{"product_id":"chris-bangs-presents-the-playbox","title":"Chris Bangs Presents The Playbox","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhy ask \u003cstrong\u003eChris Bangs\u003c\/strong\u003e to do a compilation for Ace? Maybe because of my long, varied, and unusual musical career. I started off as a failed guitarist with space rockers the Mighty Om, then went on to become a club DJ playing jazz, funk, and soul across London and the south of England six nights a week.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI then diversified to play more varied DJ sets that featured modern soul, rare groove, Baptist beat, Brazilian samba, bossa, and beyond. As I got established, I was offered DJ residencies. My first was playing five nights a week at Bogarts in West London, which had the first Technics SL1200 record decks in the UK, previously only found in swish American venues like Studio 54.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThen there was two years playing every Saturday at the Exeter Bowl, Bournemouth, where I also teamed up with DJ\/promoter, \u003cstrong\u003eBob Masters\u003c\/strong\u003e, to run the legendary Bournemouth soul weekenders through most of the 80s. In 1982, I met 16-year-old \u003cstrong\u003eGilles Peterson\u003c\/strong\u003e, playing his first DJ gigs in a local wine bar. This led to a partnership that spanned the best part of a decade.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOur 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, \u003cstrong\u003eGilles\u003c\/strong\u003e played his celebrated DJ sets. There were one-off nights culminating in our Mambo Madness parties and the Original Jazz Bops, promoted in tandem with \u003cstrong\u003eGilles'\u003c\/strong\u003e Mad On Jazz show on Radio London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJust imagine 1,600 hardcore jazz clubbers dancing to class tunes and live acts at the Town \u0026amp; Country Club in Kentish Town. My musical journey as a DJ peaked in the mid- to late 80s with the legendary Cock Happy and Special Branch nights and Doos At The Zoo, spread across various venues in London.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThere were other joint one-offs, including a memorable night dropping tuff jazz tunes from the likes of Art Blakey and Charles Earland surrounded by giant Victorian machine generators at Kew’s Museum of Steam where instead of our usual banners and posters, we decorated the room with toilet paper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI also guested fortnightly on \u003cstrong\u003eGilles'\u003c\/strong\u003e Monday jazz night at the Wag Club getting home at 5 am and at work, in body if not in mind, at 8 am. There were also Special Branch holidays in Ibiza and Corfu, Rockley Sands, Prestatyn, and Caister weekenders, dropping jazz dance, funk, rare groove, and even a bit of Cliff Richard on the holidays and playing classic Blue Note jazz and Santana at Cafe Del Mar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eI was credited with inventing acid jazz after a particularly wild night in early 1988 DJ-ing at a Nicky Holloway Special Branch Doo in Brentford, London. We were playing hard Latin jazz tunes while the words “Acid... Acid... Acid...” were projected onto the giant screens behind where \u003cstrong\u003eGilles\u003c\/strong\u003e and I were DJing. We stopped the music, I said “acid jazz” on the microphone and we both collapsed laughing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAcid jazz was never meant to be more than a mild piss-take and really was just a reaction to the hype that acid house was getting in clubland. We never intended it to be that specific, but acid jazz went on to become a genre that conquered the world. It gave me the freedom to play Jimi Hendrix, psychedelic poetry, and early hip-hop tracks alongside hard bop and tough Latin tunes.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ace","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":51657689956683,"sku":"R3037-2050","price":11.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"2LP - Black","offer_id":51657690579275,"sku":"R3037-5451","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/unnamed_19_d856c24f-413e-4af5-8004-a4e6d918ca9b.jpg?v=1752309147","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/products\/chris-bangs-presents-the-playbox","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}