Toasting French bassist Henri Texier on his 80th birthday

Raising a glass to jazz bassist Henri Texier on his 80th with a few performances and three tracks from his classic Varech LP.

Happy Birthday Henri Texier!

Cheers to French bass boss Henri Texier on his birthday! Here are a couple of stellar performances from his classic Varech album.

Happy Birthday Daniel Humair!

Celebrating the birthday of musician and painter Daniel Humair with an interview and a few stellar performances on drums. 

DJ Luke Una's É Soul Cultura comp moves beyond typical dancefloor jams

While offering few head-turning discoveries, Luke Una's slightly offbeat track selection admirably bucks club convention.  

Here's the scoop...

With some of the best DJs and selectors there is a certain mysterious sound or underlying feeling which unites the music they play, regardless of genre, year or tempo. Luke Una is a master of telling a story through music and this compilation is a perfect example of his musical alchemy in action. Featuring tracks from Yusef Lateef, Airto Moreira, Crooked Man, Henri Texier and many more, it is a collection of new, old, rare and under-discovered music from around the world, all united by Luke under the banner of “E-Soul Cultura”. 

It’s best described by Luke himself, who writes: “As the 5AM city sleeps and the strobe lights are slowly turned off, we gather on the wrong side of town in a transcendental journey alone together. We are the late night disenfranchised holding on in various after parties, flats, lofts, random kitchens and basements into the outer cosmos with É Soul Cultura. Music from exotic tear jerkers, Afro-spiritual jazz, cosmic Brazilian celestial grooves, machine street soul, dark horses, lost B-sides, £1 bargain-bin bombs, hidden gems, late night Italo dubbing, deep velvet N.Y.C garage, bass buggin sonic futurism, wrong speed 33BPM pitched up +8 new beat, majestic sunset strings, sweet vocals from heaven, no half steppin' jazz dancing in outer-space and odd numbers. Yes… magical moments, together, holding on in witness protection suburban cul-de-sacs and Castle Court flats. Cosmic É high, 3000ft above the city getting evangelical to murky, wonky timeless beautiful music. This thing of ours dreaming of better days. Fail we may, sail we must, the sun will come up again.”

Beginning his career as an original Sheffield house young blood in the mid 1980s, Luke’s move to Manchester and partnership with Justin Crawford saw the birth of Electric Chair, a cornerstone cult night in the UK underground club scene, and later Electric Elephant, a Croatian festival paying homage to their wild eclecticism from Balearic to Brazilian to E soul, house, disco and techno. Luke’s much loved, long running Homoelectric night and more recently Homobloc sell out festival for 10,000 souls has been at the forefront of Manchester’s LGBTQ cultural landscape. 

Luke’s Friday evening show on Worldwide FM has captured imaginations and has already become a cult four hour must-listen monthly journey with fans all over the world. Today Luke remains, as ever, at the forefront of a changing scene, pairing the momentous legacy of Manchester’s 80s and 90s scene with the delivery of what today’s club communities need to get down. 

Get a copy of Luke Una's new É Soul Cultura compilation via Bandcamp right here. Check out Yusef Lateef's performance of "Robot Man" – which is more entertaining that hearing the audio clip of the studio version – along with a few tunes from the collection followed by the track list and a recent interview with Daniel Dylan Wray for The Guardian below. 

Various Artists – Luke Una presents É Soul Cultura

1. Robson Jorge & Lincoln Olivetti – Eva 5:45

2. Chêne noir - Le Train 4:36

3. Metropolis – Every Time I See Him 4:02

4. The Brand New Heavies feat. N'Dea Davenport – Stay This Way (Lunar Dub) 5:26

5. Typesun - The P.L. (Extended Edit) 5:17

6. King Errisson - Space Queen 7:04

7. Yusef Lateef - Robot Man 6:35

8.  Henri Texier, Daniel Humair, François Jeanneau - Le Cyclope 4:47

9. Airto Moreira - O Galho Da Roseira 7:54

10. Francisco - Waché 6:07

11. Nar'Chiveol - Apocalypse Now Ho 4:42

12. On - Southern Freeez 8:03

13. Soylent Green - After All 6:24

14. Crooked Man - B&E 5:34

15. Michael J. Blood & Samizdat – Love Locked 8:52

LINKS
The Guardian DJ Luke Una: "With ADHD, life can be torturous. Music stops the noise"

One For The Weekend: Henri Texier

French bass boss Henri Texier breathes new life to the old standard "Besame Mucho" on his new trio album Heteroklite Lockdown.

Catch up on Henri Texier's essential early albums at Mr. Bongo right here.

Watch the Henri Texier Trio at La Maison de la Culture d'Amiens

Bassist Henri Texier is joined by saxophonist Sébastien Texier and drummer Gautier Garrigue for this concert from March 17th.

Henri Texier's most recent release is the quintet outing Chance released by Label Bleu in 2020.  

Watch Phil Woods with Daniel Humair & Henri Texier in Paris, 1969

Saxophonist Phil Woods was tearing it up with his European Rhythm Machine back in 1969. Here they are in a Paris studio.

Happy Birthday Henri Texier!

Celebrating the 76th birthday of French bass boss Henri Texier with "Cinecitta" off his Chance album and a performance of "Amir"

Whaddya mean you don't know Henri Texier

Mr. Bongo has thoughtfully reissued Henri Texier's classic Varech album on vinyl so you can enjoy "Les Là-bas"

Official re-issue of the insanely good 'Varech' album by French bass player Henri Texier, which was originally released on the Eurodisc label in 1977. Includes the awesome 'Les Là-bas' (listen below) famously remixed by Bonobo for Ninja Tune.

Henri Texier – Varech
A1. Les "Là-bas" / A2. Quand Le Blues S'en Ira / A3. L'éléphant / A4. Terre-Basse /
B1. Varech / B2. Mr Donald Cerise / B3. Angèle / B4. L'écluse / B5. L'ultime Danse

Happy Birthday Henri Texier!

Cheers to French bass boss Henri Texier on his 73rd birthday. Here's a classic jam off his Varech album.