Originally released on 12-inch in 2003 as the B-side to Jazztronik’s ‘Dance With Me’, the track became a cult favourite within the jazz, broken beat and dance music continuum, helping to bridge the worlds of Japanese nu jazz and the bruk scene emerging from West London in the early noughties.
Led by Japanese pianist, composer and arranger Ryota Nozaki, Jazztronik is a fluid music project without a fixed lineup. Nozaki’s musical vision moves freely between classical, jazz and club music, and has seen him compose for film and television as well as produce for a wide range of artists. Jazztronik’s music has found an audience far beyond Japan, with Nozaki continuing to perform both as a DJ and with his live band across Japan, Europe, the U.S. and Asia.
While coming from the other side of the world, Samurai seemed to anticipate, and slot seamlessly into, the musical language developing around West London’s Co-op nights and the emerging bruk scene. With its dub sirens, loose rhythmic feel and jazz-inflected musicianship, it demonstrates how new musical movements can emerge through unexpected connections: outlier records from different places suddenly speaking the same language.
Brownswood Remix Editions 010 revisits that connection, with new edits that re-boot a classic without losing what made the original so special. The remixes bring Samurai back into focus as a contemporary club record, while underlining just how forward-thinking Nozaki’s original composition and production were.
Pre order and listen here.
