Brenda Russell - Way Back When (Dave Lee fka Joey Negro Extended Disco Mix)

Available now - https://www.zrecords.ltd.uk/new-releases

I see Brenda Russell as like a more soul/jazz rooted Carol King. She’s a proper song writer and though her work varies greatly, sometimes being quite pop with that west coast flavour I imagine all her songs were written sitting at a piano. I covered her sublime “In The Thick of It” with Angela Johnson and The Sunburst Band a few years back and “Way Back When” is from the same album, a favourite for a long time. Though its got a 4/4 beat and is around 120bpm the original is very light and not really a club record, so it was a question of subtly making it a little more heavy and dance floor friendly without loosing the original charm. Julian Crampton replayed the bass in a slightly more Chic-esque feels. I toyed with getting rid of Victor Feldman’s almost Supertramp like 8th piano and replying the same chords without the accents but decided to keep them as even though they dominate they are what makes the record quite unique sounding…maybe for a future remix