Legendary UK DJ, producer and acid jazz pioneer Chris Bangs has just released an incredible new compilation for Ace Records, titled The Playbox, which is essentially his love letter to the jazz dancefloor featuring signature 70s era jazz funk and jazz dance classics.

This brilliant collection of music includes everything from jazz-funk staples, like Johnny Hammond “Los Conquistadores Chocolates” , Pleasure’s “No Matter What”, and Johnny Lytle’s “Gunky”, to Latin and Brazilian flavored selections including , Bill Summers’s “Brazilian Skies”, Cal Tjader’s “Mambo Mindoro”, Dom Um Romao’s “Braun-Blek-Blu” and others. The 14-track compilation also includes some massive jazz dance gems, like Roy Haynes’ “Quiet Fire” and Flora Purim’s “Vera Cruz (Empty Faces)”.

Overall, this is the kind of record you can put on and just walk away (or dance away) and simply enjoy from start to finish. Chris Bangs has done an impeccable job of capturing a tried and true soundtrack of those songs that have become the heart and soul of any jazz dance set. Highly recommended!

Various — ‘Chris Bangs Presents The Playbox’
(Ace Records)

1. Johnny Hammond – “Los Conquistadores Chocolates”
2. Bill Summers – “Brazilian Skies”
3. Roy Haynes – “Quiet Fire”
4. Willis Jackson – “Nuther’n Like Thuther’n”
5. Louie Bellson & Walfredo De Los Reyes – “Sentido En Seis (Six Feeling)”
6. Flora Purim – “Vera Cruz (Empty Faces)”
7. Lonnie Liston Smith & The Cosmic Echoes – “Visions Of A New World (Phase II)”
8. Pleasure – “No Matter What”
9. Fatback Band – “Njia Walk”
10. Johnny Lytle – “Gunky”
11. Patrice Rushen – “Jubilation”
12. Cal Tjader – “Mambo Mindoro”
13. Tania Maria – “Yatra-Ta”
14. Dom Um Romao – “Braun-Blek-Blu”

BUY RECORD

• Compilation
• Jazz
• Jazz Dance
• Jazz Funk