Words by Justin Turford
It is very possible that Jules Brennan and I met many years before we actually realised. The British born, Kyoto based multi-instrumentalist, DJ and producer was studying and partying in our hometown of Nottingham at exactly the same as I was. We probably danced together, cheered, chatted rubbish or even hugged each other in the sweat-sodden cauldrons of Nottingham’s untouchable 1990s heyday of clubbing but it is only very recently that we have connected. Such is the wonderful world of music.
Jules has just written, produced and released an album called ‘Wamono’ and it is a superb amalgamation of his obvious talents and also his love of soundtracks, funk, Japanese culture and jazz. Full of always surprising spy-funk grooves and exotic interludes, Wamono has been getting serious plays on our many radio shows. In celebration of his album launch, we asked him to contribute to our ‘Music That Speaks To…’ series and he has given us selection of great music that spans his life. Over to you Jules!
“I’ve never known life without music. Right from bouncing on the sofa as a 7 year old kid to Little Richard to my current Jazz explorations in Kyoto, Japan where I’ve been living for well over 20 years.
Early rock n’ roll, jump jive, blues & boogie woogie taught me the ‘viscerality’ of music in a language I understood. Music gave thrills & spills as good as any three boy sleeping bag toboggan ride down a sheer attic staircase could! It was around this time I formed my very first band - Jumpin Jules & the Jivers (!) hammering away at boogie woogie piano.
I must give a nod to that crucial shot of Rhythm & blues at early age in my life with ‘Lucille’ , which also hints at the groove obsession that was to follow later in my life.
Then I began raiding my Dad’s record collection & a family friend, seeing my passion, gave me his entire Rock n’ Roll record collection. This set me on a path which diverted me far & permanently away from any mainstream music unless it was visceral, cerebral or rebellious enough to hook me back.
At school discos it was Dexy’s Midnight Runners, The Specials & The Clash. Later in my college days the post-punk thing grabbed me - the acerbic grittiness of The Fall or the moody power of Joy Division. ‘Closer’ later became of my favorite albums of all time.
But rare groove & jazz came early into my life too-hidden among my Dad’s trad & modern jazz were some Jimmy Smith & Jimmy McGriff Records.
And it was easy to stepping stone from this rhythm & bluesy soul jazz to my older brothers’s growing love of soul music. We played Curtis’s ‘Move On Up’ over & over, it was so good our reaction was to laugh uncontrollably while attempting more sofa moves. This was my introduction to the drum break & my love of percussion, still as an early teen so it needs to be in here.
Then along came classic Psychedelic Rock - The Who, Hendrix & Cream. ‘Tommy’ ‘Quadrophenia’ & ‘The Who Sell Out’ yielded the power but Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’ was simply stratospheric & rubber stamped my love of all things psyche as long as it wasn’t too twee. My final year at school was all about The Doors and at that age a lot of music sharing and cross-fertilization was going on so music became this big discovery thing. That’s when the record collecting began with weekly trips up to Sheffield on the 69 bus!
At college I waded through Pink Floyd - space & texture coming in - and also the indie bands of the time -My Bloody Valentine or Spacemen 3 for the guitar sonics, and bands like The Pixies or The Cure instilled in me that idea of guitar creativity & a certain attitude that guitar lines that could bite sardonically, or be witty but still punky.
That was when I took a job in the warehouse at Morrison’s supermarket with the sole aim of buying my first (Hohner) Telecaster. With my first psychedelic Indie band ‘Darren’ the lifelong pursuit of true creativity began. Lost tapes, great times.
My time at Notts Uni was another time of seemingly tumultuous musical change & discovery. Everything went into full technicolour again with the arrival of ‘Madchester’, the rave scene & dance music of all kinds. An amazing time to be alive & to be swept up in the biggest cultural movement since the 60s. ‘Fool’s Gold’ changed it all, and bridged the gap from all that guitar-y stuff into a Kaleidoscopic world of Beats, Bleeps & Breakbeats.
The legendary clubs of Nottingham - The Kool Kat, Venus, The Dance Factory - also had rare groove rooms and I’d always find myself hanging out there watching the Jazz Dancers & becoming aware of this exciting new sound Called ‘Acid Jazz’ which emulated the rare groove stuff and thus striking a big resonant chord within me, but it was fused with the ongoing dance beats. A fresh scene was born. It felt contemporary & soulful & the fashions were also jazzy yet sporty - Adidas tracky tops or Gazelles alongside original hipster hats and suits.
This was the track that turned me into all that. I played it to death!
Soon I was buying all the Totally Wired Compilations (Izit’s version of ‘Stories’!) but also James Brown or Grant Green reissues on Blue Note. It was the 90s but rare groove was back in full force. It was only a matter of time before hip-hop & its aesthetics would take the world by storm.
Here’s a dynamic track which manages to fuse the exciting musical melting pot of the times and simply knocked me for six when I heard it on a dancefloor.
My bands at the time reflected these amazing changes after getting hold of a Fender Rhodes off an engineer who worked at The Square Center (RIP) studios in Nottingham. Acid Jazz combos with brass (Moochie & Eekman), a brief stint with Polska (now divided into Little Barrie & The Soundcarriers, and then ‘My Family Tree’ - live hip hop, sharp witty raps & real instrumentation. I certainly got a lot of mileage out of that Fender Rhodes-literally. In the end I sold it to pay for my plane ticket to Japan!
Here are a couple of rare clips from those basically pre-Internet days.
Polska ‘Lifestyle’
My Family Tree ‘On Top of the World’
Then after meeting my wife in Notts, Japan was a-calling. And not only did it prove to be a haven for record collecting but it also had a thriving music scene in a whole new way with little pockets of fanaticism for every genre in every city. My favourite club in Kyoto - Weller’s Club - is a shrine to Northern Soul, British Mod, and Soul & Funk. A home from home.
Despite playing in a few bands here I feel the live music scene here doesn’t quite have the passion & freedom that it seemed to have in the UK so my time in Japan has been my most creative period of making my own music at home and recording it. For any music lover I think It is impossible not to soak up the new sounds around you as times change or you suddenly find yourself in an exotic new land!
I’ll never forget hearing my first ‘twang’ of a Koto, or the haunting sounds of a ‘Shakuhachi’ flute being played at dusk by the river. Or the even more strange, hypnotic drones of Gagaku court music and its unique instruments. Once heard, never forgotten. If you go to any Japanese festival, or traditional theatre performance, these musics are bound to leave an impression.
So my record collecting also took a swerve into the wonderful world of both traditional Japanese folk music but also funky Japanese Jazz, as well as continuing with my general life mission of collecting universal grooves from across the spectrum. In short, my musical discovery here in Japan has ‘blossomed’.
As a general taster of the oriental atmospheres & grooves I’ve found in their original formats, I’d have to point you to the excellent ‘Wamono Grooves’ series which have recently been coming out, ‘Wamono’ meaning ‘Japanese stuff’ & also being the title of my new album which is strongly influenced by the sounds of Japan.
As for the mountain of Japanese Jazz around, well there are the titans such as Terumasa Hino, the Japanese Miles who I’ve seen tearing the roof down locally in an intimate venue. So much to choose from but his tune ‘This Planet Is Ours‘ resonates with that spiritual edge & all important message.
I also love the wealth of film music and anime soundtracks available as well the killer funky fusion albums of bands like Zerosen.
But ducking & diving in & out of record shops in between teaching English at Giant Steps English which I set up 17 years ago, has revealed many curious oddities with infectious grooves. Here’s a male voice choir with plucky bass line groove & hypnotic chanting. It was amazing to ‘discover’ this record by simply taking a chance on it. I’ve since bought it a couple of friends for Christmas.
Or last month, this oddity from Okayama. There are many Test-your-Hi Fi demo records out there which often have one-off studio or library grooves on them and this is another curiosity piece which I recently featured on ‘East meets West’, my monthly radio show on Universal Rhythms. Plenty more where that came from! Enchanting!
Music is discovery!”
Thank you Jules!
CHECK HIS UNIVERSAL RHYTHMS SHOWS HERE: https://www.mixcloud.com/universalrhythms_radio/jules-brennan-east-meets-west/