This Sunday see’s another one of London’s top jazz collectors drop into the unique surroundings of Floripa to bless us with a guest selection of supreme jazz nuggets. For a man that’s spent 15 years behind the counter at Honest Jon’s in the old Portobello Road out West, we can’t think of anyone better than DJ Harv Nagi to teach us a thing or two about the black stuff. Indeed over that time, he’s pulled tune for a long list of regular punters including the great and good of London clubland. Names such as Paul Weller, Mick Jones, Neneh Cherry, Damon Albarn (now part owner of the shop’s trailblazing record label) and Norman Jay have all graced the little shop floor at some point or other, and of course the likes of Ashley Beedle, Kevin Beadle, Phil Asher, IG Culture, Dego, Kaidi Tatham and many DJs local to the Grove have kept the shop in business till the present day. Being around vinyl all the time has its benefits too, with new collections being brought into the shop on a daily basis there’s ample opportunity to check the new arrivals before they hit the floor, and this is, we suspect, why Harv has accumulated an enviable collection of wax that has earned him guest slots and residencies around London and Europe. Two seven-year stints at West London hotspots Cherry Jam and Neighbourhood (now standing as Supperclub) and a six-year residency at Notting Hill Arts Club have set him in good stead, as have appearances at Barcelona’s Sonar and Hamburg’s Mojo Club in Berlin. A keen jazz enthusiast, he has also guested at the legendary Shiftless Shuffle jazz dance sessions (the next one of which is handily this Sunday afternoon, right next door to Floripa at East Village, reach for 2pm if you want to hit the dance class before the club session).
He just doesn’t sell records though; Harv put together the “Indica Brazilica” and “The Bombay Jazz Palace” compilations and can now be found churning out a nice run of productions, as “We are the Horsemen” alongside studio partner Sub-One. Below he takes us through five of the stand out tracks in his collection, which may just get an airing this coming Sunday. Otherwise, make sure you check out his weekly Tuesday morning radio show on Point Blank FM for more of his selections.
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Charles Tolliver: On The Nile (from the album “The Ringer”)
13 minutes of pure emotion and joy always hits the spot no matter what the mood! Jimmy Hopps and Stanley Cowell in total control letting Mr Tolliver loose!! Magic!
Jayne Cortez and the Firespitters: I See Chano Pozo (From the album “There It Is”)
If you are ever going to do a tune about the legendary Chano, This is the only way to do it. Lyrics and delivery that always made me think that for 8 minutes i had taken something that I shouldn’t have!!
Shankar Jaikishan- Bairagi (from the album ‘Raga-Jazz Style’)
And now a tune from way out east, the land of my parents. An album I picked up from a little record shop in Southall many moons ago that totally blew me away and one of the main tracks on my “Bombay Jazz” compilation that got talked about more than any other. All the complexities of playing a “Raga” in a jazz style with a killer Tabla and Flute break! Killer!
Brother Jack McDuff: The Fourth Dimension (from the album The Fourth Dimension)
A track that I had the pleasure of playing at Shiftless Shuffle alongside my school buddy Seymour Nurse. Don’t really need to say much about this one… just over four minutes of pure Jazz Dance Joy!!
Adele Sebastian: Man From Tanganyika (from the album Desert Fairy Princess)
A track named after the land where I was born. Of course love the McCoy Tyner version but the intro on this version by Adele Sebastian is totally mad! Adele was a flute player who played with Horace Tapscott’s People’s Pan African Arkestra and who tragically died at the age of 27… Rest In Peace!
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See what else might be in DJ Harv’s bag and of course, that of resident DJ Nik Weston’s this Sunday 16th September 5pm-11.30pm at Floripa, 91-93 Great Eastern Street, London EC2A 3HZ FREE ENTRY