VA / Soul Jazz Records Presents - LONDON JAZZ CLASSICS

London Jazz Classics gathers the obscure, dancefloor-driven cuts that defined a formative moment in London club culture. First issued as the label’s debut release, it sidesteps convention—drawing on fusion, funk, Brazilian and Latin sounds rather than traditional jazz.

Compiled from records championed by DJs including Gilles Peterson, Paul Murphy and Patrick Forge, these tracks—such as Alive!’s ‘Skindo Le Le’, Doug Richardson’s ‘Salsa Mama’, Carlos Franzetti’s ‘Cocoa Funk’ and Emilio Santiago’s ‘Bananeira’—circulated through a tight-knit scene before gaining wider recognition.

What began as a snapshot of a local movement went on to shape a global appetite for jazz-adjacent dance music, influencing later generations including Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia and Ezra Collective. A key document of a scene that continues to resonate.