Jazzie B Plays in Glasgow
Published 26 months ago
The Soul II Soul frontman looks over his long career.
- Text by Harriet Walker
Trevor Beresford Romeo, aka Jazzie B, was in the middle of the school run when I called to quiz him about his upcoming appearance at the Bulliet Originals Soul and Funk event in Glasgow next month.
Dazed Digital: You’re in the studio at the moment. What are you working on?
Jazzie B: Well, I’m always trying to do something - I just finished doing some stuff for the X Files movie, just another one of those gigs. And I’ve just finished another compilation for the Ministry of Sound.
DD: Things must be in full-swing for the Back II Life festival in Antigua now too. What can we expect in April?
JB: Yeah the big move! The festival’s in its sixth year now – it’ll be me, Norman Jay, Trevor Nelson and David Rodigan again. It’s a week of parties in a sublime setting where you just don’t have to think about anything. People go strangers and come back life-long friends.
DD: You now have an OBE, and Norman Jay is an MBE. To what extent do you think soul has become part of the furniture at Buckingham Palace, or at least something of a British institution?
JB: I think in British culture technically it’s always been there, even if you go back and talk about the days of Northern Soul, and Richard Searling in Wigan - they adapted that black r’n’b thing and made it their own. There were a lot of my peers who have been bestowed with various honours, way before me, who were influenced by that, and the beauty is that we’ve now got our own recognition. We’ve now been honoured by the Queen, and ten, fifteen, twenty years ago, you wouldn’t have thought anything like that would have been possible.
DD: Apparently, there’s a Soul II Soul day in the States – you’re like medieval saints. Tell us more.
JB: Well, we were recognised as artists by the NAACP [National Association for the Advancement of Colored People] in America, and culturally as black people that were British. At that time there were a lot of places that weren’t aware that black people existed anywhere else but America and Africa. I think it pushed us more into what was happening socially and the NAACP gave us sort of an amplified position that the rest of America tuned into. So I was bestowed with this honour of a day in all these cities. And getting the OBE over here, everything’s kind of come full circle.
DD: The Bulleit event includes soul artists from the 60s to present day. Do you have a few favourite soul moments or artists along the timeline?
JB: Great times were spent with a few of the players that we’ve lost – one of the greatest times I’ve ever had was with James Brown, doing his 79th album was pretty incredible. He’d come into the studio dressed one way and then he’d change to get into the vocal booth, like Superman in a phone booth. That’s how serious he was - he put a different head, had a different attitude. It highlighted how fearless this man really was, and it actually kind of helped me focus. You know, you can’t run a race in high heeled boots and tight jeans, so he’d put on a tracksuit and really getting seriously involved in the session. I’ve done sessions with other artists, – you can be in there 38 takes later, but Mr Brown – I think the most takes we ever did was three or five takes. And that was probably at his request rather than ours. He was definitely the hardest-working man in showbiz.
DD: Where do you think contemporary soul is heading, and who do you think has picked up where Soul II Soul left off?
JB: I don’t think anyone’s really picked up where we left off, we’re the only people that can do it. When you’re listening to your normal r n b, unfortunately it’s pretty much the same. Same same same. But you’ve got John Legend and those guys doing a little combination of hip hop and r’n’b, in terms of where they’re going sonically. One record I’ve currently got a lot of interest in is Erykah Badu’s latest album. Very interesting and very eclectic, again pushing the boundaries. Then there’s that sort of energetic sound, with a broader scope, orientating up to soul music – Cee-Lo’s fairly soulful.
DD: And he’s the only rapper to be endorsed by Germaine Greer. So, it’s a long time since you were playing under railway bridges – what are your memories from that time?
JB: We just had no inhibitions on that whole raving scene. I can just remember hazily, lots and lots and lots of people. It sounds cliched, but truly they were all just getting down with the funk of it. I guess the scene started to get a bit more exposed, and you saw the darker side and the law got involved, but initially those days were just dancing. They were kind of hedonistic, but at the same time there was a structure to it - it was flamboyant, but it was like a meeting of minds – it’s where I met Norman. There wasn’t anyone there who was particularly uptight. There were loads and loads of bomber jackets actually. Why did people wear them? You’d just get really hot. I had one. I was always too hot.
DD: I read that your careers advisor at school told you to be a milkman. Do you think you would have been good at it?
JB: It was crazy – they must be gutted now. I wouldn’t have minded driving one of those little trucks though. What are you going to do? I think it’s easier now for people to break out, there are so many opportunities out there for people to get on and do their thing.
The Bulliet Originals event is on Friday 7th November at The Arches, Glasgow. Ben Westbeech and Martha High also appear. Tickets £8 / £10.
