Soul Jazz Compilations
The sounds of the universe, expertly curated. By the MOJO staff.
AS A MOJO reader, you probably see yourself as a bit of a cratedigger. You know your stuff, the canonical classics and the hidden gems, but you’re also aware there’s more to discover. Your tastes are wide, but they could always be wider, and you know when a little help is required: a superinformed record store clerk, perhaps, to guide you to hitherto unexplored corners of their shop. Or a record label, born out of the culture of those eclectic, open-minded record shops, that can dedicate 30 years to putting out precisely the kind of compilations – at once scholarly and exciting, specialised and anti-elitist – that you’ve needed all along.
This, in essence, is the MO of Soul Jazz Records, a label that’s established themselves as masters of the formal mixtape since 1991. Soul Jazz was founded by a second-hand record dealer called Stuart Baker, and they run a great shop in London’s Soho called Sounds Of The Universe, as well as having promoted club nights that often revolved around their 100% Dynamite! series of reggae comps.
It was these Dynamite sets, and a hefty catalogue of Studio One-related releases, that initially tagged Soul Jazz – despite their name – as reggae specialists. But from the start, their remit has been vast, encompassing music from
Cuba, Brazil, Venezuela, Nigeria and Haiti, New York no wave and UK grot-punk, early rap and New Age ambience, country funk and cold wave – as well as soul, jazz and much more. The packaging is always immaculate, the sleevenotes meticulous; every release an unerring labour of love.
If there’s a common factor through this astounding catalogue, it may well be a sense of perpetual groove. Choices often lean into the dancefloor, to the exhilarating possibilities of sound, and to a conviction that any music, handled the right way, can be accessible. For this Top 10, we’ve focused on their various artists comps, rather than the single artist sets dedicated to the likes of Arthur Russell and Bunny Lee. A lot of hard choices have had to be made, but our conclusion remains solid: it’s hard to go wrong with any Soul Jazz release. Check your bucket!
“Every release an unerring labour of love.”