BEYOND THE BALLROOM... UK Jazz Dance 2009...

They came from across the nation, in celebration... of UK Jazz Dance and Snowboy's long awaited From Jazz Funk & Fusion To Acid Jazz. As we opened the doors at 3pm, they were still fitting the last pieces of that wooden dance floor into place. Dave Pattman and Dilanga braved the storm laden skies and set up to the yard. Rootical Cuban rumba soon echoed around the yard as Swifty set up his stall of wikkid Jazz prints (Ra / Herbie/ Leon Thomas) and his sweetly framed, twisted reggae-fied classics.

Once he'd located the stylus' for the turntables Snowboy took control of the main room to pave the way for Dick Jewell's film of the legendary Jazz Room. It was the director himself who introduced the film to a room packed with dancers and the curious, all eager to take that step back in time. The rapport between the audience and what was taking place on the big screen was magical and by the time the credits rolled everyone was ready to hit the floor.

As promised Snowboy gave the dancers "a good caning" and everyone was immersed in the heat and the intensity of the session. A host of dance legends dancers were in the house - The Floor Technicians, Mark Hopkinson, Mark Armstrong, Mark Nicholas, Jerry IDJ, Gary Nurse, Rocky, The Hylton Brothers,Irven Lewis, Derek Waugh, Ade, Kola, Tony, Alex, Afro, Juliet, Stretch, Lizard, Brezhnev, Smiler, Bruce Q... amongst others... but it was great to witness the unitiated join the affray.

Gilles Peterson slipped behind the decks to build on Snowboy's set having opted to plunder the Brownswood vaults for an equally intense selection. That said, a brace of old skool Cuban classics added a deep, spiritually charged but mellow touch that had the legendary Eyvon, dancing gracefully on her own in the corner of the room. It was a magical sight.

Fresh from Okinawa was Patrick Forge and fresh from the backwoods of Canada were Robi & Leanne. In the house was Dom Servini, Nick Weston, Spry, Barrington (Jazz Defektor), Kathryn Willgress, B, Colm, Andy Thomas, Steve & Mike - UK Vibe, Andy Ward... so many people!

It was left to the Mighty Jeddo to deliver the nu-skool. The brainchild of drummer Daniel Crosby, they came on like x-press train coming through a tunnel and took us on a journey that won them a whole new bunch of admirers. Vanessa Freeman took it onto a whole new level and provided a sweet dose of yin to some heavy duty yang. Mighty Jeddo finished the set and closed the session with a swinging, energy fuelled version of Pharoah's 'You Gotta Have Freedom'... Shabaka blew the house down!

It was a day and a night to remember. Thanks to Des Toussaint for selling the vinyl. A massive big-up to Ruben for keeping it all rolling, Marie for bringing the Barbican vibes and precision and my Edge09 compadre Jason Jules for sorting the filming and providing back up in all forms. Fiinally, the most respect for the ever present Janine for handling Snowboy's books and signing.

Paul Bradshaw - Straight No Chaser/ Edge09

JAZZ DANCE WORKSHOPS WITH JAZZCOTECH

Following on from BEYOND THE BALLROOM - Perry Louis and JAZZCOTECH present Jazz Dance workshops during Do Something Different Weekender

Saturday 25th July

Clubstage 2.45pm - 3.00pm: JAZZCOTECH - OakFest Performance... Read More
Pupils from Oaklands Secondary School join Jazzcotech dancers for a short street jazz dance performance in the foyer. Prepare to be amazed! All ages (Note: this event is not ticketed and free to all).

Clubstage 3.00pm - 3.45pm: JAZZCOTECH WORKSHOP
A session with this energetic street/jazz/fusion company will put some pep in our step! Learn the basics of a hybrid jazz dance style unique to Jazzcotech dancers. (Aged 8+)

Admission is free, but these events are all ticketed (except where indicated). Contact Barbican box office to reserve your place. No unaccompanied children are allowed

Barbican Centre, Silk Street, EC2Y 8DS
Box Office: 0845 120 7550 www.barbican.org.uk

BIG MIKE MEETS SNOWBOY - UK VIBE + JAZZ DANCE IN TIME OUT

Ahead of the BEYOND THE BALLROOM event at Cargo on 19th July, ukvibe's The Dood caught up with Snowboy to talk about his book... http://ukvibe.org/index.php/interviews/the_history_of_the_uk_jazz_dance

More info... http://ukvibe.org/index.php/news/beyond_the_ballroom

ALSO... big respect to Lyndsey Winship for her excellent full page feature 'JAZZ DANCE' in the Dance Section of this week's Time Out... check it out!

A Spin off from the hugely ambitious Legends Of The Underground project featuring the very excellent and ever ambitious, Gary Nurse.

Jazz Defektors... '87 @ Ink Stick, Tokyo

OUT THERE ON THE NET...

Greetings... we are just beginning to get some reviews... and predictably it's the web-mags that are the first to lock in... below are a couple of snippets!

First up... www.flyglobalmusic.com - Snowboy’s book goes back further than that of course. It goes back to pre-historic Essex, the margin lands where East London’s black youth and Essex’s soul boys found common ground and it goes north for that soul thing. He talks to the movers and finger poppers across the country and assembles — painstakingly — the story of a culture that didn’t have one look, one sound and one path. A subculture that wouldn’t fit nicely into a box and too often got written off before it got written down. It’s not that I am just enjoying the book, I am thrilled to be reading it. Us old jazz cats are going to feel that something valuable has been caught before it slipped away for good. I am dipping in and coming out with gems and ‘a-ha!s’ every five minutes. (nice one Damian!)

www.bluesandsoul.com - If you read 'The Snowboy Column' on B&S you will be aware that one of our favourite sons has written a book - Longtime in the making and a true perfectionist as he is... Jazz guv'nor Snowboy has toiled long and hard to record a major concise part of music/dance history. 'From Jazz Funk and Fusion to Acid Jazz' does exactly what it says on the label, with interviews from the people that made it happen. (thanks for the taster Lee)