>> The New Mastersound
bio: Two years of relentless gigging, thanks to a residency in Leeds club, The Atrium, gave these four musicians an instinctive understanding of each other's playing. A rough recording made on an old 8-track in a friend's basement fell into the hands of London jazz/latin DJ, Snowboy, and word soon spread that something special was happening Up North. It wasn’t long before they were approached by Clive Johnson of Blow it Hard records in London with a view to releasing a single. The result – ‘One Note Brown’ - was such a hit with DJs and crate-diggers that it is now a collectors’ item.
Meanwhile, during their residency they had begun to collaborate and expand the sound - joining forces with another major Leeds musical phenomenon, The Haggis Horns brass section - three crazy Scotsmen with their own highly developed musical synergy. At one of the Atrium gigs they met vocalist Cleveland Freckleton. Cleve, an ex-preacher, organ player and front man, offered his services just as NMS were pondering the possibility of using vocals in their material.
Sometimes going out as an eight-piece band, NMS began gigging regularly in London at Camden’s Jazz Café. It was at one of these gigs that they met DJ and funk collector, Keb Darge, who was running out of old records to play. He suggested making a new 'old' record…
In autumn 2001 their debut album 'Keb Darge Presents the New Mastersounds' brought them global attention and critical praise. There was, and still is, a growing following in clubs and specialist record shops, for what Keb called 'Deep Funk' and NMS found themselves at the forefront of this new underground movement. In 2002, with some international festivals under their belt, the band carried on gigging with the extended line-up. Whilst various options for a second album were being considered, Leeds label Cooker Records teased fans with a couple of new 7" singles, as well as re-releasing the now highly sought-after debut album on CD (Cooker, NMSCD001) In April 2003, the original New Mastersounds quartet was invited to play over in Barcelona - the sound and approach was broader and more subtle than the full-on funk assault of the debut album material, and audiences loved it. Inspired by this positive response, the band returned to the UK to begin work on a second album. The result, 'Be Yourself', was written, recorded and mixed over summer 2003 and was released later that year on the band's own label, One Note Records. The 7” single – Your Love is Mine featuring guest vocalist Corinne Bailey Rae – made it to no. 4 in Soul-God DJ Richard Searling’s top soul tunes of 2003, and was single of the week on BBC Radio.
Since then the NMS have continued to play live as a four-piece, strengthening their reputation as star performers. In 2004 more heads were turned by the Eddie Roberts-produced remix of the Random Factor tune Move On (feat. Georg Levin) for dance label 2020Vision. NMS also recorded their own version of Butter for Yo’ Popcorn, now released as a 7” single on new French funk label Soul Cookers Records. Also last year while Eddie Roberts played guitar on remixes for Mr Scruff (Verve) and John Arnold (Ubiquity), Pete Shand and Simon Allen were laying down some live parts for Canadian deep house producer Fred Everything on his track Elevate (released on the acclaimed Light of Day album (2020Vision).
While this was going on the NMS were also developing and recording new material and working on Eddie Roberts’s side project, Roughneck, an album that was universally well-received upon its release in August, and subsequently licensed to P-Vine Records in Japan. In May the NMS flew to Chicago for their first USA appearances, opening two nights for the Greyboy Allstars to packed houses at the legendary House Of Blues venue. The 7” single: ‘Baby Bouncer’ b/w ‘The Minx’, was released upon their return from the States. To cap off an amazing month, the band then did three very special UK gigs backing Blue Note sax legend Lou Donaldson for an exclusive set of souljazz / boogaloo tunes that Lou himself hadn’t played for about 30 years. Approximately 2500 people witnessed the musical bond forged between the NMS and this 78-year-old American jazz pioneer who was, when he arrived, unaware just how influential his music had been on several subsequent generations of musicians, DJs and club-goers, NMS included. See the media page for photos and mp3 clips from the mini-tour with Lou.
After a busy summer of UK & European dates – highlights included an after-hours backstage gig at Glastonbury and an appearance on MTV to plug the Supernatural festival in Holland - the band took some time off from gigging in order to focus on the next album project, which was recorded in November 2004. A partnership deal was struck with the band’s Chicago fixer, Dave Vandenburg, whose new label 3 on the B Recordings is now handling the domestic US release of Be Yourself and Roughneck, as well as the new album This is What We Do. The US-version of the album boasts a sax solo from guest performer Karl Denson whom the band had met over in Chicago.
Aside from promoting This is What We Do in the UK, Europe and USA, plans for 2005 include: - a tribute album featuring NMS arrangements of soul-jazz & boogaloo tunes by the likes of Big John Patton, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie Smith, Lou Donaldson et al.; - various remix, production and session work (check the NMS remix of Believe by Soldiers of Twilight on 2020Vision); - a new funk 7” for Unique Records in Germany; - exploring some common ground with Keb Darge and Kenny Dope for a vocal recording project.
There are also several new side-projects afoot. Bob Birch and Pete Shand’s reggae-influenced Organ Donor quartet have established themselves on the Leeds scene and are looking at options for their first release. Simon Allen is working with percussionist and producer Sam Bell (ex-Mastersounds, and guest on the new NMS album) on the Orgatronics project, a world-music / beats experiment which also features ex-NMS trumpeter Malcolm Strachan, and Morcheeba keyboard player Dan Goldman. Meanwhile Eddie Roberts is pulling together the band to follow up his Roughneck project and playing plenty of real jazz in his residency at Matt & Phred’s in Manchester.
)
