I am by habit a “Soul Disciple” since about age 7, so it brought a smile to my face having been invited to join fellow disciples at the Soul Disciples Weekender in October 2023.

 

I think I have treated music quite casually even though the pull & appeal of it from the very beginning been quite intense.

 

I have learnt much from it and in my formative years my personality was in some way shaped by what my favourite artists sung about.

 

At age 15, (1971) I was very fortunate to go to a gig where I lived called “Bluesville”.

 

This event boasted the absolute best in all things soulful and more.

 

The event was like an extension of “100 Club” in that the organisers were connected to “100’s”.

 

The music was top drawer and was slanted towards the “American” / “Caribbean” presence living in our area.

 

About 1975 “Jazz Funk” was so explosive, the dancing changed, the energy was amazing and my best friend & I set up a Sunday night gig on April 6th, 1975, in the “Ipswich Art Centre” called “Eastern Express”.

 

This was the way things stayed up into the late 70’s although we did move the gig a few times.

 

Its importance and the lengths we would go to get the latest imports outweighed the need for sleep & sometimes even food?

 

The 80’s was decade for travel & establishing a life & although music was always a constant the Dj’ing was intermittent since other responsibilities took priority. I learnt to shoot & had some fun with good friends in Germany, Gibraltar, Africa, Portugal, Israel, Cyprus, Belize etc etc.

 

The start of the 90’s the avenue was “Acid Jazz” with the “Daddy Love Crew”. The vibe was jazzy soul, soulful hip hop & the emerging RnB sound.  The Daddy Love Crew had a radio show on Sunday and like all good things and changing times, by the mid-90’s “Tripple H” was formed which was still soulful but incorporated melodic jazzy hip hop.

 

“Soul Scenario” commenced in 2000 and became established in 2002 where some of the musical styles that had gone before were blended into a musical fusion that kept the like-minded people happy for 12 years.  Somewhere in that period we spent 9 years with “Soul Village”.

 

“Aqua Boogie” (Big Beats Session) overlapped also which began in 2010 as a mainstream soul event and ended due to lockdown in 2020.

 

After Lockdown 2022 we came out of the dark with “Bliss” a gig which was formed in 2015 to take us back to the beginning of or musical journey & where we could combine the musical sounds in one room to include soulful & reggae music both new and retro which has worked well, and the last event was March 2023.