UK label Pressure Makes Diamonds reissues rare 1980 jazz dance groover ‘Paradise Island’

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UK label Pressure Makes Diamonds reissues rare 1980 jazz dance groover ‘Paradise Island’

Respected vinyl collector, selector, and Mr Bongo family member Gary Johnson has started a new label Pressure Makes Diamonds, focusing on making obscure and pricey recordings available to the masses. This UK-based record label’s first reissue release is the impossible-to-find 1980 jazz-funk twelve-inch single Paradise Island from Florida’s Azwon.

Azwon was a group of student friends that all attended Florida State University college in Tallahassee featuring Reggie Jahn (keyboards/synthesizer and vocals), Jamie Baker (bass), John Finn (guitar, vocals), Dave Antonacci (drums), Matt Pugliesi (percussion), Penny Lang (lead vocals), and Steve Gambrell (piano, vocals). They often performed on campus, as well as a nearby spot called ‘Tommy’s Night Club,’ who’s owner Tommy Schmick contributes to the track’s flute solo.

The group eventually decided to record two tracks under their own label JBF (a label name made up of the first letter of three of the original band members surnames), and released 200 copies on a 7inch single. The A-side featured the track “When The Train Pulled Away,” with “Paradise Island” on the flip side. Most copies of the record were given away to friends or club owners. Gary Johnson came across this recording from a friend of a friend, as some of the original forty-five copies made their way into a number of local jukeboxes, and was completely blown away by the b-side track.

After hunting down one copy online, Johnson was able to get in touch with Reggie Jahn, one of the original members of the band and quickly learned than many of the members are still playing together. After Gary and Reggie got together in London, they decided to reissue ‘Paradise Island’ on twelve-inch format, and also include a newly recorded version of the song, as well as an older unreleased track from the group, titled “Fair Weather Friend.” The new version of “Paradise Island” also includes Yesenia Ruiz (vocals), Gary Moffat (drums) and Carlos Fernandez (percussion).

The reissue of Paradise Island was officially released back at the end of June, and has quickly caught the eye of many deejays and collectors. The track is brilliant mix of jazz instrumentation, soulful vocals, and funky rhythms. It’s exciting to see through Gary’s strong pursuit and the group’s willingness, this unbelievably remarkable track see’s a proper re-release. This is definitely one of those records (even as a reissue) that if you haven’t, will want to find a copy immediately. By far one of the best reissues of 2019!