Soul Jazz Vinilo y CD

Notes: New edition of Dancehall, Beth Lesser's seminal photography and style book capturing the rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture in the 1980s. The book also features a new introduction by the British fashion designer and art curator Duro Olowu.

Featuring 100s and 100s of amazing photographs - all with accompanying text, interviews and biographies,'Dancehall' is an essential reference book for anyone interested in Reggae and captures a previously unseen era of musical culture, fashion and lifestyle in stunning, vibrant colour.

Aside from the music, this book is as much about Jamaican fashion and style. Beth Lesser's Dancehall photographs in this book have directly influenced fashion brands including Aime Leon Dore ('Kingston 1983' collection), recent Levi's Vintage and Farah collections.

Dancehall is a culture that encompasses music, fashion, drugs, guns, art, community, technology, and more. Born in the 1950s out of the neighbourhood soundsystems of Kingston, Dancehall grew to its height in the 1980s before a massive influx of drugs and guns made the scene too dangerous for many. Today Dancehall remains at the centre of Jamaican musical and cultural life. From its roots in Kingston in the 1950s to its heyday in the 1980s, Dancehall conquered the globe spreading to the USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Europe and beyond.

In the early 1980s Jamaica was in the throws of political and gang violence - photographer Beth Lesser ventured where few other dared and this book is a never-before-seen record of the exciting, dangerous and vibrant world of Dancehall.

Living in Jamaica in the late 70s and early 80s she photographed and documented a cultural explosion as producers, singers, DJs and soundsystems who all made a living out of the slums of Kingston. With unprecedented access to the incredibly vibrant music scene during this period, Beth Lesser's photographs are a unique way into a previously hidden part of Jamaican culture.

Review: The mighty Soul Jazz has done it again with this compilation - it features four sides of irresistible ska, soul, rocksteady, funk and dub that traces the history of Jamaican reggae and how American styles like funk and jazz had on it. The record is bursting at the seams with gold from crossover tunes like Tenor Saw's 'Ring the Alarm' to K.C.White's classic 'No, No, No' and Augustus Pablo's always iconic 'Rockers Rock'. Soul Jazz has done all the hard work in digging here so you don't have to.

Review: Always impeccably curated and sumptuously presented, the seemingly endless Soul Jazz compilation series turns its attention to first generation punk and post-punk, with the years 1997-1981 their relatively strict boundaries. A short space of time, perhaps, but one that witnessed a massive outpouring of original, fresh sounds as the independent record label movement really got going. As you'd expect, this collects the best of the stuff that went under the mainstream radar - no Pistols or Clash here - but the quality level remains high. Jonny Moped's 'Everything Stops For Baby' is speedy and thrilling and very punk, sample lyric: "walking down the road with my incendiary device / Looking for an ear to blow it up with gelignite". 'O' Levels, meanwhile, set fire to the Surrey suburbs with 'East Sheen', all wiry guitars and couldn't give a toss backing vocals, but the double vinyl set also showcases the experimental advances that followed after punk, with 23 Skidoo's 'Last Words' proving to be the kind of gritty British funk that Section 25 and A Certain Ratio would be making their own shortly afterwards.

Review: In 1984, Jamaican-born producer Tony Williams gifted the British jazz-funk scene with two exceptional 12" records, both now rare gems. One of these, Nat King Cool's 'Checking Out,' showcases a fusion of MFSB's 'Mysteries of the World' with quintessential UK Brit-funk vibes. Originally released on the Tai Wan label, this single remains as fresh today as it did in 1984, with its captivating flip-side instrumental. Remastered from tapes, these essential 80s Brit-funk tracks are presented on pristine vinyl, adorned with bespoke repro-labels, and packaged in a groovy Soul Jazz/Funk Masters house bag, which means it looks as good as it sounds.

Review: A superb 12" slab of rare South London British jazz funk, originally released in the UK in 1984 by Jamaican-born producer Tony Williams, the man behind the seminal Funk Masters' jazz-funk masterpiece, 'Love Money'. Now heard again, 'Keep On Searching For Love' is emblematic of London's 80s dub disco sound, with its every constituent part recorded, arranged and processed to the discotheque-addict's letter. Gated snares and acapella croons abound, with the uplifting vocals of Linda Taylor shining as brilliantly as star at the peak of its supernova. The flipside instrumental, 'Eastern Lady', comes complete with hypnotic bassline, drum machines, synths and stabbing horn lines; both tracks have been lovingly remastered from tape and now come exquisitely repackaged for you to enjoy. Gotta keep on!

Review: Drummer and composer David Lee Jr.'s acclaimed yet hard to find gem Evolution from 1974 is revered for the way it ingeniously melds the experimental spirit of John Coltrane and Sun Ra with the infectious rhythms of New Orleans. A standout among legendary New Orleans drummers, including Zigaboo Modeliste and Idris Muhammed, Lee Jr. showcased fiery innovation and unparalleled experimentation here on this 'lost classic' deep jazz album, originally released on Lee Jr.'s Supernal Records. It embodies a quest for creative progress and spiritual freedom and is rooted in the vibrant rhythms of New Orleans and Afro-Futurist musical concepts. It remains a rare and monumental achievement in the realm of deep and spiritual jazz, and here has been newly remastered for a limited magenta vinyl edition.

Review: Soul Jazz returns with another of its supremely assembled and vital compilations, and this one focuses on reggae. Down Beat Special offers a thrilling journey through timeless hits carefully selected from Jamaica's revered Studio One Records, the epitome of reggae excellence. From Michigan and Smiley's 'Nice Up The Dance' to Dawn Penn's 'No, No, No' and The Wailers' 'Simmer Down,' this collection pulsates with iconic tracks. Originally a limited edition 7" box set, this remastered edition boasts 18 rare gems, including works by The Skatalites, Bob Marley, and Horace Andy.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation's 1975 album Tales of Mozambique comes once again as a definitive purple vinyl edition. A critical album for the fusion of reggae with Rastafarian traditional music, Ossie is second only to Bob Marley in terms of being a populariser of the religion's sonic tradition. This cult favourite collates several songs, all of which were recorded and produced with Ossie's entourage in his compound in the hills of Wareika, Kingston. Flutes, shakers and organs conjoin with propulsive drum and bass patterns, producing a deeply mystical and ethereal experience that is nonetheless rooted in communal spirit.

Review: As the undisputed 'Keyboard King of Studio One' Jackie Mittoo left a huge mark on Jamaican music across the eras, helping found The Skatalites and leading The Soul Brothers amongst many other bands. Soul Jazz gathered together some rare recordings of Mittoo and the Soul Brothers from the mid-60s, where the ensemble glide with poise between ska and rocksteady, sprinkling in funk, jazz and Latin touches for good measure. It's a heady crew which captures Jamaican music in a period of open-ended innovation, as practised by some of the key architects of the sounds. After being out of print for some time, this special green vinyl edition isn't likely to hang around for long.

Review: Soul Jazz Records promise this is a one off and strictly limited pressing of Alien Starr's 'World Of Ecstasy.' It is a faithful reproduction of the original in terms of art and sound and has been restored from the label after they included it on their excellent recent Space Funk 2 - Afro-Futurist Electro Funk In Space 1976-84 compilation. tUSA in 1985 featuring big slap bass energy, hand claps, drum funk and electro boogie bass. .

Review: It can be hard to keep up with the different days devoted to recorded music, from Record Store Day to Album Day to Black Friday, but two really cares so long as the tunes keep coming. And they don't come much finer than this - Ripple's self-titled album was originally released in 1973 and soon became known as a rare groove, funk and deep soul classic. Some 50 years on and it has been remastered to sound as good as ever and remind us why the band were right up there with peers such as Funkadelic, Kool and the Gang and The Blackbyrds, all of whom served up equally brilliant mixes of rock, soul, photo disco and funk. The is the first time this one has been back in print for some 30 years.

Review: Jamaica Soul Shake Vol 1 is one of the many seminal compilations put together by Soul Jazz. It first arrived in 2006 and provided, as you would expect, a perfect overview of the goddamn funky Sound Dimension. They were one of the many crucial in-house bands that worked at Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd's pioneering and influential Studio One. The original has been impossible to find since forever so do not sleep on this new, one-off limited edition pressing on silver coloured double vinyl. The sea re all rocksteady rhythms and delicious dubs that will keep you moving and grooving for days.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Record ever so slightly warped & creasing to corner of outer sleeve but otherwise in excellent working condition***


'Reggae disco' might not be a very well-known style, but Soul Jazz are hardly intimidated by any sense of obscurity, especially when it comes to a fusion between their two most prized genres. Homing in on reggae disco versions of funk, soul and disco classics, this curt but precious compilation features reggae covers of classics by Michael Jackon, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Candi Staton, with coverers including Risco Connection and the Crashers.