The Masterpiece series continues highlighting those who have shaped modern dance music by alighting on Trevor Beresford Romeo, aka Jazzie B, a man who made inestimable inroads for British black music with his Soul II Soul collective. After cutting his teeth in his early teens with South London sound systems, Jazzie started Soul II Soul as a floating party injecting funky soul into the warehouse scene which blew up at Covent Garden’s Africa Centre in the mid-80s during the acid house explosion. They started making records, exploding globally in 1989 with anthems like ‘Keep On Moving’ and ‘Back To Life’ followed by their epoch-making debut album. Jazzie now sits as one of this country’s firing black music scene’s elder statesmen. For his selection he presents an autobiographical history of his musical roots. The first two discs present vintage soul and funk from names including Archie Bell and the Drells, Harold Melvin, Melba Moore, One Way, James Brown, BT Express, Kool and The Gang, Cameo, Eric B & Rakim and the startling proto-house of Serious Intention’s ‘You Don’t Know’ before hitting a smoother 80s stretch with Johnny Hammond Smith and the Windy City Orchestra. CD3’s acid house liftoff unleashes well-known Chicago bombs by the likes of Mr Fingers, Adonis and Frankie Knuckles, some hiphop from Cypress Hill and Slick Rick and roof-rattlers like 2 In A Room’s ‘Do What You Want’. The set winds up with new Soul II Soul outings, including the sublimely-insidious ‘I Care’ which show the man’s flame still burns as bright as the sounds on this marvellous compilation.
4 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Kris Needs
