Firebird Chris Bangs

• 1 Samba Do Sueno 03:37
• 2 Firebird 04:00
• 3 Dinamita 04:10
• 4 Ritmo Picante 03:30
• 5 Sambara 04:57
• 6 East Coast 04:01
• 7 Bam Bam 04:46
• 8 Kitchen (Cosina) 03:49
• 9 Circuit Break 04:30
• 10 Lifetimes 04:40
• Total Runtime 42:00

Info for Firebird

Following the success of his 2022 mod-club, soul-jazz adventure with Mick Talbot, on 27 January Acid Jazz Records will release Chris Bangs’ compendium of dance-floor fillers and Latin dynamite.

Chris, who coined the term ‘acid jazz’, has created a new solo album of 10 tracks that takes his unique spin on jazz DJ-ing and turned it to producing an album that is totally reminiscent of the classic ‘80s era on the UK dance scene.

Recent single ‘Firebird’ (Jazz FM’s Breakfast show ‘track of the week’) encompasses a lifetime of Chris’s musical influences to present a jazz-tastic smorgasbord of bossa, fusion, bop jazz funk, salsa and a myriad selection of other jazz stylings all delivered with his trademark ear for the grooves and melodies to go with it.

Paying tribute to his roots, ‘East Coast’ is the distinctive sound of jazz-funk fusion which spread through UK clubs in the early ‘80s, whereas ‘Dinamita’s heavy duty percussion-led Montuno Salsa groove tips its hat to the sound of ‘70s NYC via Puerto Rico.

Elsewhere the album features a tough Batucada rework of Dom Um Romao’s ‘Kitchen (Cosina)’, the bossa of Cal Tjader’s ‘Samba Do Sueno’, Brazilian disco funk-jazz ‘Sambara’ via the epic samba fusion ‘Lifetimes’.

Firebird features an array of in-demand and exceptional musicians, including jazz guitarist Nigel Price (Van Morrison, David Axelrod, JTQ), supreme jazz piano stylist Janette Mason (Seal, KD Lang, Robert Wyatt), trumpeter Dave Priseman (Jeff Beck, Imelda May), saxophonist Simon Bates (Elvis Costello, Chaka Khan, Carleen Anderson), UK vibesman Roger Beaujolais (Robert Plant, Tony Allen, Neneh Cherry), and bassist Ernie Mckone (Boogie Back), fresh from his remix duties for Paul Weller.

This brilliant team of collaborators have helped a remarkable musical maverick create a truly unique and incredibly exciting album. Independently self-produced and composed, Firebird is a set of tunes better than anything Chris Bangs has ever done before.

Chris Bangs

Chris Bangs
Rare Groove ... acid jazz ... hippy house... Talking Loud ... the Balearic beat - all influential sounds, scenes and styles that went off with a BANGS ! No doubt about it, Chris Bangs has been a pioneering and inspirational figure in the British underground dance scene of the 80s and 90s and helped to light up the burgeoning black music dance scene of the early eighties. Bangs' name became associated with many celebrated events - from The Special Branch, Cock Happy and Doos At The Zoo to his own legendary Bournemouth Bank Holiday sessions, the Caister, Prestatyn and Rockley Sands Soul Weekenders and even the original Corfu and Ibiza 'summers of love' and Chris has played at venues as varied as V Festivals, Goodwood, Vintage Festival Southbank, Faith Parties, Natural History and Kew Steam Museums to numerous appearances in clubs such as Fabric and Pacha to Cafe Del Mar.

Towards the end of the 80s, Chris really hit pay dirt as a musical trend-setter with the invention of Acid Jazz genre and as a producer and artist responsible for many early recordings on Eddie Piller's Acid Jazz label and Gilles Peterson's Talkin' Loud (producing Galliano's celebrated debut album) His success internationally enabled Chris to set up his own studio and production company, Thin Air. His talents were soon spotted outside of the acid jazz scene with Paul Weller utilising Chris's production skills. This liaison led to a partnership with Weller's former Style Council-er Mick Talbot as SoundscapeUK - one of a whole range of projects marked by the Bangs stamp that have secured commercial and critical acclaim from the USA, Japan, Europe and Australia.

Today, Chris can be found in his studio surrounded by his records and a host of musical collaborators so don't be surprised if he's too busy to talk. Instead, try asking the aforementioned Piller, Weller, or Peterson as well as the likes of Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong, Nicky Holloway, Danny Rampling and many more for a genuine endorsement of one of our true pioneers.

This album contains no booklet.