Terry's Chocolate Soul

Terry Jones' Shoreditch doos have become legendary for lovers of Modern Soul, and TJ has returned to his East London roots with Chocolate Soul. Those who remember ye olde pub setting in the Norfolk Village won't be at all surprised by the venue, but to newcomers The Catch Bar might seem like a strange place for a Soul doo when you first walk in. It has a brightly lit cafe area with seating booths and armchairs downstairs, and looks like an ordinary old bar. Take a trip up the spiral staircase however, and you will find a funky little club room where The Legendary TJ, the Sourmash Collective (www.sourmash.co.uk) and guests play quality soul music a la Soul 24-7.

The event has been very successful since it started in April 2000, with big name guests such as Ralph Tee and Adey Croasdell. The DJ line up attracts real Soul enthusiasts, which has been known to cause a few problems when the straight Northern Soul fans meet the straight Modern Soul fans! If, like us, you just love damn fine Soul music without the politics then Terry's is well worth a visit.

Spirit

You might miss the doorway between two Chinese restaurants as you stroll along Gerrard Street in the heart of Soho's Chinatown, but once you've climbed the stairs to The Clinic you'll be glad you didn't. The venue is tiny and is set over the two upper floors of No 13, with steep staircases in between. Hear what others have to say about it.......

By Steve Watt
SPIRIT - Friday 7th September 2001

After a successful opening night, the big question was could good guy Matt (our erstwhile promoter), the combined DJ talents Of Niki & Kaya along with special guest Terry Jones ("the Celestial messenger to his friends) manage to take it to the next phase. The signs were certainly promising, there was certainly a buzz regarding the event in the week preceding it & it was with a sense of anticipation that I climbed the stairs to 13 Gerard Street on a brisk Friday night.

Arriving just before ten I was greeted by a busy downstairs bar, with a motley selection of "faces" enjoying the mellow retro selection being provided, at ten Niki & Kaya began to weave their magic to a steadily filling upstairs dance floor. Nikis' Leroy Burgess inspired boogie selection being particularly enjoyed by dancers & heads alike. Kaya took over after an hour & continued to mix the obvious with a little bit of the unexpected (Dionne Warwick & John Cutler now that's what I call eclectic). As if planned by magic (well he is "celestial") TJ the DJ took control of the decks at The Midnight Hour & proceeded to "access all eras". From the likes of the remix of "Never Too Much" to the devastating Marlena Shaw version of "Touch Me in The Morning" via some "Drama In The Bedroom", the chosen one kept his disciples enthralled. Kaya & Niki returned to wind the proceedings up with a selection that while cheesy (in the right way) was never inaccessible. As I departed into the slightly damp Saturday morning air, I had already started to count the days to the next dose of the true "spirit" of urban London.

By Dawn C.
If you remember Club Zoo and The Wag, you will love this funky venue, which boasts 2 rooms of music and holds a maximum capacity of 175. Admission is FREE for those arriving before 10pm, and there are reduced price drinks at the bar till 11pm!

The first room" The Lounge Bar" is the subtly lit, with a bar along the right hand side. With it's comfortable seating and windows which overlook Gerrard Street, mellow and rare grooves from DJ's Simon and Reece and other guests, this room makes a nice place to chill out and have chat when it all gets too hot upstairs in "The Loft". This is where you can find resident DJs Niki and Kaya, who will have the crowd clapping along with arms in the air to Modern Soul classics and Disco, whilst Maria P plays the best in vocal soulful garage.

Spirit attracts a friendly party crowd and since starting in August this year has already played host to guest DJs Gary Dennis, Terry Jones, The Sourmash Collective , Phil Levene, Cheryl" Baby" Browning, and Dr Bob Jones. Another thing that makes SPIRIT so unique is that Niki and Kaya often invite a punter DJ to do the warm up. With pleasant Bar and door staff, and an bar open till 3pm, Spirit at the Clinic is definitely one not to be missed!

The fabulous QoS boys' outing into the capital for Q-dOS on Friday 23rd March, was a screaming success!! From early on the soulboys and soulgirls began to flood in, to take advantage of the pub prices (rare this far into town) and the venue was nearing a capacity crowd before 10.00!! The main room was airy although the feeling of intimacy was maintained with low lighting throughout and a bar that ran the length of the venue. The music was Funkier than your average Caister classics session, interspersed with smatterings of boogie, disco, jazz and soul.

Just to the left of the Main Room DJ and through an inordinately large set of doors was the closet like 'connoisseurs' room, (how appropriate!). This is where you would find the DJ's who were not playing in the other rooms, skulking about with their notebooks, nodding solemnly at every other toon, especially when Terry Jones came on!! This room was a modern, northern, real soul paradise! I know of at least one happy punter who didn't know nor care that there was music playing anywhere else.

Back in the main room, from the edge of the dancefloor by the entrance, a wide spiral staircase swept up to a funkier 'club' room with a circular central bar and a second heaving sound system. This is the room that sweated the most, kept alive by soulful garage provided by Terry Jones, Mark Webster, Fat Tel and Chi to name but a few. The hardest thing about the event was that all three rooms played equally good music!

Whether you're into Northern or Modern Soul, Weekender Anthems or the cream of Soulful Disco, Classic Boogie or Soulful US Garage, this was the MAIN EVENT!! If you missed the event for any reason, or if you were one of the many who were turned away on the night, LEARN from your mistake and book your ticket for the next event EARLY!!

With a DJ line up which included, Terry Jones, Gary Dennis, Mark Webster, Frostie, Gareth Donovan, Fat Tel and all the QoS regulars: Chi, Johnny 'Boy' Beard, Neill Rydings, Stan, Phil Beckwith, Chris Surrey - this event will stand out as one of the highlights of 2001.

PLEASE NOTE: Q-DoS has now moved to the Mithras Wine Bar and now has three rooms, including a Soulful Garage Room.

Point 101

If you are ever stuck for something to do on a Saturday, need a West End meeting place or just happen to be near Tottenham Court Road tube, check out Point 101.

This large glass walled venue doubles as a neat cafe/piano bar during the day and a Jazz, Funk and Soul bar every night (except Sundays). Whatever night you go you will be guaranteed of some funky music and DJs, for example Perry and Phil Levene's Jazzy Wednesday night "Bubblin' Goodies".

Our particular favourite though is Saturday night. This is definitely the one for the Connoisseurs, nights and DJs on rotation: 'Optimistic' with Curly CJ, Stevie Cee & Baby Browning, 'Dictionary of Soul' with Terry Jones and 'Pure Soul' with Snowboy and Stevie Cee. Check before you go (www.point101.co.uk) if you want to hear someone in particular, but you're pretty much guaranteed excellent music no matter what night you go.

The crowd is very mixed and even though there's no dancefloor as such, you will usually find the groovers around the back of the bar on the ground floor (in front of the DJ booth, of course!). Beware of the West End drink prices again! Expect to pay about £3 per alcoholic beverage.

Soul Shack @ 10 Club
(2000-2001)

Soul Shack is the successor to Shaft, the Doo Steve Wren and Ash Selector used to run at The Project which was the one of the only Soul Doos around in the wilderness years of the late 90s. The music format hasn't changed from the Shaft days, pure cheesy soul Weekender classics and 80s Grooves along the lines of O' Jays "I Love Music", Coffee "Casanova", Third World "Now That We've Found Love", Mary Jane Girls "All Night Long", Roy Ayres "Running Away", D-Train "You're The One for Me", Atlantic Star "Silver Shadow", Positive Force "We Got The Funk" and a smattering of Boogie; Logg "Dancing Into The Stars" and Kinky Foxx "So Different".

The crowd is mixed and the dancefloor's heaving. These people love the music and sing and dance their way right through to 3.30am when Ash and James Anthony finish up (the Club stays open til 5am, but the music changes to Hip Hoppy R&B stuff). Ash does all the cheesy DJ stuff like turning the volume down so everyone can have a sing-song and spinning the tune back to the beginning "rewind selector" stylee - and the crowd love it!

The club is a nice size, with places to chill if you need to. Beware of the West End drink prices though (£3.50 for a JD and coke, £3 for a bottle of beer). All in all if you love the Lacy Lady you will love this.

PLEASE NOTE: Soul Shack has ceased at 10 Old Burlington St.

Richie Cox has been around for as long as I can remember. With a background in Jazz, Rare Groove and even Disco, you know that when he says he's gonna play Soulful House, the emphasis will definitely be on the 'soul'.

As one of the pioneers of this genre (in East London/Essex, at least) Richie brings his extensive knowledge to the turntables and puts on a continuous 'show' with definite 'Acts' and 'Scenes'. Unlike the theatre, however, you can walk in on this performance at any stage and understand the plot immediately.

'Act One' was pure, fresh, New York Soulful House. Having just returned from a trip across the pond, Mr Cox supplied us with musical delights which included Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross and Shakatak. I'm not joking either...and the place ROCKED! 'Act Two' moved onto Garage Classics including Kenny Bobien, Jasper Street Company and DJ Spen. With large jugs of Pimms @ £7.00 by 'Act Three' the crowd were ready for Cheesy Weekender Classics, played the way they should be, in 1 minute bursts, in the mix! This left enough time for 'Act Four', a collection of some of the most Soulful Gospel/House it has ever been my pleasure to hear.

As a Friday night venue this is ideal. Right in the centre of town and accessible from anywhere in the South East. As an after work drinking hole, it's even better - so good in fact that it ought to be a criminal offence 'not' to go.

The only downside is that I couldn't get there as the doors opened so as not to miss a single beat.

PLEASE NOTE: The Early Session has ceased at Bar Bed.