indie label thriving for ten years plus – their catalogue diversity of Broken Beat, Afro, deeper House, Funk, Soul fusions and live showcases come DJ events has produced much good fruit for their committee of in-house label talents. Stepping into the limelight now, newcomer Khyan aka Simon Williams, continues his development of sound of variations in House – much like his deeper House sets – new single ‘Jimma’ (after the Ethiopian city) draws on the inspiration of rhythms and named African scales (Anchi-hoye-minor) to create this wonderful ripple effective tapestry of percussion-filled, dubby delays and bass. Franscesco Chiocci’s remix inflects a heavy accent of different drum beats, crisps snares and a party swing for peak time slots, while taking things to a moodier but just as lovely a place are the warmer synths and moogs dispersed all over on the Trinidadian Deep remix which makes this all the more hugely impressionable. DJ Marcia Carr (TMP/HouseHuntin’/Beat Players/the Ladyz™) ~Prick up your ears dance floor selection~ Dawn Tallman – U Turn (Josh Milan Honeycomb Vocal Mix) - Diva Down Ent., Quantic & Combo Barbaro & Alice Russell – Look Around The Corner – Tru Thoughts Blaze presents UDAUFL feat., Ultra Naté - A Wonderful Place (Sean McCabe Classic Mix) – King Street Sounds Jerk House Connection feat., Niles Thomas – Velvet Touch (HHA Re-Edit) – Stalwart SoulParlour – Too Hot feat., Stan Smith - Tokyo Dawn Miguel Migs – The System ft. Capleton (Petalpusher Salted Disco Dub) - OM Simbad feat., Paul Randolph – Share Your Light – Atjazz Records Boddhi Satva – From Another World feat., Vikter Duplaix - BBE The Realm – One Chance (Aki Bergen Dub Mix) - Papa Speedometer feat., Martha High – The Shakedown - Freestyle

Catch me the last Thursday of each month co-hosting with DJ/producer Sy Sez on www.colourfulradio.com; 9pm-12am, and as a guest on radio shows. I look forward to seeing you around club land: from Shiftless Shuffle, to HouseHuntin’, the Canal Easter party, East Village and many other spots. God bless ♥ For all the latest info on gigs and more with Marcia Carr visit TMP: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59753396276 - www.myspace.com/marcia_c Send 12”s / CDs for review consideration to: TALKING MUSIC PRODUCTIONS c/o 22 Eton Close, London SW18 4UD. DJ booking/enquires: marciadavinylmc@facebook.com 30 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Event reviews/letters George Duke at The Jazz Cafe - Thursday 24 Nov 2011 This was the penultimate concert before the end of a long tour. George Duke took to the stage and announced 'We've been touring for months and haven't had a night off since I don't know when, but we like it here.' And the feeling was definitely mutual, the Jazz Cafe audience loved George being there. He was witty and encouraged the crowd to sing along throughout his set. George played an eclectic set of funky standards from the 70s to bang up to date tracks from his recently released albums 'Deja Vu' and 'Dukey Treats'. Playing the aptly titled 'Bus Tours' co-written with Stanley Clarke, this allowed drummer Gorden Campbell's skills to be highlighted. Bass Player Michael Manson was brilliant throughout, especially on 'You touched my Brain', and of course George gave us his most successful song to date 'Brazilian Love Affair' apologising for his poor vocals due to the long tour, but the crowd understood and loved every minute of it. Fusion and smooth jazz pianist George transports you back to the golden age of funk and fusion, whilst bringing a fresh new sound for the 21st century. It was a real pleasure to see the musical genius perform who is true tour de force of creativity and backed by an experienced and skilled band. Giants Of Rare Groove 4 at The Indigo 4 Sat 18 Dec 2011 The Natural Four started the evening with only one remaining original member, James Cross. The new younger members did a great job performing many of their hits, but left the best for last with their rare groove classic 'Try Love Again', which pleased the expectant crowd at the Indigo2. The evergreen Miss Barbara Mason managed to turn back time with her smooth vocals which she has obviously looked after, with a vast catalogue of material to choose from. We were treated to all her classic tracks including 'Give me Your Love' and 'Don't I Ever Cross your Mind.' Barbara even injected some humour and plucked a young man from the audience to keep her company when she sang her classic song 'Yes I'm Ready'. Asking him to remove his hat, jacket and shirt he got into the spirit of fun and even walked on his knees for Barbara, which the audience lapped up. Barbara totally captivated her audience and left us with the classic 'Another Man.' The evening totally belonged to Barbara with her flawless performance. The Emotions, comprising of sisters Pamela, Sheila and Wanda Hutchinson took to the stage in contrasting red outfits and started in fine form singing 'I Don't Want to Lose your Love’. The girls are experienced performers and know just what to sing including 'Flowers', 'Don't Ask my Neighbours' and performed the Earth Wind & Fire track 'Boogie Wonderland' made famous by their producer Maurice White without any male vocal and kept their biggest hit 'Best of My Love' for the encore. An excellent line up which all ran to time, the Giants of Rare Groove series of concerts just get better every time. June Furlong

32 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

Jill Scott; 30th November 2011 at Brixton 02 Academy With an all live set up accompanied by her US band, Ms Jill Scott totally outdid various selected studio versions of songs: 'Blessed', 'When I Wake Up', 'Le BOOM' and 'Rolling Hills' lifted from her new LP 'The Light Of The Sun'. In presenting us, the audience, with her current US smash 'Só In Love' the duet song sadly missed Mr Anthony Hamilton's distinctive tone, however, Ms Scott's backing vocalist V of The Pipes stood in and did a rather good 'impersonation'. Even her rendition of 'Quick' out does her album cut – her first collection since signing to Warner Music following an acrimonious departure from Hidden Beach records. How an artist brings their material to life in today’s fickle industry can either make or break you. Longevity is key in this day and age, so in Ms Scott's case tapping into her own experiences about her personal experiences has always been a winning factor in her growth, so stepping into some of her back catalogue from her years at Hidden Beach boded well with the audience. Her entire performance at the Brixton o2 Academy was meaningful and heartfelt. As a recording artist she has not lost her edge. For Ms Scott and her band to put to task each song with such forceful feeling along with accurate precision in execution too, transpired to be a tight and well rehearsed exhibition in front of a packed house with some barely 18 years old fans right through to those who were fifty plus in years. Upon hearing her club anthem 'Gimme' with its old-school sampled funk bass line, it had a lot of the audience swinging to its groove, I almost felt to burst into a routine of the Bump dance, only lack of space prohibited me from really getting into it. Smooth interludes had been laid down to abridge a few tracks from the first half of her show, and I do recall the rather snappy almost House style rendition of 'Golden' was just one of many numbers that had the crowd singing along in full fervour. Miss Scott had already won us over as we were thoroughly engaged and became absorbed by the depth of stupendous musicality on tap, we were all in awe. Take 'Slowly Surely', another song which had Ms Scott smiling with joy at seeing the crowds response, we knew it word for word and, it provided an opportune moment for us to be treated to the odd solo playing from her various band members – on other songs their capabilities proved to be undoubtedly inspiring. For a finale, the Soul siren let rip with her own take of ‘He Loves Me (Lyzel in E Flat)' showing us an operatic side to her multi-ranging voice. And, if that wasn't enough, after her encore we were given one more closing treat - a song that came to Miss Scott in a dream some years before on which she displayed her liking for beat-boxing – off she went on another level, her act was charmingly captivating. All in all her medicinal cure of, love, kindness and spiritual essence are all the ingredients we can't get enough of and Scott clearly has plenty of it to engage new fans and those of us who she addressed in her introduction "who have all grown up and look so well" for many more years to come. Arguably, one of the best performers of her generation Miss Jill Scott is a living legend, a true diva of Soul she speaks to us with poignant gusto and eloquent seduction. (Words by DJ Marcia Carr, Nov 2011)

BNH 13-14th December 2011 @ Under The Bridge SW6. Always a pleasure and never a chore when the original trunk funk comes to town and BNH were scoring home goals in the Stamford Bridge grounds. In this plush live venue and with a new and charming vocalist Honey Larochelle J, the original west London trio ripped through with tornado proportions, a strong 16 song set with many singing to every lyric. It was no surprise to hear Back to Love, Never Stop, Dream On Dreamer, Gimme One Of Those, Dream Come True and my emotional one Stay This Way. What was a special bonus was a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s I Wish, especially with the BHN horns, it sounded fabtastic. The nucleus of Jan, Andrew and Simon from 25 years back still, like Change, hold tight to their reign of championing homegrown funky soul music. Wayne Henderson @ Ronnie Scotts Thursday 12 Jan 2012 I got a tip that this charismatic musical icon and unsung hero was in town, so I made a call and bang was on the guest list to see the southern knight and crusading warrior of soulful jazz, Wayne Henderson. I had dj’d for and seen him a few times at my Jazz cafe residency in the 90‘s and did not want to miss this. Rarely do I go to a gig where you can hear a pin drop... and the silence was that deafening. Wayne and his new Jazz Crusaders performed with such synergy on his own repertoire of Put It Where You Want It, Always There and Keep That Same Old Feeling that I found it very moving. I was astounded at the version excursion twist of a standard Frank Sinatra’s You Don’t Know What Love Is that sounded like Grovers Black Forest. I heard a 15 minute Eleanor Rigby cover like the Beatles hadn’t even written it, it was that jazz funktastic. His new crusading musicians, Paul Russo (saxophone), Brian Price (guitar), Joel Gaines (keyboard), David Hughes (bass) and Anthony Moore (drums) are immensely talented and were joined on stage by resident vocalist and Ronnie Scotts host Natalie Williams for a rendition of the classic Street Life. Rumour has it that The New Jazz Crusaders are coming over in the summer, so watch this space!! Blackpool Luxury Soul Weekender @ The Hilton Jan 6-9 Hundreds of individuals from around the UK and beyond gathered to celebrate the 10th Luxury Soul Weekender at the Blackpool Hilton where the increasing camaraderie made some who missed this quite envious. The four rooms were naturally busy with their devoted and dedicated music connoisseurs supporting their favourite Dj’s. I was amongst the line up with a late and unexpected extended jazz funk set late Friday night 4- 5.45 am, and a prime time Saturday night 1.30-3am to a heaving dance floor, which I thoroughly enjoyed in the Lounge. Over the weekend there were noticeable and inspiring Lounge sets from many, including Mark Grice, Bob Jeffries, Ralph Tee and Barry Maleady. The infamous afternoon Queens room Jazz sessions with Colin Curtis,Tony Cooney and friends was for me the best undiluted and uncompromising music selection of the weekend by far. The amazing freestyle dancing from those who could hoof and those who were captivated to try was something to behold. The concert with Sheree Brown,

The Valentine Brothers and Keni Burke was the fullest I’ve seen after the 4 years attending the weekender and a fitting line up. The Springs Club is always and forever, like Heatwave, busy with Bigger, Mike Stephens and Norman Halley spinning the mid tempo R&B and 80’s soul faves that room is accustomed to, so it kinda takes care of itself. Definitely one of the most friendlier weekenders, so much so that between 9am11am Saturday, not Sunday/Saturday morning, the massive queue for re-books for Jan 13 resulted in the Hilton venue already being sold out @ £50 deposit a pop... per person!! Sunday, even though some had gone home, was still majorly busy during the day and evening. Since the demand for another weekend between now and Jan 13 is mounting, as due to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee the Brum Hilton is fully booked, you had better start booking for next year. Soul Purpose Friday 30th December 2011 Friday 30th December I was invited to guest at the Soul Purpose event held in a friendly and quaint Hotel establishment, Sketchley Grange in Hinckley. There were two busy rooms of mature soul, jazz funk and soulful house revelers who started celebrating NYE a little bit earlier than most. Many from outside the area travelled to hear residents Mark Randle, Sam Evan, Mark Goddard, and guests Phil Levine, Gary Dennis and Dj producer Sean McCabe. My set was received well to my delight as I played a menage of disco, latin, soulful house and some jazz funk and the dancing, in particular from the athletic co-promoter Sam Evans, was energetic and joyous like Pleasure, which I played incidentally. Sean McCabe displayed some skillful mixing and re-edits keeping the floor continuously busy. My 18 year son Jamal travelled with me and was impressed with the energy of the ol’ soul folks. Great night, next one with Dr Bob Jones 17th February!! Soul Network @ Cape Cheapside EC2 NYE Soul Network returned to it’s first City NYE from 2004 at Cape, formerly Prodigal in Cheapside, with a capacity of over 600 people celebrating NYE till after 4am. Party Balloons, Champagne dinner and dance and party poppers were the flavour of the night. Soul Network never fails to draw a mature mix. Darrell S warmed up the night followed my myself till just before midnight where after the countdown Vivy came on with House Of Pains Jump Around and an uplifting part set. Tony Rodriguez kept the tempo up followed by Mark Williams keeping things smooth with an eclectic mix of soul/soulful house and rare groove for the wind down session. The effort of the Soul Network team blowing up balloons and mingling with the people as they come in and were made to feel welcome is part of Vivy’s Soul Network mantra. The Mansion party for Jan12 is sold out, next event is 25th Feb at The Alchemist EC3 and for future events and dates check out www.soulnetwork.co.uk The Strictly Vinyl Session Boogie & Bowl @ Bloomsbury Bowls WC1 9th December 2011 The Strictly Vinyl Session Boogie & Bowl Xmas party was held within the Bloomsbury Bowls basement with a mixture of funky people dancing and swinging a bowling ball like they were Richie and Joanie at Arnolds in Happy Days. Promoter Carl Dennie started the evening off with Gordon Mac, Paul Trouble Anderson and Da Buzzboy consecutively dropping the strictly vinyl policy of good grooves. The crowd attendance was a mixture of old school clubbers and resident Bloomsbury Potsys, Ralphs and female 10 pin enthusiasts. Great atmosphere with a busy floor and some mean skills on the bowling alley runways, even I managed to get a strike multitasking in between spinning records. Strictly Vinyl is always a pleasurable and different concept for music enthusiasts so watch out for the next one and watch this space!!

Out and about with the "HUNKYFUNKY" The Sunny Hunny Weekender When I arrived at the main reception there were people milling about all around, some new arrivals and some that arrived on the Friday night. Sadly, due to work commitments I didn’t arrive till Saturday lunchtime but I was greeted by my old mate Tony Fernandez who was filling the radio Sunny Hunny airwaves with his usual charm and great choice of choones. Then right on cue, the well known and respected organiser of the event Jamie Trundle came over and greeted me warmly. Jamie gave me a quick tour and passed me the itinerary for the weekend as well as my wristband pass, blimey was I in for a treat by the looks of this! So off for a quick freshen up and a crafty beer to start the proceedings..... The accommodation is mainly caravans but there are some log cabins and they are all very clean and fitted out to a modest and comfortable standard. Time to have a wander... The music is split between three rooms, The Plaza, The Sundowners and The Mariners. All three rooms have good sized and well staffed bars. The prices were very reasonable too and what I really liked was that there were chairs and tables in all rooms for you to sit and rest and watch the action while having a breather from the dancing. 3pm in the Mariners bar, Chris (Charlie) Brown had 100 people’s attention with about 50 or 60 on the dance floor ....After the Mariners bar we went into The Plaza and experienced classics and covers of tracks, like Ramsey Lewis's Wade In The Water, I just know I'm going to be dancing the afternoon away..... ...early evening now and the Motown room is buzzing and filled to capacity with choones like Jimmy Mac by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas fuelling the crowd.... and in the Sundowner (Northern room) Catch that Teardrop by the 5 Royals has the dancefloor filled, time to take a break from scribbling notes and time to dance me thinks..... Later on after some some sweaty moves on the dancefloor and a quick sit down we moved on back into The Plaza... How can a room go from playing soulful house to R'n'B to Crossover and Modern Soul and still keep the dancefloor filled? This is unlike any of the other weekenders I have ever attended, in fact it’s a breath of fresh air! The DJ line up was superb and how nice it was to see many of the "circuit" DJ's actually enjoying the weekender but not actually playing here. When Tony Ferandez dropped Driza Bone Real Love the dancefloor filled to capacity and with Chris Brown playing back to back who went from Lou Rawls’ You'll Never Find Another

Love Like Mine into Jean Carne’ Was That All It Was. With the dance floor ramjammed it was time to see how the other rooms were doing, it’s not quite as busy in the jazz room but diehards like little Reg Stickings and friends are still boogying to the Isley Bros and while all this is going on they are still filling the floor with choones like Whispers (are getting louder) by Jackie Wilson in the Northern room (Sundowners bar). Back in The Plaza Fernandez drops in We Lift Our Hands In The Sanctuary followed by the classic Days Like This by Shaun Escoffrey. It’s nearly 3am now and time to look for an afterparty, as the rooms close down at three, which means these old bones won’t feel quite so tired in the morning, thankfully... Sunday morning we awoke to sunny but windy skies. This weekender has really taken off and has people coming from as far away as Australia and U.S.A. Next year it will be in its fifth year. The venue on Sunday morning still had a lively feel as some people were starting to make their way home after a filling breakfast in the reasonably priced restaurant. With a crowd of just over a thousand people, the venue was buzzing and with air conditioned rooms you could literally dance all night without leaving because, unlike some other events I could mention, it was like being in a sauna. I have to mention again that drinks were all reasonably priced, with the feel good vibe and good clean accommodation, the general staff, the promotional and support staff along with the DJs and Jamie Trundle made it a wicked weekend. It now transpires that over 300 tickets have been sold by Sunday morning, that's a third of all sales, however there are going to be an extra couple of hundred tickets available this coming year due to popular demand. The value for money and the cost of this event is so reasonable you'd be a fool to miss it. I've never seen a promoter be so humble and give such a personal service as Jamie did, always helpful and full of thanks and praise to the punters as they left, all with big smiles promising returning next year. I know for a fact that this will be a permanent fixture in the "hunkyfunkys" calendar in future. I just hope the weekender can cope with some of my friends who want to experience it with me ... My overall rating for this event is... good music, good food, good accommodation, good prices.....= good times... not an event to be missed. If you’re not already aware of the events that Jamie Trundle runs and promotes, then get a grip and add him up on Facebook, alternatively contact him through me... Signing off with some of my special xBIGLOVEx and I hope to see you all soon.

We would love to hear your reviews of the events you have been to. Please do forward your review and photos and we will publish. anna@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk 34 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

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What’s goin’ on?

FRIDAY 3 FEBRUARY

Ghetto Heaven @ The Slaughtered Lamb, 3435 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX DJ's Stretch Taylor and Seth Strutt.

SATURDAY 4 FEBRUARY

Funky Sensation @ Ronnie Scotts Frith St. W1 Fitzroy da Buzzboy The Black Glove Party @ The Old Salt Quay, 163 Rotherhithe St, London SE16 9-3.30 £5 Club Soul @ Holiday Inn, Bexley, Kent with Starpoint DJs 8pm - late. Omar @ Jazz Cafe, Camden, NW1

Charity Night at Soul on the Harbour @ Jacksons Wharf, York St, Ramsgate Kent CT11 9DS Free, 8-1 East Kent Soul Connection DJs. Marys Meals Charity Night @ Blantyre Miners Welfare Social Club, Calder Street, Blantyre G72 7pm-1am with DJs Mark Linton, Willie Mckenzie, Paul Lafferty & Billie Hazlie. £6.15

London Northern Soul All-Dayer @ Boston Dome, 178 Junction Rd, Tufnell Park, N19 5QQ 12 Midday - Midnight.

Smoove & Turrell @ Floridita, 100 Wardour St, London W1

WEDNESDAY 22 FEBRUARY

THURSDAY 9 FEBRUARY

SATURDAY 11 FEBRUARY

Soul Delicious @ Inigo Bar, 642 Wandsworth Rd, SW8 3JW with DJ Master J. 8pm-4am (See Ad) Soul Fine @ The Tereza Joanne Boat, King George V Dock, Woolwhich Manor Way E16 2QY 10pm-4am Djs Enyaw, LP and Woz and Special PA from Junior Giscombe. Beat Players Room 26 @ East Village, 8 Great Eastern St EC2A 3HX Adv tkts £10/£12 OTD DJ's Luis Radio, Neil Pierce, Sy Sez, Da Buzzboy, Shaun Samuel, DJ Soul Provider JazzFunkSoul @ Charlie Wrights, 45 Pitfield St, N1 6DA Resident DJs Neville, Colin Scott, & Stevie Day 10pm - 4am Kent Soul Sessions @ Bar 59, High Street, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0BQ with DJs Tony Matthews, Roni O’Brien and guests. Free entry 8pm-2am Treacle Soul Charity Alldayer in support for 'Help for Heroes' @ Queens Head, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. NOON-1:30am DJ's: Paul Stuart, Gavin Page, Brother 'Louie' Martin, Marcus Bell, Davy Marshall, Danny Conway, Big Neil H, Gerard L, Shaun Evans, Keith Long & Dave Blow. All Souled Up 4 @ Riva Lounge, 3-7 Bromley Rd, London SE6 2TS. 10-4am £8 DJs Vivy B, Rudy Ranx, DJ Culture, Dwight & Looney. Night at the Jazz Rooms @ The Jazz Place, 10 Ship St, Brighton with Russ Dewbury & guests. 9-3am £5/4 Concs. Drink offers.

THURSDAY 16 FEBRUARY

The Craig Charles Show @ Floridita, 100 Wardour St, London W1

FRIDAY 17 FEBRUARY

The Seasiders Soul Club @ The Seasiders Bar at Blackpool FC 8pm-2am DJs Keith Fletcher, Jimmy Scriv and Rod Allsworth Adm £4 for the first 100-£5 thereafter.

SATURDAY 18 FEBRUARY

Imagination ft. Leee John and guests @ Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Place, WC2H 7BX (See Ad) Soul Shack @ The Abbey, 30-33 The Minories, London EC3 with DJs Ash Selector and James Anthony. (See Ad)

36 www.thesoulsurvivors.co.uk

SUNDAY 19 FEBRUARY

MONDAY 20-27 FEBRUARY

Egyptian Soul @ Sharm El Sheikh. Tickets available from Soul Survivors. Groove Central @ Big Chill Bar, Dray Walk, London E1 6QN Mr Strutt, 7pm 'till midnight

THURSDAY 23 FEBRUARY

Speedometer @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle

FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY

Joyce Sims live @ The Cheshire Lounge, Millington, Cheshire. DJs Hewan Clarke, Gordon West, Alex Badass

SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY

We Love Soul @ Hidden Club, 100 Tinworth St, London SE11 5EQ 10pm-7am. 3 Rooms of the best Soul, 80s classics, party anthems, funk, boogie, disco and soulful house. Live PA from David Joseph. (See Ad) Soul Network @ Alchemist, London EC3 10-4am with DJs Vivy B, Fitzroy da Buzzboy and Darrell S. ThrowBaak @ Babalou, St Matthews Church, Brixton, London SW2 1JF 10pm-5am £7 B4 Midnight - £10 after. DJs DJ 279, Dave VJ, Rochelle, De Lori and Jnr Mac spinning Club Soul @ Holiday Inn, Sipson Rd, Heathrow. Starpoint DJs 8pm - late. Adv £6, £8 OTD B4 10

SUNDAY 26 FEBRUARY

Joyce Sims live @ The Jazz Cafe, 5 Parkway, Camden Town, NW1 7PG £17.50 7pm Drizabone Soul Family @ Hoochie Coochie

FRIDAY 2 MARCH

Ghetto Heaven @ The Slaughtered Lamb, 3435 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX DJ's Stretch Taylor and Seth Strutt. Craig Charles @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle

SATURDAY 3 MARCH

Soul at the Castle @ Farnham Castle, Surrey with The Vibe Tribe. 7.30pm-1am Adv Tkts £15 All proceeds to the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. (See Ad) Soul on the Harbour @ Jacksons Wharf, York St, Ramsgate Kent CT11 9DS Free, 8 till 1 with East Kent Soul Connection DJs. Definitive Soul @ The Function Room, 2 North Rd, St Helens, Merseyside WA10 2TL. A night of current & classic modern & crossover soul dj's Gareth Butterworth, Tony Shawcross, Steve Plumb, Barry Maleady

SUNDAY 4 MARCH

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ Leeds, Stylus

WEDNESDAY 7 MARCH

Soul On The Road @ The Westcoast Bar, Margate with Cool Million, Soul Talk, Tom Glide and Westcoast Soulstars.

THURSDAY 8 MARCH

Avery Sunshine @ London Union Chapel, Compton Avenue, London N1 2XD (See Ad) Soul On The Road @ The Ferry, Glasgow with Cool Million, Soul Talk, Tom Glide and Westcoast Soulstars. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ Birmingham, HMV Institute

FRIDAY 9 MARCH

Soul On The Road @ Club Replay, Stockport with Cool Million, Soul Talk, Tom Glide and Westcoast Soulstars. Club Soul @ Holiday Inn, Bexley, Kent with Starpoint DJs 8pm - late. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings @ The 02 Shepherds Bush Empire

SATURDAY 10 MARCH

Soul On The Road @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle with Cool Million, Soul Talk, Tom Glide and Westcoast Soulstars. Treacle Soul @ Queens Head, Hemel Hempstead, Herts. DJ's: Hosts Marcus Bell, Keith Long & Dave Blow and special guest DJ. Kent Soul Sessions @ Bar 59, High Street, Gravesend, Kent DA11 0BQ with DJs Tony Matthews, Roni O’Brien and guests. Free entry 8pm-2am

SUNDAY 11 MARCH

Soul On The Road @ The Grand, London with Cool Million, Soul Talk, Tom Glide and Westcoast Soulstars.

FRIDAY 16 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Sheffield Motorpoint Arena.

SATURDAY 17 MARCH

Soul Shack @ The Abbey, 30-33 The Minories, London EC3 with DJs Ash Selector and James Anthony. (See Ad) Soul On The Square @ The Square Pig, Proctor St, Holborn 8-Late, Northern Soul & Motown at its best. Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Newcastle Metro Radio Arena. Brand New Heavies @ Hoochie Coochie

SUNDAY 18 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Glasgow Clyde Auditorium

TUESDAY 20 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Nottingham Capital FM Arena

THURSDAY 22 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Birmingham NIA

FRIDAY 23 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Manchester Arena

The Soul Survivors Radio Shows with Fitzroy da Buzzboy Every Thursday 6-9pm Sunday 11pm-1am Bi-weekly Sunday 5-7pm Bi-weekly

Where you can find Fitzroy and a bundle of mags! Feb 4th @ Hertford House Hotel Hertford Feb 11th Beat Players @ East Village EC2 Feb 18th Funky Sensation @ Ronnie Scotts Soho W.1 25th Soul Network @ The Alchemist EC3 March 31st Soul Network @ The Gable EC2 April 8th We Love Soul @ Hidden SE11

SATURDAY 24 MARCH

Soul in the Park @ Alona Hotel, Strathclyde Country Park, Motherwell. 7pm-1am Adm £10 DJs Bob Jeffries, Mark Linton, Alex McDermott & Paul Lafferty. Soulfuldance @ The Langdales Hotel, 318-328, Clifton Dr North, St Annes On Sea, FY8 2PB £5 OTD 8pm-2am. DJs Pete Haigh, Steve Naylor, & Andy Lett Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Bournemouth BIC

SUNDAY 25 MARCH

Syleena Johnson @ The Jazz Cafe, Camden, NW1 7PG (See Ad) Manchester Ritz All-Dayer @ HMV Ritz Ballroom, Whitworth St, (West) Manchester, M1 5NQ Adv Tkts £10, £15 OTD (See Ad) Boating Club @ Temple Pier, Embankment, DJ's Stretch Taylor, Scott James & guests. Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Cardiff Motorpoint Arena

TUESDAY 27 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ Liverpool Echo Arena

WEDNESDAY 28 MARCH

Four Tops, The Temptations, Tavares & The Crystals @ London The O2

FRIDAY 30-31 MARCH

Clacton Soul Weekender @ Comfort Hotel, 6-8 Marine Parade West, Clacton On Sea, Essex CO15 1RD Tickets £35 for the whole weekend. This event starts Friday 2pm - 3am, Saturday 1pm - 5pm + 8.30pm - 3am

SATURDAY 31 MARCH

Aswad @ Islington Assembly Hall, Upper St, N1 2UD Doors 7.30pm. (See Ad) Soul Network @ The Gable, EC3 with DJs Vivy B, Tony Rodriguez and Darrell S. 10pm-4am. ThrowBaak @ Babalou, St Matthews Church, Brixton, London SW2 1JF 10pm-5am £7 B4 Midnight - £10 after. Club Soul @ Holiday Inn, Sipson Rd, Heathrow. Starpoint DJs 8pm - late. Adv £6, £8 OTD B4 10

SUNDAY 1 APRIL

Leee John @ Hoochie Coochie

WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL

Lee Fields & The Expressions @ The Wardrobe, 6 Saint Peter’s Square, Leeds LS9 8AH (See Ad) Larry Graham & Graham Central Station live @ at The Grand St. John's Hill, Clapham, London, SW11 £25 - Doors 7pm

SATURDAY 7 APRIL

Soul on the Harbour @ Jacksons Wharf, York St, Ramsgate Kent CT11 9DS Free, 8 till 1 with East Kent Soul Connection DJs.

SUNDAY 8 APRIL

We Love Soul @ Hidden Club, 100 Tinworth St, London SE11 5EQ 10pm-7am. 3 Rooms of the best Soul, 80s classics, party anthems, funk, boogie, disco and soulful house. (See Ad) Soul Train @ Motion, Bristol, BS2 0PX 9pm4am 5 Rooms of the best in Soul, RnB, Reggae, Funk, Soulful House (See Ad)

FRIDAY 13 APRIL

Ghetto Heaven @ The Slaughtered Lamb, 3435 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DX DJ's Stretch Taylor and Seth Strutt. Club Soul @ Holiday Inn, Bexley, Kent with Starpoint DJs 8pm - late.

SATURDAY 14 APRIL

Brenda Russell @ Union Chapel, Compton Avenue, London N1 2XD

THURSDAY 19 APRIL

Patti Austin @ Islington Assembly Hall, Upper St, London N1 2UD Doors 7pm (See Ad)

SATURDAY 21-22 APRIL

You Haven’t Seen Nothing Yet @ The Broadway Theatre, Catford Broadway, London SE6 4RU Musical comedy stage play (See Ad)

FRIDAY 27-29 APRIL

Baltic Soul Weekender #6 @ Weissenhaeuser Strand Resort, Northern Germany DJs: Ash Selector, Dan D, Ian Dewhirst, Steve Hobbs, Mick Farrer, Lloyd Attrill, Dr Bob Jones, Mousse T & many more. Live acts including Leon Ware, The Supremes, Omar, Tortured Soul.

SUNDAY 29 APRIL

KTF' UKSoulJam 'NuJazz Special' @ Ronnie Scotts, Frith St, W1 ft live: Kaidi Tatham, Heidi Vogel, Jazz Bailey, Kate Threlfall, jam session + more TBA. 6pm-Midnight £10-£22.50

WEDNESDAY 2 MAY

Candi Staton @ Manchester RNCM (See Ad)

FRIDAY 4 MAY

Candi Staton @ Islington Assembly Hall, London (See Ad)

SUNDAY 6 MAY

We Love Soul @ Hidden Club, 100 Tinworth St, London SE11 5EQ 10pm-7am. 3 Rooms of the best Soul, 80s classics, party anthems, funk, boogie, disco and soulful house. (See Ad)

THURSDAY 10-17 MAY

Soul In The Algarve @ Portugal. Tickets available from Soul Survivors

FRIDAY 11 MAY

Janet Kay & Carroll Thompson @ Islington Assembly Hall, Upper St, N1 7pm (See Ad)

FRIDAY 11-13 MAY

Southport Weekender 48 @ Minehead. 25th Anniversary SOLD OUT!!

SUNDAY 3 JUNE

We Love Soul @ Hidden Club, 100 Tinworth St, London SE11 5EQ 10pm-7am. 3 Rooms of the

best Soul, 80s classics, party anthems, funk, boogie, disco and soulful house. (See Ad)

FRIDAY 15 - 18 JUNE

The Yorkshire Soul Weekender @ Sand Le Mere Holiday Village, £60 for 3 nights with Luxury Accommodation included. Tickets available from Soul Survivors

SATURDAY 14 JULY

Mansion Party @ Bristol Tickets available from Soul Survivors

THURSDAY 6-11 SEPTEMBER

Salou Soul Weekender 4 @ ALOU SOUL WEEKENDER 4 “Back 4 More” @ Costa Dorada, Spain

WEDNESDAY 10-20 OCTOBER

Mediterranean Soul @ Turkey. All inclusive from £295, Beach,Pool & Night Club Parties. Tickets available from Soul Survivors

WEDNESDAY 17-31 OCTOBER Soul in the Caribbean @ Barbados Tickets available from Soul Survivors

FRIDAY 26-28 OCTOBER

Bournemouth Soul Weekender @ Carrington House Hotel, Bournemouth event passes £40/50. DJ's include Stretch Taylor, Bob Jones, Bob Masters, Gavin Page, Chris Bangs, Andy Davies & many more

WEEKLY EVENTS EVERY TUESDAY

Riding High @ The Vibe Bar, Brick Lane, E1 7.30 till 11.30pm DJ Abi Clarke plays rare grooves, lovers rock, 80s soul, boogie, neo soul.

WEDNESDAY & FRIDAY

Funk & Soul @ Anise, 9 Devonshire Square, London EC2M 4YL DJ Sugaray & Guests. 1st Wed/Fri Soul, Funk, Boogie & Disco 2nd Wed/Fri All things Funky. 3rd Wed/Fri Classic R&B, Hip Hop

EVERY FRIDAY

Soul Train Legends @ Awch Bar & Lounge, 516 Old Kent Road, London SE1 5BA. Doors 10pm DJs on rotation. Soul Uprising @ Rendezvouz Bar & Grill, 1149 Hi Rd, Chadwell Heath, Romford, RM6 4AT DJs Peter P & Bonnie DJ plus guests. 10 til 3am Love Fridays @ The Brickyard, 222 South Street, Romford, RM1 2AD. 8pm-2am Djs Birdy, Tee Smith and guests.

EVERY SATURDAY

Funky Sensation @ Upstairs at Ronnie Scotts. Night at the Jazz Rooms @ The Jazz Place, 10 Ship St, Brighton. 9-3am Drink offers.

FIRST SATURDAY OF THE MONTH Move On Up @ The Greyhound Bar & Club, 151 Greyhound Lane, SW16 5NJ. DJs Stevie Dundee & Tony Rodriquez. 9.30pm-3.30am (See ad)

IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR EVENTS LISTED HERE FREE OF CHARGE, PLEASE EMAIL anna@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk or 01732 844246 FULL DETAILS ARE ON OUR WEBSITE WWW.THESOULSURVIVORS.CO.UK WE EMAIL EVENT REMINDERS OUT ONCE A WEEK INCLUDING COMPETITIONS TO WIN TICKETS! SEND YOUR DETAILS IN TO RECEIVE UPDATES. Events can be subject to change so please check with promoter if unsure.

10-1pm Robbie Vincent www.jazzfm.com 10-Midday The Sunday Soul Affair with Curly CJ starpointradio.com Jazz Funk & Soul 10-Midday Soul A.M with the Master J on tongueandgrooveradio.com & soulam.co.uk 11am-1pm Marky Mark Soul Motive show 10pm-Midnight Whistle & White Socks on www.back2backfm.net Brigade with Simon Ford on zeroradio.co.uk 12-3pm Soul Syndicate with Peter P FRIDAYS centreforcesessions.com 107.5fm time fm 9-11pm Sammy Sam with Disco, Boogie, 12-2pm DJ Enyaw on dejavufm.com with Soul & Jazz Funk starpointradio.com The Sunday Soul Selection Midnight-3am The Jazz House with Paul 1-3pm Mucho Soul with Ket & DJ AKA on Ruiz on www.jazzfm.com www.back2backfm.net SATURDAYS 2pm-4pm Original Mastercuts with Ian 8-10am Jump Start with Ginger Tony on Dewhirst & Alan Champ starpointradio.com solarradio.com From nu-jazz to funk & jazz 2-4pm Russ Dewbury with Jazz Rooms 8-10am Sunshineman on 89.8 FM London Sunday SocialBrighton’s Juice 107.2 station898fm.net Jazz, Funk & Soul 3-6pm Soul Syndicate with Bonnie DJ on 9-11am Saturday Soul Bowl with Sean P centreforcesessions.com Time 107.5FM on Hot96.co.uk 10-Midday The Sunday Morning Affair 9-11am Saturday Fry Up with Mark, Ricky with Sly Bang 103.6fm & Trevor on starpointradio.com Soul & Funk 3-6pm Stumpi-Inspiration Show Soul on 10am -12pm Soulful Saturdays with Ian diversefm.com 102.8fm Herts, Beds & Bucks. Dee pointblank.fm 90.2fm Ldn. 3-6pm Soul360 with Aitch B on 10am-Midday The Early Bird Catching www.colourfulradio.com & DAB London The Worm Show House FM with DJ Birdy 4-6pm Neo Soul Agenda with Simon 11am The Starpoint Radio UK Soul Precilla on www.dejavufm.com Chart on starpointradio.com. 4-6pm The Soul Cellar with Al B in Bristol. 11am-1pm 6MS SESSIONS Disco, soul, www.passionradiobristol.com house, funk boogie on stompradio.com 4-7pm Ralph Tee on www.jazzfm.com Midday-3pm Soul Syndicate on Time 107.5fm centreforcesessions.com Chris Phillips 6-9pm Sunday Night Soul with Keith Fletcher on BBC Radio Lancashire Motown/Northern Midday-2pm Groove Control Show with 10pm-Mid Mellow A on soulradiouk.com Ash Selector on solarradio.com Midnight-3am DJ Afroogroove on 91.6FM 1-4pm Saturday Soulmine with Jonny or www.genesisradio.co.uk/afrogroove Layton & Mr Messy on zeroradio.co.uk 3-6pm Soul Syndicate with DJ Phillo 1.6FM From 12 midnight to 3am featuring centreforcesessions.com 107.5fm time fm the best in jazz, fusion, latin, soul, afrobeats & spoken word. 2-4pm Turn the Music up with James Anthony on solarradio.com Classic ‘n’ current JL’s Groove can be listened to on demand on www.celticradio.com 2-4pm Dancefloor Grooves with Jamie Taylor on www.banburyinternetradio.com Weekly podcasts on dazlingsoul.com 3-6pm Peter Young on Jazz FM. A mixture of live365.com/station/atomicdog65 24/7 old & new soul with ‘The Soul Cellar’ at 5pm webstream Soul, Jazz & Neo Soul 6-9pm Superior Rhythm Soul Show from If in Costa del Sol, check out global.fm Jeff Spain with Dean Freeman on exitefm.com Thomas Mon-Fri 2-5pm, Sun 9-Midday 4-6pm Jazz Funk Soul with Neville on Podcast soulpower08.mypodcast.com solarradio.com 2nd Saturday of month Tony Poole on TKO Gold 106 Wks-9pm 5-7pm The Morpheus Soul Show 96.7 & 87.7 FM in Spain or tkogold.com www.playvybz.com DJ Johnny Rebel Marky Mark of Soul Motive with soul 5-9pm Club Classics Chris Brown on Star funk.ssradiouk.com/category/shows/soul-motive/ 107.9/1 FM in Cambridge. Soul & Motown The Groove with Suzy Chase podcast 6-8pm Soul Inspired with David Bishop on shows on www.thegrooveradio.com www.zeroradio.co.uk Classic 60’s–80’s Soul VibeRide Podcast/radio Shows at 7-10pm Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show VibeRide.org.uk on www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/funk_soul/ Dez Parkes, Marc Mac with an eclectic 7-9pm Skippys Soul on NevisRadio.co.uk mix of black music via podcast on www.newwaveradio.co.uk 10-1am A Touch of Soul with Devon BBC Derby 104.5fm, Notts 103.8fm & Lincs. 94.9fm We don’t have very much 12-2am Back to tha o’l skool on 90.8FM Strictly 80’s soul & Rap lightningfm.co.uk room for radio listings but are

Soul Radio MONDAYS

6-8pm Darrell’s Funk Box with Jazz Funk & Soul on soulpower-radio.com 6-8pm Strictly Vinyl Sessions with Carl Dennie on solarradio.com Soul/Rare grooves 6-8pm Souled Out with Colsie on www.tongueandgrooveradio.com 6-8pm Vibe Tribe Pt2 with Matt & Andy P on www.soulconnexion.com 7-9pm Clive Ashford Soul Show. Soul, disco, & jazz funk on www.nationalsoulradio.com 7-9pm Ian Henry with Soul, Jazz Fusion & funk on generationradio.co.uk 7-10pm Rod Allsworth Classic Soul Show on Fyldefm.com 8-10pm Souled Out with Mark K on www.tongueandgrooveradio.com 9-11pm The Hot Box with Gary Turner on Zeroradio.co.uk Soul-jazz, nu-jazz & latin beat 10pm - Midnight Insatiable Soul with Roni O’Brien on Solar Radio

TUESDAYS 6-8pm June Furlong on Solarradio.com 6-8pm Soul Connection with Mark Blee on banburyinternetradio.com Soul, jazz & Funk 9pm-Midnight Stretch Taylor with the classy side of urban on Colourfulradio.com & DAB 9-11pm Jazz Movement with Sean P on Hot96.co.uk 9-Midnight Inside America Michael Speaks Da Costa on thesouloflondonradio.com

WEDNESDAYS 1-3pm Ian Henry with Soul, Jazz Fusion and funk on www.generationradio.co.uk 8-10pm Soul Syndicate with Peter P on time1075.com 8-10pm The Triple SSS Show with Shaun Evans & Marcus Bell on www.radiomk.co.uk 9-11pm Steve O'Mahoney playing Soul, Jazz & Funk www.radio789.net.ms 10pm-Midnight Good Groove Show with Ruth Fisher on solarradio.com or Sky 0129

THURSDAYS 6-9pm Soul Survivors Show with Fitzroy da Buzzboy on colourfulradio.com 6-8pm GMT Nu Soul Central with Tony Rodriguez on solarradio.com 7-9pm Ride da Rhythm with Hilary John @ www.station898fm.co.uk & 89.8fm London 7-9pm Infiniti with Andy Jackson on 107.5 Tulip Radio Modern Soul Radio 7-9pm Angie D’s Diva Got Soul Show on www.urbanjazzradio.net 8-10pm Soulpower with Shaun Gallagher on www.soulpower-radio.com 8-10pm Nick Gunn’s Soul Armoury on zeroradio.co.uk. Jazz, Funk, Soul & Boogie 9pm-12 Sy Sez on colourfulradio.com with guest Marcia Carr the last Thursday 9.30-10.30pm Hidden Gems 60’s to new Soul on www.fcumradio.co.uk

SUNDAYS 12 Mid-4am Colin Faver on solarradio.com A soulful mix of upfront & classic house/Beats 9-11am Sandra C on stompradio.com 9-11sm Sunday Service with Brian Kelly on zeroradio.co.uk Jazz funk and soul

always happy to add where possible. Please inform us of any changes or deletions. Thank you anna@thesoulsurvivors.co.uk