Afro-beat repeat

>> DJ Russ Dewbury brings the U.K. jazz dance scene to MTL

by SCOTT C

Brighton-based DJ Russ Dewbury has turned his love for basements and garages full of mouldy records into a career in bringing the obscure greats of jazz, funk and soul to the forefront. After compiling the successful Africa Funk and Club Africa series for Strut Records, and the mind-blowing gems on Jazz Bizniz for Counterpoint, Russ is about to release Club Africa 2, delving deeper still into Afro-funk. The Mirror spoke to Russ over the phone from Brighton this week.



Mirror: Is there a cyclical popularity attached to jazz, funk and soul?

Russ Dewbury: I believe there is. I've been DJing for 14 years and it's interesting that when I play the tunes that were explosive years ago today, they have absolutely the same effect. Music from the mid-'60s and '70s is a golden age that will never go away. It constantly reinvents itself, remaining classic but fresh.

M: How do you feel about the music world jumping all over Brazilian and African music these days?

RD: When I discovered proper jazz, Brazilian and Latin music, it was an awakening. I put together the Africa Funk comps so that other people could experience what I did, and the same thing goes for when I'm DJing. It's about making the music accessible to people who haven't heard it before. The popularity of Brazilian and Afro-beat is great, but commercialization is always lurking.

M: Why do you think the Brits have it locked down when it comes to bringing great obscure and forgotten music into the spotlight?

RD: Over here, from the early '60s, there's always been a big soul scene built around the rarest seven-inches from America. That carried into the northern soul scene, where DJs were very competitive about having the best records. It all started off quite small, but they had the idea of collecting records--not just hits, but the rare new thing too. This spawned a lot of shops and a whole industry of dealers, which is now a huge part of British culture.

M: Do you play to educate people, or to get them dancing?

RD: Being the DJ is an emotional thing. You want people to feel the music in their hearts, but you also want to hit them with something that they've probably never heard and won't hear anywhere else. Getting the balance right is what it's all about.

With Alex Robbins and Troubleman at Tokyo on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 11pm