{"product_id":"chris-bangs_presents-the-playbox_2025_soc","title":"PRESENTS THE PLAYBOX","description":"Why ask Chris Bangs to put together a compilation for Ace? Perhaps because of my long, varied and unusual musical career. I started out as a failed guitarist with the space rockers Mighty Om, then became a club DJ, playing jazz, funk and soul in London and the South of England six nights a week. I then branched out into playing more varied sets, mixing modern soul, rare groove, beat baptiste, Brazilian samba, bossa and much more. Once established, I was offered DJ residencies. My first gig was five nights a week at Bogarts in West London, which had the UK's first Technics SL1200 turntables, previously only found in swanky US venues such as Studio 54. I then played every Saturday for two years at the Exeter Bowl in Bournemouth, where I also teamed up with DJ\/promoter Bob Masters to host the legendary Bournemouth Soul Weekenders for most of the 80s. In 1982, I met a 16-year-old Gilles Peterson, who was playing his first DJ gigs in a local wine bar. This led to a collaboration that lasted for almost a decade. Our first sets were in a tiny function room above the Derby Arms, near the Belvedere Arms in Sheen, West London, where in the late 80s, Gilles played his famous DJ sets. There were one-off nights, culminating in our Mambo Madness and Original Jazz Bops nights, promoted in parallel with Gilles' Mad On Jazz show on Radio London. Imagine 1,600 hardcore jazz clubbers dancing to jazz tunes and gigs at the Town \u0026 Country Club in Kentish Town. My DJing journey reached its peak in the mid to late 80s with the legendary Cock Happy and Special Branch nights, as well as the Doos At The Zoo, spread across various venues in London. There were other joint events, including a memorable night at the Kew Steam Museum, where we played powerful jazz tracks by Art Blakey and Charles Earland, surrounded by huge Victorian generators. Instead of our usual banners and posters, we decorated the venue with toilet paper. I was also a fortnightly guest at Gilles' Monday jazz night at the Wag Club, getting home at 5 am and at work, physically if not mentally, by 8 am. There were also Special Branch holidays in Ibiza and Corfu, weekends in Rockley Sands, Prestatyn and Caister, where we played jazz dance, funk, rare groove and even a bit of Cliff Richard during the holidays, and played classic Blue Note jazz and Santana at Café Del Mar. I have been credited with inventing acid jazz after a particularly wild night in early 1988, where I DJed at the Nicky Holloway Special Branch Doo in Brentford, London. We were playing hard-hitting Latin jazz tracks while the words \"Acid... Acid... Acid...\" were projected onto the giant screens behind Gilles and me, DJing. We stopped the music, I said \"acid jazz\" into the microphone and we collapsed in laughter. Acid jazz was not meant to be more than a joke, it was just a reaction to the craze that acid house was taking hold of in the club world. We never wanted it to be that specific, but acid jazz became a genre that conquered the world. It gave me the freedom to play Jimi Hendrix, psychedelic poetry and early hip-hop tracks, while also playing hard bop and hard-hitting Latin tracks. Over time, many of the DJs I had worked with, such as Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Trevor Fung, Simon Dunmore and Johnny Walker, became involved in the world-renowned British dance scene, making money by recording records. I thought, \"I'll have some of that!\" That's how I took my first steps into the studio with the creation of the proto-acid jazz classic, the maxi \"Psychedelic Jack (That's Where It's At)\", which humorously sampled Frank Zappa, Soft Machine and Gong. With Gilles and me on vocals, it led to us being signed to Acid Jazz Records, which released his album in 1988 under the name Extasis. That was just the beginning and nearly 35 years later (gulp!), I've had a blast producing Galliano and Paul Weller, working with Mick Talbot, Roy Ayers, Linda Clifford and Sharon Redd, remixing Will Downing, Ce Ce Rogers and Blaze. I've composed house tracks with Terry Farley of Faith and managed the legendary Dadhouse Records label with Dave Jarvis. I've also created my own studio and released music under different names, for my own labels and for Acid Jazz Records. My latest releases include my solo album \"Firebird\". (2023) and \"Dream World\" (2024). There was also \"Back To Business\" with Mick Talbot, released in 2023.","brand":"Chris Bangs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55312591323480,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/0029667026710.jpg?v=1760402624","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en\/products\/chris-bangs_presents-the-playbox_2025_soc","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}