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Places and Spaces ... Jazz funk was a unique style of Black dance music that swept the UK club scene in the mid-1970's, establishing a firm base in London, and which was exemplified by artists such as Eddie Henderson, Charles Earland, and Mass Production. This strange new music could contain a funk bassline and injections of jazz riffs, but always contained an overall soulful feel. The faster tracks were ideally suited to being played in a club environment. They featured 'real' instruments (such as Freddie Hubbard's flugelhorn, or Roy Ayers' vibraphone) and, for those who had developed and nurtured their soulful tastes over a number of years, it was brilliant to dance to.  |
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At around the same definitive point, circa 1976, when Northern Soul was pulling in the punters at venues such as Va Va's (Sheffield), The Casino (Wigan), The Winter Gardens (Cleethorpes) and The Mecca Highland Room (Blackpool), Jazz Funk was accounting for a major parallel underground following in the South East of England, at clubs like Frenchies (Camberley, Surrey), The Goldmine (Canvey Island, Essex), The Lacy Lady (Ilford, Essex). The DJs who championed this sound included such luminaries as Chris Hill (at The Goldmine), Tom Holland (at The Lacy Lady) , Greg Edwards (at Global Village - now famously known as 'Heaven'), and Chris Brown (at Frenchies).  |
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I suppose that the real explosion in Jazz Funk occurred with the onset of the Soul all dayers - periodical events held at large dance venues. The original all dayer in the south of England was at the Top Rank Suite in Reading, first held in August 1976 - a joint venture which involved Northern Soul being played in a main room, and Jazz Funk in a smaller room, but which by August 1977 saw Jazz Funk enjoying the main billing. A famous story from
those early all dayers concerned Chris Hill, who decided to lead a group of punters (doing a
conga dance) down into the main hall at Reading, where
Northern Soul was being played. Hilly's idea was that perhaps the two factions could unite under the banner of 'Soul', and forget any differences that they might have. Maybe this
wasn't such a good plan. As the 12" version of Roy Ayers - 'Running Away' was played to a mostly uninterested dance floor, one of the
incensed Northern fans decided to jump up on the
stage, proceeded to remove the record from the deck, and smash it over his knee ! |
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The Top Rank all dayers proved massively popular, and attracted huge crowds at the doors. As a result, the venue was soon moved to the 4,000-capacity Tiffanys in Purley, and adopted the banner of the National Soul Festival at their first all dayer in March 1978. The group of DJs appearing at Purley, and similar events, soon became christened The Soul Mafia . The Mafia all-dayers were notable because they used a massive sound system famously owned and operated by Froggy - a veritable cliff face of speakers, backed up by huge amplification systems. The all-dayers attracted 'tribes' - groups of punters with collective names like 'The Erection Section', 'The Fusion Few', 'Paddington Soul Partners', and 'The Brixton Front Line' - with banners and t-shirts to identify themselves. The experience of walking into a massive all-dayer was akin to being hit by a wall of heat, sound, and sweat, and dress became adapted around this (shorts, trainers and t-shirts becoming de rigeur). 
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Purley Tiffanys hosted a total of just eight all-dayers, between March 1978 and January 1980, although these were talked about on the scene for many years to come. Some of the best all-dayer tracks played during this era included:
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A revolution in the British Soul scene occurred in April 1979, with the staging of the first ever Caister Soul Weekend. If a natural progression of a night out at your favourite club was to run an all day event, then the next stage would surely have to be an all weekend event, with punters staying on-site, and given a variety of music venues to choose from. The first weekend of this type was staged at the Ladbrokes holiday camp at Caister, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. This event attracted over 3,000 punters, and was the first of many such exciting and dynamic events, which I recall with great affection. The regular line up of 'Mafia' DJs who appeared at Caister (and other big events) included:
Most of the old 'Mafia' DJs have gone on to become household names (their names were unrecognisable to most people outside the scene, back in the old days !) Pete Tong is a household name, and is now revered by a whole new generation of young clubbers. Martin Collins is a well known presenter on Capital Radio. Robbie Vincent hosts the daily breakfast show on Jazz FM, while Greg Edwards and Jeff Young are still pursuing successful careers in the broadcast and recording industries. 
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A number of other regular all-dayers soon followed. The most well known of these were held at The Lyceum and The Venue in central London. These were hosted by the National Soul Festival (who had earlier promoted the huge events at Purley), and attracted a following mostly from south of the river, with the music played having slightly harder, funkier edge to it. The main DJ's at these events were:
Their main DJ line up was (perhaps) aimed less at the 'purist', and featured:
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As with Northern Soul, it's pretty difficult to come up with a definitive list of sounds that made Caister what it was, but here's a small selection of my own favourites:
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