Paul Murphys Claremont 56 label welcomes a genuine legend of UK music to its roster - Chaz Jankel, the man whose dizzying musicality and love of soul, funk and disco did much to shape the sound of Ian Durys Blockheads band in the late 1970s and early 80s. A virtuoso keyboardist with a deep love of Black American music, Jankels arrangements and compositional skills were key to the success of their records, the funkiest of which not only became crossover pop hits - see Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons To be Cheerful, Part 3 in particular - but also saw heavy rotation in now iconic New York clubs including the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. This continued during the formative years of his solo career, with My Occupation, Questionnaire and Glad To Know You (later famously re-edited and dubbed out for nu-disco dancefloors by Todd Terje) all becoming club hits. The great Quincy Jones also covered Jankels infectious single Ai No Carrida, while experimental, club-ready synth-jam 3,000,000 Synths was also influential during the early years of the electro movement. For his Claremont 56 bow, Jankel has delivered an all-new workout recorded earlier this year, the simply titled Rhumba Jam. A typically warm, groovy and rolling affair, it features Jankel delivering infectious, stretched-out Rhodes electric piano solos over toasty bass, clipped guitar licks, warm bass, accordion-style synth motifs and a densely layered Rhumba rhythm. While relaxed and sun-soaked, it also has bags of Balearic dancefloor potential. Murphy remixes under his now familiar Mudd alias, leaning into the tracks languid Balearic vibe while keeping a firm focus on the dancefloor. Beginning with an enticing mix of metronomic drums and jangly acoustic guitars, Murphy slowly layers up key elements of Jankels original - think rubbery bass, rhythmic handclaps, mazy synth sounds and those wonderful, stretched-out solos. Its a version that pays due reverence to the quality of Jankels musicianship, production and arrangement while subtly extending it and reframing it for 21st century Balearic dancefloors.

Paul Murphys Claremont 56 label welcomes a genuine legend of UK music to its roster - Chaz Jankel, the man whose dizzying musicality and love of soul, funk and disco did much to shape the sound of Ian Durys Blockheads band in the late 1970s and early 80s. A virtuoso keyboardist with a deep love of Black American music, Jankels arrangements and compositional skills were key to the success of their records, the funkiest of which not only became crossover pop hits - see Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons To be Cheerful, Part 3 in particular - but also saw heavy rotation in now iconic New York clubs including the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. This continued during the formative years of his solo career, with My Occupation, Questionnaire and Glad To Know You (later famously re-edited and dubbed out for nu-disco dancefloors by Todd Terje) all becoming club hits. The great Quincy Jones also covered Jankels infectious single Ai No Carrida, while experimental, club-ready synth-jam 3,000,000 Synths was also influential during the early years of the electro movement. For his Claremont 56 bow, Jankel has delivered an all-new workout recorded earlier this year, the simply titled Rhumba Jam. A typically warm, groovy and rolling affair, it features Jankel delivering infectious, stretched-out Rhodes electric piano solos over toasty bass, clipped guitar licks, warm bass, accordion-style synth motifs and a densely layered Rhumba rhythm. While relaxed and sun-soaked, it also has bags of Balearic dancefloor potential. Murphy remixes under his now familiar Mudd alias, leaning into the tracks languid Balearic vibe while keeping a firm focus on the dancefloor. Beginning with an enticing mix of metronomic drums and jangly acoustic guitars, Murphy slowly layers up key elements of Jankels original - think rubbery bass, rhythmic handclaps, mazy synth sounds and those wonderful, stretched-out solos. Its a version that pays due reverence to the quality of Jankels musicianship, production and arrangement while subtly extending it and reframing it for 21st century Balearic dancefloors.

Eighty Three, a sumptuous slab of slow-motion gorgeousness smothered in sun-splashed synth sounds and warming electric piano motifs, was one of the undoubted highlights of Mudds critically acclaimed sophomore solo album, In The Garden of Mindfulness. Now the track has been given a makeover by Conrad McDonnell, a long-time friend of the family and Claremont 56 contributor. McDonnell is famous for his wild and effects-laden dub mixes, both as a solo remixer and alongside long-time musical partner Dan Tyler as the Idjut Boys. Together, they provided deliciously wayward and mind-altering takes of tracks from the Claremont 56 catalogue as part of the labels 10th anniversary triple-CD compilation back in 2017. Now McDonnell has gone solo to deliver an album of dubbed-out revisions of In The Garden of Mindfulness, a set that will land next year. To get us all in the mood, hes laid down a trio if reworks of Eighty Three in his distinctive style. McDonnell first offers up the Le Cidre Dub, a slowly pulsating rendition in which lightly echoing and tape delay-laden guitar, synthesiser and Rhodes riffs drift across a throbbing electronic groove and low-tempo dub disco drums. The veteran DJ/producer has effectively given the track a more cosmic and spaced-out spin whilst retaining much of Mudds intricate and densely layered instrumentation. Those seeking even wilder and more out-there acoustics are catered for by McDonnells two alternative dub takes. He successfully strips back the track to its most skeletal form on the Uppity Dub, bringing the sparsest of beats in and out of the mix whilst focusing on ambient synthesiser sounds, bubbly electronic patterns, echoing electric piano notes and Mudds squelchy and addictive bassline. His favoured effects are all audible in the mix but never dominate the sound space. This celebrated side of McDonnells audio output comes to the fore on the EP-ending Uppity Again Dub, in which waves of trippy and picturesque electronics lap against a locked-in, delay-laden dub disco groove and flashes of reverb-heavy bass. Its effectively a heady, mind-altering ambient dub interpretation of a sun-splashed Balearic treat. Like the other revisions on the EP, it offers a mouth-watering appetiser for the album of dubs still to come.