From 1987 until the property developers moved in, the jazz dance home in the years between the Electric Ballroom (with Paul Murphy) and That’s How It Is was the sweaty Sunday Afternoon session at the heart of Camden Lock Market.

If you never went to the place, attended every session or are somewhere between these two extremes, this is a must have compilation. I can’t tell you why this has taken so long to sort out (review of the Launch Party coming soon) or why my copy has Kevin Beadle’s footprint on the cover (Ed. What!), but all you need to do is check out four times Grammy nominee Mark Murphy’s ‘tribute’, ‘Dingwalls’. This track says it all for me as the man is still doing the business (with the Five Corners Quintet). Timeless jazz but not stuck in a time zone (a bit like Global Music Culture?)

While the club did much to break and influence UK soul jazz funk groups, US greats and ‘modern’ hip hop, our hosts for the (virtual) afternoon, DJs Peterson and Forge have concentrated on the jazz dance side of things.

It all starts off with Brazilian percussion from Airto with the voice of the scene (even more than Murphy for me), Mrs Airto, Flora Purim.

While on the Latin tip, Nacimento also co-wrote ‘Cinnamon And Clove’ which has to be Dave Valentin’s greatest track. The thing with Valentin, not only were the covers to his albums so universally awful, the music never reached the heights of ‘Cinnamon And Clove’ ever again; so worth this compilation for that track alone (thus avoiding the cover of In Love’s Time, urgh).

Dom Um Romão was on the often overlooked Muse label and the likes of ‘Ginga Ginou’ were made for London’s jazz dance scene. Like Bobby Montez, ‘Kon-Tiki’ is just percussive brilliance. I can’t tell you the hours I’ve spent looking for tracks like this that’ll just blow yer spats off.

And for the diggers, ‘Kitty Bey’ is one of those leftfield percussive workouts that was originally on an album called Blow Thru’ Your Mind. The vocalist doing the skat on this track is Jay Clayton who ten years later featured on Steve Reich’s Drumming album!

Talking of leftfield, what are the chances of Michel LeGrand recording something so jazz dance it’s even harder than Bobby Montez, with harp and huge dramatic pauses! Now you must remember that LeGrand would be the type of ‘star’ interviewed by Michael Parkinson, he was that safe and mainstream. I remember one week at Dingwalls, it was one of those times you have to ask what was being played, and you can imagine my surprise when Forge pulled out the cover to Images Michel LeGrand/Phil Woods. I thought he was having a laugh! Of course, it could have been Peterson with his Swiss/French heritage, but that album has got ‘Windmill Of Your Mind’ on it for pity sake!

While ‘Windmills Of Your Mind’ would miss out on their ‘anything’ goes policy, this compilation is a true best of the best as you can’t have everything. You might ask, where’s the jap jazz side of things, (like Toki & Samba Friends) but you could go on like that forever and I’m happy to report that these ten tracks are as good as you’re going to find of ‘Dingwalls’, or try the CD for even more as it “is not just for the committed”.

As I am committed, it must be the vinyl for me. The album finishes off with three soulful funk tracks. I always like Norman Connors albums as you’d find them in the bargain cut-out bins (again with terrible covers) but there was always something on them. This album finishes with an anthem, Corky McClerkin, ‘Searchin For The Soul’ that is all about the keys and the message, “Seek and you shall find.”

So while that’s a bit Caisterish, this album is a must and it’s enough to get a little bit emotional about. Thanks GP and Patrick for all the great afternoons and a great compilation.

Hectic Mix Nominations: All (and ‘Images’ Phil Woods/Michel LeGrand)

Reviewed: Various — Gilles Peterson & Patrick Forge Present — Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls “Classic Moves And Grooves From The Legendary Club” (Ether) Cat. No. ETHLP 012 2xLP Release date: 09 Oct 2006
Tracklisting:
A1 Airto — Encounter (Encontro No Bar)
A2 Dom Um Romao — Shake (Ginga Gingou)
A3 Bobby Montez — Kon-Tiki
B1 Byron Morris Unity — Kitty Bay
B2 Michel Legrand — Southern Routes
C1 Dave Valentin — Cinnamon And Clove
C2 Mark Murphy — Dingwalls
D1 Stone Alliance — Sweetie Pie
D2 Norman Connors — Captain Connors
D3 Corky McClerkin — Searchin For The Soul

Links:
www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/gillespeterson
www.trustthedj.com/PatrickForge
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Forge [needs updating]
www.etheruk.com
The Observer, Review 08.10.06 Various — Sunday Afternoon At Dingwalls “A Handsome blast of reare groove that’s not just for the committed”. Neil Spencer