AUGUST 2023 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the August 2023 issue – OUT NOW!
JALEN NGONDA
Say the name ‘Daptone Records’ and certain types of artist and sound immediately spring to mind. The like of Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings, Charles Bradley, Lee Fields, James Hunter Six, Naomi Shelton & The Gospel Queens and The Sugarman Three are all steeped in that vintage sixties soul, funk and gospel style that’s made the Brooklyn-based label famous – and a famously reliable source of good music over the last two decades or more.
Many of those acts, of course, have been of more mature years – Jones, Bradley, Fields and Shelton, in particular, all enjoying an overdue spell in the limelight after years of chasing that elusive break in an industry which routinely turns away from talent in favour of the latest gimmick. What, then, accounts for young Jalen Ngonda’s attachment to Messrs Roth and Sugarman’s determinedly old-school music outlet? After all, he’s only 29 and has lived most of the last decade in Liverpool and London, having little [known] track record in music, recorded or otherwise.
THE WAR & TREATY
As far as band names go this one is for real. The War & Treaty has a literal meaning for Michael Trotter. “I served in the United States army; I came away with scars,” says the singer earnestly. “My treaty to myself and my country was that I would do whatever it took to find a better way to be a team player and to make sure I love my fellow man. I look at our world as an opportunity to do something great. We as a band are dedicated to do our best to heal the human race… for generations to come.”
Michael’s wife Tanya – formerly Tanya Blount, the actor and nineties R&B star who made her name with an appearance in Sister Act 2 and later an album for Universal Records, Natural Thing – is the other half of the duo that has been true to that word…
REGGAE ROAST
James Harper, the founder member, DJ and manager of London’s most vibrant and popular reggae sound system, Reggae Roast, is quick to point out that any successful enterprise needs a strong team behind it, and he’s fulsome in his praise of producer/DJ/studio engineer Matt Lane, agent and mentor Jon Beckley, producer/DJ/social media wiz Adam Prescott, sound crew members Clifford Junior and Steve Vibration Lab, and even videographers Toby Weston and Jordan Grant.
Together, they’ve created a juggernaut that encompasses a record label, sound system, online merchandise store and much else besides, but it’s James, who started out as DJ Moodie, that had the initial inspiration to get things moving…
KENNY SMYTH
People are always talking about the music that got them through the pandemic. For me, personally, it was largely the songs of Kenny Smyth. “You got to stay focused, on the top of your game and conquer your fear,” he told us on Highway, whilst Pagan Landis a harrowing depiction of the world we live in, where rapacious corporations are aided and abetted by corrupt politicians. “Double trouble in a Babylon. They never see what they’ve done wrong,” was the chorus of that one. Then there was Vibe, which he voiced for Addis Records in Switzerland: “Let’s lift up the new generation, and clean up the sick meditation,” he urged. “It’s we the ghetto youths are depending on. And if we fail, who is gonna help those who can’t help themselves?”
