Counterpoint Records was formed in the winter of 1996 by record dealer/dj, Jake Behnan & jazz dj, Russ Dewbury. After years of supplying vinyl rareties to collectors & dj's around the world via his 'Hot Biscuit' mail order service, Jake decided it was time to start reissuing hard to find tunes to the insatiable rare groove scene.
Counterpoint's first release was the reissue of US jazz-funk legend, Webster Lewis' first ever LP. The record in question was over 25 years old and previously not released outside of Norway. Perhaps not the most obvious way to launch a label, but the discovery of Webster Lewis' 'Live At Club 7' LP was one gem that was in that 'holy grail' league of rare grooves. This was followed by Marc Moulin's electronic/fusion masterpiece, 'Sam Suffy' and by the anthology of his 'Placebo Sessions' album. These reissues have earned us cult status and have become collectors items in their own right as they have long been deleted!
As the record industry started looking to the compilation format to stave off the looming recession, we released a series of soul/jazz albums, focusing on the independent labels of the 70's/80's. Compiled by Jake & Russ, and based around dancefloor jazz, Latin and funk tracks that had never appeared on other legit compilations, 'Freedom Time' & 'Jazz Bizniz' gave the tired compilation market a kick up the arse.
'Jazz Bizniz 2' & 3' flipped the script with the introduction of new independent artists, balanced next to the old skool. Around this time, we heard about a stunning live soul/jazz band from Baltimore called Fertile Ground. On one of his many crate diggin trips to the States, Jake went to check out FG live and decided to sign them as the first artist for Counterpoint. So far they have released 3 groundbreaking albums for us ('Perception', 'Seasons Change' & 'Remixed').
Over 20 tracks by Fertile Ground have been licensed for compilations all over the world. Their tracks have been remixed by some of the most cutting-edge producers on the nu-jazz, broken beat and house scene, including Kaidi Tatham, Waiwan, Jazztronik, Seiji and Oneness Of Two.
As more nu-jazz artists started to make waves around the underground club scene, we got Tokyo's Jazztronik to drop his European debut, 'Inner Flight'.
Always on the lookout for independent sounds, Jake was introduced the vast catalogue of Harlem's cult disco & boogie label, P & P records by fellow dealer/dj, Nick The Record. This resulted in the widely acclaimed 'Disco Juice' & Disco Juice 2', based around the hard to find Patrick Adams & Peter Brown produced 12" releases from the late 70's & early 80's.
After the depature of Russ Dewbury from the label to concentrate on his dj career and productions with Mr Hermano's Ben Mitchell (Mitchell & Dewbury).
Jake has since operated the label at Counterpoint's new hq in Hastings, East Sussex. Releasing the critically acclaimed 'Afrika Underground' compilation which focused on the jazz & fusion scene in South Africa under apartheid.
This was followed by 'Jazz Bizniz 3', which was described by Gilles Peterson as one of the best compilations released anywhere!
Belgian producer and vinyl obsessive David Borsu releases his debut album 'Insight'. (His inspirations ranges from 70's fusion, soundtracks, house, drum ‘n’ bass, and broken beat). Along side the singles ‘Monster’, ‘Reminiscent’ & ‘Move’, which features the stunning vocals of Fertile Ground's cosmic queen of soul Navasha Daya, backed with remixes by Mark De Clive Lowe.
Sheffield's 'psalmelodic' soul/jazz band, Deeper Wider Higher collective (DWH) deliver ‘Follow Me’ their long awaited debut album of spiritual soul, other worldly jazz and inspirational sounds of blackness. The album took three months to score and record, involved a hefty twenty-five musicians. This is backed with two EP’s including remixes from Blackbeard, Eddy & Yannah and Antonio Ocasio.
New York's deep house maestro, Antonio Ocasio of the Tribal Winds imprint, drop’s two killer Loft-style jams: ‘Fabulous’ (big with David Mancuso, DJ Cosmo, Laurent Garnier, Francois K, etc) and ‘Higher Love’ featuring the highly dependable vocals of Mustafa Akbar.
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From the legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Landis (who has been a vital part of the Detroit area jazz scene since 1973) we present 'Parenthe-Seizure', a CD collection of tracks selected from her extensive back catalogue of releases (1981- 2002) which were originally released on her self financed 'Shelan Records'. (For the vinyl heads we’ve put together a ltd 500 run four-track sampler – be quick!).
Marcina Arnold self released CD features a stellar line-up of musicians and vocalist from the UK’s jazz, soul and broken beat scene, including Byron Wallen, Eska, Tom Herbert, Mpho Skeef and Jason Yarde. Her own live show has been playing to ecstatic audiences in clubs and festivals around the UK. We are privileged to release ‘Introducing Marcina Arnold’, a four-track vinyl & download EP, featuring two previously unreleased tracks & two of the most requested tracks from her CD. The track “Forefathers” is a favourite on the Gilles Peterson BBC Radio 1 Worldwide show and has subsequently been licensed to his ‘Brownswood Bubblers vol. 2’. Look out for Japanese only issue of the album entitled 'About Time' out now in Japan on Counterpoint/PVine records.
On hearing Ashley Thomas demo we knew instantly that here was a seriously talented singer/songwriter who fitted perfectly with the label's ethos for showcasing soul infused original music. He sets about combining the quality of 60s/70s soul/funk with the more contemporary sounds of Broken Beat and Nu- Jazz. His debut 4 track EP, 'Kept On Runnin’’ will testify this. Also out remix EP including mixes by Domu, The Part Time Hereos and Ashley.
Drawbar are the latest signings to Counterpoint. Following on from the amazing response received from their debut 10” single, ‘The Present’ (Counterpoint CRS025), Hastings’ tripped out combo, Drawbar, are back at the end of June with a double hitter 7” single and their debut album, ‘Flight Of The Tempest’, out now.
Look out for the return of our legendary “Jazz Bizniz" compilation series. Volume 4 scheduled for release early in 2009.
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Dear All,
Lots from the Funk Salad kitchens:
New tracks to listen to, and a DJ mix to d/l on the site:MySpace.com/PeeWee'sFunkSalad We've been getting some love from those lovely northern monkeys over at The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show! You can re-listen here (we're at 1hr21 in):BBCRadio6.com/CraigCharlesFunk&Soul You can hear some fun(k) based bootlegs over at:Soundcloud.com/PeeWees-Funk-Salad ...and as if that wasn't enough, you can keep up-to-date with the latest recipes over at our very swanky new Facebook page:Facebook.com/PeeWeesFunkSalad or Twitter page:Twitter.com/FunkSalad Phew!! So there you go, no excuses people - come and have a nibble!
Psycatron - Directions/Tipping Point Out Now On Beatport!
Charted by John Digweed at No.6, Plays from Dave Clarke, Dubfire, Fanciulli, Zabiela and Christian Smith and many more
Debut album "Groovy!" out on June 16th! A fantastic review from the leading UK soul site Soulchoonz and airplay in San Fransisco, London, Vienna, Montenegro, Frankfurt... Ooh, groovy!
Online Now!
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