Road show: The Tileyard open-air street party
The Move: Norman Jay & Melvo Baptiste… Street Party + Haseeb Iqbal at The Tileyard, Saturday, July 18, 2pm-10pm
This Saturday, legendary DJ Norman Jay will be in King’s Cross for an open-air street party.
Born and raised in west London, Jay co-founded the Good Times Sound System, which became a cornerstone of Notting Hill Carnival until 2014. In the 1980s, he made his name playing in unlicensed warehouse parties across the UK and became a key member of Kiss FM when it launched as a pirate station in 1985.
On Saturday, he will be joined by his nephew Melvo Baptiste and Haseeb Iqbal for a party that will provide anything from reggae and funk to disco and house. The Tileyard is known for its multitude of music businesses – the perfect place for Jay’s cross-genre DJ sets. Tickets on Skiddle and RA are now nearly sold out.
On rotation: Sade, Diamond Life
There are few debut albums that are as effortlessly mature as Sade’s Diamond Life. Recorded in Willesden Green’s Power Plant Studios, and released 42 years ago this Thursday on July 16 1984, Diamond Life blends soul, jazz and R&B to create a sound that still feels fresh today. Led by the soulful vocals of Sade Adu, it features some of Sade’s most recognisable singles, including Your Love is King and Hang On to Your Love.
The album is now a modern soul classic, and doesn’t contain a single weak track. Its timelessness is exemplified by its ability to provide the perfect soundtrack for a variety of moments, from a warm summer’s day to a quiet winter evening. Diamond Life is certainly worth a full listen through.
Lenzman [www.metalheadz.co.uk]
Worth your ears: Lenzman
The music of drum and bass producer Lenzman (pictured) has long been a stand-out in the genre – and his untimely death last week aged 47 of kidney cancer has left a fan base in mourning.
Dutch-born Lenzman – real name Telje Van Vliet – had become one of drum and bass’s most respected figures, yet his distinct sound is far removed from the jump-up style often associated with the genre. Instead, Lenzman built a discography rooted in “liquid” drum and bass influenced by hip-hop, jazz and soul – sounds he credited as fundamental to his development as an artist. Tracks like We Were Kings or Open Page are a great place to start for anyone unfamiliar with his music.
Lenzman was a regular visitor to London, and I was lucky enough to see him a few times at his label nights (The North Quarter) at Phonox in Brixton, where he held a residency in May 2023. While fans will sadly not get to see him live again, his music remains boundary-pushing and genre-defining.
