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| music for body and soul |______________________|| |
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|| release infos |
'| |
| |
| + artist ........... 95 North |
| + album ............ Jazz Ascension (Large) |
| + label ............ Large |
| + cat .............. Large-030 |
| + year ............. 1998 |
| + genre ............ House |
| + source ........... CDDA |
| + quality .......... 192kbps / 44,1Khz / Full Stereo |
| + release date ..... 28.10.2003 |
| + size ............. 34,9 MB |
| + link ............. http://www.largemusic.com/ |
.| |
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|| tracklist |
'| |
| |
| 01.Jazz_Ascension (Red Soul Mix) 08:50 |
| 02.Jazz_Ascension (Red Dub) 06:39 |
| 03.Jazz_Ascension (Hard Dub) 08:02 |
| 04.Jazz_Ascension (Washapella) 01:53 |
| |
| |
| (t!) total 25:24 min |
| |
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|| release notes |
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| |
| About 95North |
| |
| Doug Smith and Richard Payton weren't disco kids feeding off of |
| older siblings' and cousins' flirtations with disco. There were no |
| Paradise Garages, no Lofts, no Chicago Warehouses or Boxes in |
| their respective hometowns of Long Branch, N.J. and Petersburg, |
| VA. Yet this duo, who comprise the Washington, DC-based team of 95 |
| North Productions, has captured the essence of uptempo R & B dance |
| music, internalizing it and delivering intense, rough house |
| grooves, experimental dance tracks, and enchanting, melodic dance |
| songs that have garnered them fans from around the globe. The |
| obvious question then becomes, how did two straight-laced, college |
| bound suburban kids even "get" house music with such limited |
| exposure? |
| |
| "I was strictly hip-hop, even though I grew up in New Jersey and |
| was exposed to a lot of early dance music on the radio through |
| WKTU and WBLS" says Doug. "One night at Club 88 in East Orange, |
| New Jersey back in 1986 changed all of that". Richard says he was |
| exposed to early dance music during summer internships in New |
| Jersey. "That's when I got exposed to groups like Change and a lot |
| of stuff on Prelude Records, mostly from the radio as well. Sadly |
| for me, I passed up my one opportunity to go to the Paradise |
| Garage before it closed. I'm still kicking myself for it." |
| |
| By the time the two hooked up in the 1989 through a mutual friend, |
| they were full-blown househeads. However, their musical |
| partnership began in a DC-based hip-hop collective known as |
| Trigon. "We weren't all that" Doug says point blank. "It just took |
| us a few years to realize it." Arising in the summer of 1991 from |
| the ashes of Trigon, Doug and Richard began indulging their love |
| for house music by writing songs and working on tracks in the |
| cramped basement of Richard's DC home. "All we had was one |
| sampling keyboard and a bunch of ideas," says Richard. But |
| amazingly, despite their limited production capabilities at the |
| time, the duo managed to land a single deal with venerable New |
| York dance music label Strictly Rhythm Records less than six |
| months from the time they started. "We were shocked and amazed," |
| says Doug. "To be a fan of that label for so long and then, all of |
| the sudden, you're an artist on the label. It was an exciting time |
| for us". That was only the beginning. |
| |
| With early champions of their sound such as Tony Humphries, the |
| late John Robinson, DJ Disciple, DJ Dove, Roger S., Little "Louie" |
| Vega, Sam "The Man" Burns, DJ Mandrill, Oji & Pope, etc., 95 |
| North's music began to slowly rise to prominence in the NYC house |
| scene and abroad. While their early singles on Strictly Rhythm |
| served as the foundation for their success, it wasn't until the |
| release of "Hold On" by Sabrynaah Pope on King Street Sounds that |
| they finally came into their own. "That was a huge record for us" |
| says Richard. "Louie Vega ran it at the Sound Factory Bar for |
| months before it came out. When it was finally released, it just |
| exploded." Indeed it did, rising to the number one position on the |
| DJ Magazine Hype Chart soon after its release in 1994. And as if |
| that song weren't enough, they followed it up with their now |
| classic rendition of Earth, Wind & Fire's "See The Light" on |
| defunct NYC label Choice Records, as well as "The Journey" on |
| Shelter Records (which has the distinction of being the first |
| record ever remixed by Body & Soul resident Joe Claussell). |
| |
| It wasn't long after these successes that Europe began calling. |
| They eventually found themselves touring all over Europe, playing |
| everywhere from the Ministry of Sound in London to Angels of Love |
| in Italy. The combination of Richard playing on keyboards while |
| Doug spun on the decks proved to be a hit everywhere they played. |
| Their DJing skills eventually landed them two residencies in DC, |
| one at Red (where they've been residents for 5 years), the other |
| at The Sanctuary at Vicki's. Remixing offers began pouring in as |
| well, and soon they were remixing everyone from Jody Watley to |
| George Duke to Crystal Waters to Kathy Sledge to Dru Hill. They |
| were even commissioned to write and produce songs for Crystal |
| Waters' self-titled album on Mercury Records. |
| |
| Not content to rest on accolades, the duo continued to blaze the |
| dance music world with an array of stylistically varied dance |
| tracks, ranging from the full on gospel brilliance of "Alright" by |
| Mijan, to the loopy underground classic vibe of "Who's Hoo?" on |
| Henry St., to the off-kilter "Odyssey" on Groove On Records, to |
| the way-ahead-of-its-time "Elevation" on Large Records. In fact, |
| they may be responsible for producing some of the most criminally |
| ignored gems ever created. Take for instance their jazz funk |
| classic "Bassline" on Emotive Records (championed by Ron Trent and |
| Louie Vega), which, quite possibly, could be the first modern day |
| house record done in three-bar cycles instead of the tradition |
| four-bar cycle of most songs. While many would understandably give |
| credit for this house music innovation to Masters at Work for |
| doing it on their remix of Towa tei's "Luv Connection" and their |
| release "Odyssey", fans of 95 North's work know otherwise. Or |
| "Forever Underground" which made use of vocal samples from Gang |
| Starr's "Moment of Truth" LP. Most people in the dance music world |
| associate those samples with the commercial dance hit "Roaches" by |
| The Trancesetters, even though 95 North did "Forever Underground" |
| one-year prior. However, rather than dwell on slights by the dance |
| music world, they continue to push forward. |
| |
| Ten years of hard work finally paid off for them last year with |
| the release of "Sunday Shoutin'" on 4th Floor/Defected Records, |
| done under their "Johnny Corporate" moniker. Supported by everyone |
| from Pete Tong to Louie Vega to Tony Humphries to David Morales to |
| Roger S. and beyond, "Sunday Shoutin'" remained a dance floor |
| staple for the better part of a year and went on to sell over |
| 30,000 copies. It even made it to the number 45 position on the |
| pop charts in the UK and spawned a video that played regularly on |
| MTV Europe. "When it sold 3000 copies in the first weekend, we |
| knew it was something special," says Doug. "The funny thing is |
| that many people didn't even know it was us! It didn't surprise me |
| though. People tend to make the mistake of pigeonholing us or |
| labeling us as "garage" producers, not realizing the diversity of |
| the body of our work. 'Sunday Shoutin'' opened a lot of eyes". It |
| did indeed open a lot of eyes, especially in their hometown of DC |
| where nearly all the attention regarding dance music is focused on |
| Deep Dish. "People here knew of us in general, but mostly through |
| our residency at Red" says Richard, "But it took 'Sunday Shoutin'' |
| and the support of DJs like Sam Burns, Mandrill and Oji & Pope for |
| them to really realize we've been here doing music all along." |
| |
| It's been a long, sometimes frustrating road for 95 North, but |
| ultimately fulfilling. "I wouldn't trade the experience for |
| anything," says Richard. "Music has been a blessing for us and we |
| are eternally gratefully to our fans, families and God for all of |
| the love and support we get. We may not be household names or |
| superstars, but we love what we do and will continue to do it for |
| as long as we are blessed with the talents God gave us." |
| |
| You can catch Doug of 95 North every other Saturday night a Red in |
| Washington, DC, and the third Friday of each month at The |
| Sanctuary at Vicki's in Washington, DC. |
| |
| |
| |
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|| group notes |
'| |
| mbs is a new and free music lover association on the net. |
| we only share the music we love, with the people we like. |
| keep your mind, your body and your soul open. peace. |
| |
| _ _________________________\\\\
|_ \ _ mbscrew@altern.org .| \
////___\\\ ////--------------------------|' aski injected by basic!
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