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2019 repress; subtitled: A Collection of the UK's Finest Underground Soul Jazz-Funk and Disco. Backstreet Brit Funk, compiled by Dave Lee aka Joey Negro is a double disc album featuring highly-collectable tracks from the late '70s through to the mid-'80s with sleeve notes from soul weekender veteran Mark Webster. This compilation will appeal as much to fans of labels like Soul Jazz as the usual Z Records collectors. Brit Funk tells the story of the underground scene in the UK when punk and disco were giving way to a new blend of jazz, soul and funk, heavily influenced by the American big-hitters of the day but re-worked by the UK pioneers for the British dancefloors. This is a unique selection of high quality music, which will have a shelf-life lasting well beyond the currents trends and fads. All tracks have been Cedared and re-mastered to a very high standard and now sound better than ever before. Joey Negro has also re-edited many of the tracks exclusively for this album, updating them with a fresh new approach. A collection of rare and very sought-after underground British disco, funk and soul tracks avoiding the obvious hits. Many of these tracks never went beyond a very small local release but have since become very collectable. Buying this lot would set you back somewhere in the four figures. When it comes to being at the cutting edge of clubbing culture, the Brits are always right there at the front of the line. Just as revolutionary as the clubber's style was the music they were into -- often provided by American musicians easily twice their British audience's age and what's more, very much from the American jazz establishment. Names such as Roy Ayers, Lonnie Liston Smith, Donald Byrd and George Duke had already been around as dedicated jazzers, while groups such as Earth, Wind & Fire and The Crusaders were also borne out of that tradition. Created by British musicians for the UK audience, Brit funk was raw and up-tempo and what it lacked in the smooth finesse of the polished American jazz funk, it made up for with unbridled enthusiasm and energy. Joey Negro has some of the genuinely "unsung" heroic records of the style; hard-to-find but absolutely right THERE in terms of those soul, jazz, funk and disco influences -- with that Brit funk twist. Artists include: Mirage, Freeez, China Burton, Breakfast Band, Hudson People, Ritual, The Warriors, Stikki Stuff, Nigel Martinez, Savanna, Surface Noise, 52nd Street, Incognito, MBT, Elixia, Intrigue, Ed Bentley, Style X, Adrenalin, Leiah Ikafa, Ransom McKenzie + Friends, Underground, and The Cool Notes.
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