Colin Curtis presents his Jazz Dance Fusion compilation out on Z Records.

Record One
A1 Richie Cole - New York Afternoon
A2 Michele Hendricks - What's Going On
A3 Dom Salvador – Image
B1 Dom Um Romao – Ponteio
B2 Emanuel K. Rahim & The Kahliqs - Spirit Of Truth
B3 Harold Ousley - El Exi-Hente
Record Two
C1 Charlie Earland – Murilley
C2 Bill Hardman - Samba Do Brilho
C3 Mark Murphy - Empty Faces
D1 Dom Um Romao - The Angels
D2 Eric Kloss - The Samba Express
D3 Ron Eschete - To Let You Know I Care

2017 saw Colin Curtis celebrate his 50th anniversary as a DJ, a career that started out in his mid-teens at
Newcastle-Under-Lyme’s Crystal Ballroom, before making his all-nighter debut at Stoke’s hallowed Golden
Torch, one of Northern Soul’s foundation venues, eventually becoming one of the scene’s leading figures as a
result of his legendary ‘70’s partnership with Ian Levine at the Blackpool Mecca. This is Colin’s own story:
By 1979 the development of Jazz rooms at major Soul / Funk Alldayers was providing a much-needed outlet for
the more discerning collectors and the fanatical Jazz dancers. The UK Jazz Funk scene began for me in
earnest in 1978 when I moved from the Blackpool Mecca to Manchester's Rafters nightclub on Oxford Street.
The clash of new imported Soul, Funk and Jazz music coming out in the USA and being shared with a fresh new
audience in clubs like Rafters Manchester, Chaplains Birmingham, Locarno Birmingham, Rufus Manchester,
Cassinellis Standish Leeds Central and Nottingham Palais was creating a potpourri of music fashion and dance
styles.
I had started to experiment with the jazzier side of dance tracks at Blackpool Mecca in around 1976 with artists
like Patrice Rushen, Bill Summers, Azar Lawrence, Charles Earland, Johnny Hammond, Donald Byrd etc, all
artists I had discovered using the inner sleeves of Blue Note, Fantasy, Prestige and Mercury labels. As a
collector of all styles of black music including Soul, Funk and Jazz my interest was being drawn more to albums
and particularly Jazz albums as my brain, as proven with 60's and 70's soul, had an unquenchable appetite for
knowledge and unearthing new music. I was thriving on searching out more of this amalgamation of Jazz
styles adding fusion, percussion, vocals and tempo to this burgeoning genre.
As the Jazz room identity increased within this environment for me Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds,
Manchester all became prominent in their enthusiasm for Jazz Dance. The fashion, passion and dance began
to take on almost a religious aura combined with the unique camaraderie and respect. Out of this grew a
passion amongst certain dj’s in the midlands and the north of England to start digging a lot deeper for music in
the Jazz Fusion / Dance category. Baz Fe Jazz, Chris Reed, Shaun Williams, Simon Mansell, Jonathan Woodliffe,
Paul Murphy, Eric & Floyd, Hewan Clarke and many others were willing to push the barriers. This Jazz Dance
explosion spread across the country with Dj’s like Dr Bob Jones, Colin Parnell & Boo Sylvester adding to the
London connection via clubs like The Electric Ballroom and The Horseshoe. This scene thrived for me featuring
club nights devoted to Jazz Dance and an increase of Jazz rooms and Jazz breaks on the AllDayer circuits
drawing in both interest in the music and the voyeurism of watching the dancers and their individual
interpretations.