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Dutch producer Jamez has had a hand in more good records than most of us have had hot dinners. Apart from the by-no-means trifling matter of co-producing my favourite ever house record – 51 Days’ ‘Paper Moon’ – he’s also been at the birth of the Trancesetters, the splendidly-named Tata Box Inhibitors, P.I.M.P., Loophole, Amfibian, Mindfunk and an ever-expanding list of inventively-spelt production credits. You’d wonder, looking at the fellow’s discography, whether he ever got any kip (we’ve been assured by his family that he does).
Jamez, for those that haven’t been paying attention, was part of a Dutch triumvirate – the other two being Dobre and DJ Zki – that helped transform European house music in the early 90s. Working closely with Dutch outfit Touché Records, they produced a series of consistently great singles of wildly differing styles ranging from the jazzy (Jamshed), deep (51 Days) and the acclaimed harder style of Tata Box Inhibitors and Trancesetters. While most UK DJs looked to the US for new records, oddly, lots of American DJs – Danny Tenaglia being a particular fan – championed this new European style (Underworld’s Darren Emerson was also an early supporter of Touché’s releases).
Like many a young European, Jamez was turned on to dance music via the burgeoning rap scene of the eighties, before hooking up with Dobre who, as luck would have it, had a small home-studio. Experiments in dance ensued. A meeting with DJ Zki at a radio station completed the Three Musketeers’ line-up. Early releases came out through fellow countryman Robin ‘Jaydee’ Albers’ First Impressions label, but it was through Touché Records – started with Dobre – that Jamez and his cohorts gained international recognition.
Both 51 Days’ mournful ‘Paper Moon’ and Trancesetters’ heavy-hitting ‘The Search’ were massive New York club hits. Plenty of others were staples in DJs’ boxes around the world, probably because Jamez has mastered the art of syncopated and punchy beats, mellifluous keyboards and catchy hooks. Soulful dance music, in other words. As a remixer, Jamez is no slouch, either, having turned in superb mixes of Paperclip People’s ‘The Climax’, X-Press 2’s strident ‘The Sound’ and a stunning rerub of Der Dritte Raum’s ‘Alienoid’, transforming it into a hypnotically textural house cut.
So what are we to expect of ‘Dreamchasing’? High-end bespoke house. Beautifully crafted aural tone poems. Guaranteed floor fillers. Without wishing to offer favourites, may we draw your attention to ‘Dreamchaser’ and ‘Testpilot’, both deep-as-the-Pacific house cuts in the classic Jamez house-style, while the ethereal vocal delivery of the splendidly-named Sir Jon of Lemonsoul on ‘Energy Of Life’ shows a more considered approach to his chosen métier. Yet again, Jamez has managed to near impossible: to make house that is fierce and gentle, visceral and melodic, throwaway and redemptive. He really is a clever fellow and the sooner the world realises this, the better it will be for all concerned.
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