This Funk Jazz mix leans hard into the groove, moving between modern jazz-funk burners, deep-pocket classics, and band-driven jams where feel is everything. Tight rhythm sections, loose nimble fingers, letting forth musical consciousness. New cuts sit beside genre classics - let your flow go and dig what’s going on.

PLAYLIST

Skinny Hightower & Alex Parchment - Red Lights

Scary Goldings - Larry Pockets

Sam Fribush & Ari Teitel & Adam Deitch - Chester

Ari Joshua & Grant Schroff & Delvon Lamarr & Skerik - Audio Bicycle Day

Ghost-Note & Eric Gales - Grandma’s Curtains

Nick Andre & Jazz Mafia - Concave

Herbie Hancock - Chameleon

Sam Fribush & Charlie Hunter & Calvin Napper - Ok Boomer

Brooklyn Funk Essentials & Anna Brooks & Iwan VanHetten - Miss Mess

Redtenbacher’s Funkestra & Tucker Antell - Wiggles

Zbonics & Melvin Sparks & Karl Denson - Soul Good

George Duke - Au Right

The Greyboy Allstars & Fred Wesley - Soul Dream

Aram Scaram began his DJ journey in Toronto’s late-90s underground, spinning at house parties and one-off club events before landing weekly residencies at the beloved lounges Ciao Eddie and Alto Basso. It was at Ciao Eddie where he met Sassa’le, founder of the influential Version Xcursion radio show on CKLN 88.1 FM — a connection that would shape the next chapter of his career.

Scaram soon joined Version Xcursion as co-host and co-producer, helping transform the show into a staple of Toronto’s music landscape. Their weekly broadcasts championed dub, downtempo, trip-hop, reggae, and emerging Canadian talent, establishing the program as a go-to platform for genre-bending sounds.

Over the years, Scaram has brought his signature style to major stages, including the Du Maurier Jazz Festival, the first Virgin Festival on the Toronto Islands (2006), and an opening slot for Massive Attack at The Carlu. He also founded Dub & Beyond, a hugely popular monthly club night at Andy Poolhall, broadcast live-to-air on CKLN 88.1 FM. Running for seven and a half years, it became a cornerstone of the city’s dub and bass culture. His international appearances include performing at the Shatter The Hotel release event in London and playing the legendary Dub Chamber party at OT301 in Amsterdam.

As a producer with Version Xcursion, Scaram released two full-length albums and three singles, including the cult classic Moments featuring Treson — widely regarded by tastemakers as one of Canada’s standout tracks of the early 2000s.

In 2010, he launched his solo project Citizen Sound, releasing a full-length album that featured the award-winning single Reggae Is Her Name with Blessed, which earned the Canadian Reggae Music Award for Best Male Single. A second Citizen Sound album followed in 2014, along with numerous singles and EPs. Throughout his production career, he has collaborated with many of Canada’s premier reggae and dub artists, including Ammoye, Blessed, Chester Miller, Treson, Dubmatix, and Prince Blanco.

After a 14-year break from radio, Scaram returned in 2025 with Sound So Nice, co-hosted with Eddie Go Boom on CFRU 93.3 FM in Guelph, Ontario. The weekly show explores the deep roots of sound system culture — from Jamaica’s foundational influence to its global evolution — guiding listeners through reggae, dub, electronic, drum & bass, house, afrobeats, downtempo, and beyond. Driven by an electrifying musical selection, the show blends minimal commentary with occasional interviews featuring artists, producers, and organizers shaping today’s scene.

Links:

https://www.instagram.com/citizensoundmusic

https://www.instagram.com/soundsoniceradio

https://www.mixcloud.com/scaram/

https://m.soundcloud.com/aramscaram

Thievery Corporation - Waiting Too Long feat. Notch

Stephen Marley - Don’t Let Me Down

Salmonella Dub - Rhythm & Pattern

The Nomad - Open Your Eyes

Boztown - Instant Playa

Boogie Belgique - Every Time

Flowering Inferno & Quantic - Make Dub Not War

Gregory Isaacs - Number One

Prince Fattty - Roof Over My Dub feat. Little Roy

Sugar Minott - Rockers Master

Cornell Campbell - Boxing Around

Augustus Pablo - Rockers Magic

John Holt - Ali Baba

Keznamdi - Pressure

Asa - Jailer

Little Simz - Point and Kill feat. Obongjayer

Chronixx - Keep On Rising

Bunny Rugs - Rumours feat. Sly & Robbie

Quakers - Approach with Caution feat. Sampa The Great

Super Beagle - Dust A Sound Boy

Yeza & Rorystonelove - Road Runner

Lauryn Hill - So Much Things To Say

Bob Marley - Roots Rock Reggae feat Steven Tyler & Joe Perry

De Lata - Breathe

Major Lazer - Can’t Stop Now feat. Mr. Vegas & Jovi Rockwell

Jada Kingdom - Budum

DJ Vadim, Kathrin deBoer & Belleruche - Black Is The Night Pt. 3

Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley - Hey Girl feat. Stephen Marley

Red Astaire - Dum Dum

A Tribe Called Quest - Rock Rock Y’all feat. Punchline, Wordsworth, Jane Doe & Mos Def

Charles Wright & The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band - What Can You Bring Me

Going back to a period in time in the 90s that seemed short-lived once it hit the mainstream media - Electronica / Big Beat. However you categorise it, it fused aggressive drums, breaks, dance, rave, and other genres to create something fresh.

Leftfield – Inspection (Check One) – Remastered

Death In Vegas – Dirt

Bomb The Bass; Justin Warfield – Bug Powder Dust

Fatboy Slim – The Rockafeller Skank

Leftfield; Afrika Bambaataa – Afrika Shox

The Prodigy – Breathe

Filter; The Crystal Method – (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do – 2009 Remastered Version

Timo Maas – To Get Down

Basement Jaxx – Where’s Your Head At

Propellerheads – Spybreak!

The Chemical Brothers – Block Rockin’ Beats

Asian Dub Foundation – Fortress Europe

Underworld – Cowgirl – Remastered

A few years back, my dad and I had a radio show called “Groove Radio” on the local University Radio Station, playing funk, some hip-hop, gospel, soul, etc.

That show was picked up at Jazz FM here a few years later. This was right at the start of COVID on a Tuesday night, and we grew the listener base from a couple of thousand to 30000+ in just over a year. COVID was one factor, but the other was the music and artists we were selecting. We’d each bring in our tracks and rinse them out, tune-fi-tune styles. The challenge was that we needed music enough to fill 3 hours every week. This is where we discovered an incredible pool of young talent creating, fusing, and releasing wonderful music.

For this mix, I dove into a selection of artists that bring old school funk and hip-hop together into modern times - New Funk, Modern Funk, however you describe it, FUNK is in each one of these tunes.

The New Mastersounds – Lack Of Afro – Idle Time (Lack of Afro Remix)

Orgone – The Only One

The Dap-Kings – Nervous Like Me

The Tao Of Groove – Honeybee Blues

Lettuce – Mt. Crushmore

Ikebe Shakedown – The Hold Up

The Budos Band – Budos Rising

Pacific Rhythm Combo – Lance Ferguson – Honky Tonk Popcorn

Mr President – Left and Right

Breakestra – Dark Clouds Rain Soul (Dub)

Polyrhythmics – Yeti, Set, Go

Lack Of Afro – One for the Trouble

Big Boss Man – Sea Groove

El Michels Affair – Uzi (Pinky Ring)

Speedometer – Rubberneck

A roots-and-dub midweek mix for your ears.

Junior Murvin & Trinity – Time Stiff / Time So Rough

Dandelion & The Drop – Bus Gun

Total Hip Replacement & Dubmatix – The Door (Dubmatix Dub)

Bunny Wailer – Dream Land

Mungo’s Hi Fi & Eva Lazarus – Amsterdam (Flight Mode Mix)

Skinshape & The Horus All Stars – The River Effra

Steel Pulse – Your House

Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett – Bide Dub

Roots Makers & Lyndon John X – Giving Up My Dub

Ras Teo, Ashanti Selah & Zion I Kings – Yanks and Ises Dub

Lone Ark & Roberto Sanchez – Rowing Boat

Alpha Blondy – Jerusalem

Wailing Souls – Jah Give Us Life

Ewan ‘Ian’ Gardiner – Father’s Call

Winston Reedy – Drifter

Today I bring in a long-time brother-in-dub - Andrew (aka Eccodek). We’ve shared stages and music for almost 20 years now. I asked him to create the mix for today, and knowing his musical inspiration, it’s a good one.

Andrew McPherson is a 2-time Juno Award nominee and 2-time Canadian Music Award winner, releasing a total of 23 albums under 4 distinct musical identities - global-dub fusionists Eccodek, ambient-classical Peppermoth, funk/soul groove merchants Sonova and singer/songwriter.

Andrew has also collaborated and remixed a huge array of artists that include Vieux Farka Touré, Jane Siberry, Desert Dwellers, Kiran Ahluwalia, Philosopher Kings, Lenka Lichtenberg, Dubmatix, The McDades, Jaffa Road, Dub Colossus, MC Yogi, Delhi 2 Dublin, Stephen Fearing, Delia Derbyshire Appreciation Society, Kevin Breit and many more. His work has appeared on distinguished labels like Six Degrees Records, Real World Records, Buddha Bar, White Swan/ Black Swan, The Ambient Zone, National Geographic, EMI and Sony Music.

Andrew operates a full-service recording studio, The Monastereo, favouring a hybrid analogue/ digital recording and mixing approach, at the centre of which is his beloved 40-year-old Sony MCI JH618 mixing console.

Sonova - Track the groove (Eccodek’s Groovinator Remix)

Sherwood and Pinch- Different eyes

Chris Bottomley - Smoke a big patty

Tinariwen - Oualahila Ar Tesninam (Transglobal Underground Remix)

Eccodek - My primitive heart (feat. MC Yogi)

Lightning Head - Superfunky bird

Sonova - Sonova System

DJ Vadim - Hey hey hey

Soul2Soul - Fairplay

Count Basic - Gotta jazz (Richard Dorfmeister Remix)

Eccodek - Voices have eyes (Dubmatix Remix)

Mexican Institute of Sound - Microfono (Nickodemus Remix)

Tosca - Rondo Acapricio

Dr. Israel - Sensemilia

Check out Eccodek on Bandcamp / Instagram

https://www.andrewmcpherson.ca/

https://eccodek.bandcamp.com/music

https://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/sonova-2/

https://www.sixdegreesrecords.com/peppermoth/

Beastie Boys’ Anthology: Sounds of Science, Michael Diamond (Mike D) says:

“We had all been influenced by Lee Perry’s productions. We were into how on reggae recordings there would often be a ‘dub version’ on the b-side of a single, a practice that got co-opted by a few punk and early hip-hop singles as well.”

Who knew?

When their debut “License To Ill” was released in 1986, almost 40 years ago - it was fresh and had a great sense of humour, playfullness that on the surface could be disregarded as white-boy rap, but if you took a close listen you’ll notice the attention to detail in the music - the use of sampling, 808 Drum Machine, experimentation, mixing and overall production - this was groundbreaking.

The lads and Rick Ruben had crafted something unique that had not been done before. In 1985, it was Run-DMC, Schoolly D, and LL Cool J, but by 1986, hip-hop had begun to transform, and part of that was due to this release. They’d pulled together all the elements of their musical inspirations, Run-DMC, WWF Wrestling (Rick Ruben is a known superfan of the sport), The Clash, Dub, Punk, along with a frat-boy, teenage FU attitude. They’d taken hip-hop to a level while still paying homage to those they’d learned from, borrowed from, sampled from and absorbed. Within the following year, you’d have more groundbreaking releases from Boogie Down Productions, Marley Marl & The Mighty Public Enemy.

On their 1998 album Hello Nasty, Lee Perry is on “Dr Lee, PhD. Perry’s fingerprints are evident: spring reverb, echo throws, and that cosmic feel only he could bring. They also collaborated with Mad Professor (the recording in question is the unreleased dub instrumental album that Mad Professor and the Beastie Boys made, presumably at some point between the releases of Ill Communication and Hello Nasty) from Beastiemania.com.

Dub has woven its magic thread throughout so many styles of music, not to mention launching entirely new genres via direct inspiration and use of dub techniques and sampling, that we shouldn’t be surprised to see that same link with the Beastie Boys.

Beastie Boys – So What’Cha Want

Beastie Boys – Sure Shot

Beastie Boys – Paul Revere

Beastie Boys – The New Style

Beastie Boys – Egg Man

Beastie Boys – Just A Test - Remastered 2009

Beastie Boys – Intergalactic - Remastered 2009

Beastie Boys – Unite - Remastered 2009

Beastie Boys – Jimmy James - Remastered 2009

Beastie Boys; Q-Tip; Mario Caldato Jr. – Get It Together - A.B.A. Remix

Beastie Boys – Ch-Check It Out

Beastie Boys – Shake Your Rump

Beastie Boys – Make Some Noise

Beastie Boys – The Skills To Pay The Bills - Remastered

Beastie Boys – Hold It Now, Hit It

Beastie Boys – Shadrach

Beastie Boys – Alive

Beastie Boys – Futterman’s Rule

Beastie Boys; Lee “Scratch” Perry – “Dr. Lee, PhD” - Remastered 2009

Certain artists bring a feeling of soulful upliftment and leave a mark on your musical heart - Jimmy Cliff is one; you sense a man smiling and embracing life. He’s navigated Jamaica’s musical evolution from the start, with 1962’s Hurricane Hattie, to the soundtrack that put him front and centre on a global stage in 1972. He’s continued to release beautiful music that speaks to our spiritual sides, and his legacy will live on for generations to come.

R.I.P. Jimmy. (1944-2025)

Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers in 1944, growing up in rural Somerton before moving to Kingston as a teenager to chase the fast-rising ska scene. He was writing songs before most kids his age finished schoolwork, and at just fourteen, he walked into Beverley’s Records and caught the attention of producer Leslie Kong. That meeting changed everything. Kong recorded Cliff’s first breakout song, “Hurricane Hattie,” which turned the young singer into a local star and opened the door to the bustling world of Kingston studios, sound systems, and emerging talent.

By the mid-1960s, Cliff had outgrown the island and pushed his music into London, where his sound found a new audience. The turning point came in 1969 with “Wonderful World, Beautiful People,” a UK Top 10 hit that introduced his voice and message to listeners far outside Jamaica. Songs like “Many Rivers to Cross” showed a different side of him - raw, vulnerable, and deeply soulful. Then came The Harder They Come in 1972. Cliff didn’t just star in the film; he carried its soundtrack with songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and the title track, helping reggae explode onto the global stage.

Jimmy Cliff passed away on November 24, 2025, at age 81, leaving behind one of reggae’s most influential legacies. His catalogue stretches from ska and rocksteady roots to crossover hits decades later, including “Reggae Night” and his 1993 revival of “I Can See Clearly Now.” For a one-hour tribute mix, you’ve got a whole arc to work with, early Kingston youth, global breakthrough, soundtrack legend, and the unmistakable voice that helped carry reggae to the world.

Jimmy Cliff – Hurricane Hattie

Jimmy Cliff – King of Kings

Jimmy Cliff – I’ve Been Dead 400 Years

Jimmy Cliff – Struggling Man

Jimmy Cliff – You Can Get It If You Really Want

Jimmy Cliff – Fundamental Reggay

Jimmy Cliff – Wonderful World, Beautiful People – Single Version

Jimmy Cliff – Let Your Yeah Be Yeah

Jimmy Cliff – My Ancestors

Jimmy Cliff – I’m No Immigrant

Jimmy Cliff – Oh Jamaica

Jimmy Cliff – Sufferin’ in the Land

Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come

Jimmy Cliff – Stand Up and Fight Back

Jimmy Cliff – Treat the Youths Right

Jimmy Cliff – Sooner or Later

Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come

Jimmy Cliff – Bongo Man

The link between jazz and what we now call reggae goes back 70+ years to the time of Count Basie and Duke Ellington’s big bands in the 1940s and ’50s, which were very popular in Jamaica. These records arrived through sailors, migrants, and sound-system operators like Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid, who travelled to the U.S. specifically to buy jazz and R&B 78s. The island absorbed these sounds and fused them with mento (Jamaica’s folk music), African rhythmic traditions, New Orleans R&B (Fats Domino, Rosco Gordon), and bits of Country and Gospel. Out of this blend came the foundation of what would eventually become ska.

Early ska bands felt like compact jazz big bands- horn sections front and centre, trading solos, swinging lines, and arrangements shaped by jazz harmony. The Skatalites were made up of jazz-trained musicians from the Alpha School of Music, including Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Roland Alphonso, Lester Sterling, and Jackie Mittoo. Players like Ernest Ranglin and Monty Alexander brought traditional jazz phrasing into their playing. If you listen to early ska, you hear bebop-style solos, ii–V–I chord movements, blue notes, horn riffs modelled after Ellington and Basie, and rhythm sections that mix jazz walking lines with a distinct upbeat “skank.”

The shift from jazz to ska was a natural evolution. Sound systems were growing in popularity, and access to new releases from the USA was limited to those who could travel there and purchase them, as mentioned with Dodd & Reid. Jazz and Jump Blues were beginning to disappear, and Sound System operators needed fresh music to keep people coming back, so they started looking to existing talent on the island.

The early days of Ska were recorded by musicians who took those elements and reshaped them into something uniquely Jamaican, emphasising the offbeat, simplifying the walking bass into a pulsing groove, and blending African-derived rhythms with American jazz techniques. This mixture created the dance-driven sound of ska, which later slowed into rocksteady and evolved into what we now call reggae.

For today’s mix, I explore a collection of jazz tracks I’ve always gravitated toward—those with a groove, that swing, and that carry some of the same energy that fed early Jamaican music. I focused on artists like Miles, Blakey, and Dizzy for this 90-minute session, and I hope you enjoy it.

Lee Morgan – The Sidewinder (Remastered 1999 / Rudy Van Gelder Edition)

Herbie Hancock – Cantaloupe Island (Remastered 1999 / Rudy Van Gelder Edition)

The Dave Brubeck Quartet – Take Five

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme, Pt. I – Acknowledgement

Miles Davis– So What (feat. John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley & Bill Evans)

Miles Davis – Milestones (feat. John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Red Garland, Paul Chambers & Philly Joe Jones)

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers – Moanin’

Dizzy Gillespie – Salt Peanuts

Charlie Parker – Ko Ko

Stan Getz – Wee (Allen’s Alley)

Art Blakey; Thelonious Monk – Rhythm-A-Ning

Max Roach – Tune-Up

Clifford Brown; Max Roach Quintet – Cherokee

There are so many artists and songs that pass through our ears, but rarely do we know who’s behind the music. The sounds we gravitate to, that we identify with, and that is part of what I try to do here on Bass Culture - pull back the curtain and find out who helped shape an album or entire generation - Gussie Clarke is one of those “wizards of oz” - a man who helped shape hit after hit, that still spin on turntables and sound systems today. His career has spanned decades, but for this mix, I’ve focused on his earlier productions from the 70s and early 80s, before the digital age of reggae took over.

Brief Overview of Gussie and his life

Augustus “Gussie” Clarke is one of reggae’s true architects, someone who moved effortlessly from roots and early deejay culture into the digital era without ever losing clarity, musicality, or purpose. His story begins in a tiny dub-cutting room at 81½ Church Street, where he cut exclusive specials using a Treasure Isle lathe and quickly realized he could shape entire records if he controlled the rhythm, the vocal, and the final mix. Early productions like U-Roy & Errol Dunkley – The Higher The Mountain and album-defining moments such as Big Youth – Screaming Target and Gussie Presenting I-Roy showed how he could turn raw sound system energy into cohesive, groundbreaking albums.

Through the 1970s, he built a warm, balanced catalogue with artists like Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Leroy Smart, Hortense Ellis and Roman Stewart, deep lovers cuts, roots anthems and rhythm tracks that felt soulful and timeless. Clarke wasn’t just making music; he was building infrastructure through publishing, label management and distribution, which gave him complete creative control and the freedom to reinvest in better equipment and bigger ideas. By the early 80s, he was pushing roots harmony groups like The Mighty Diamonds into modern territory, updating arrangements with drum machines and synth bass while keeping the music's heart intact.

U-Roy; Big Youth – The Higher The Mountain

Leroy Smart; Gussie Clarke – Mixed Up

Gussie Clarke – Funny Feeling

Augustus Pablo – Classical Illusion (12” Version)

Jacob Miller – Girl Don’t Come

I-Roy; Gussie Clarke – Coxone Affair (2025 Remaster)

Gussie Clarke – One Way

Tommy McCook – The Right Track

Delroy Wilson – How Can I Love Someone

Big Youth – Screaming Target

Dennis Brown – Funny Feeling

Trinity – Love The Daughter

Roman Stewart – Try Me

Mikey Dread – Proud to Be Black

Mighty Diamonds – Pass the Kouchie

Gregory Isaacs – My Time