MySPace: www.myspace.com/nostalgia77
Nostalgia 77, aka Ben Lamdin, first burst onto the scene with his heavy, new funk based sound in 2002. His hard work and prolific creation process has led to the release of many outstandingly high quality albums in a relatively short amount of time, containing a diverse and varied fusion of styles and influences from more mellow, solemn, moody yet beautiful offerings to more upbeat, heavy funk, hip-hop based beats mixed with dusty old jazz, obscuro funk and psych bits and pieces. This driven sound spectrum of audio offerings led to the development into the full 2007 nu-jazz orchestrated release of ‘Everything Under The Sun’ in March 2007. This hard work ethic, gifted writing talent and dedication to his music contributed towards Ben winning the ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ award at the ‘Gilles Peterson BBC Worldwide Awards’ in 2006.
The success of this release led Ben to a style he describes as “a combination of soul and jazz composition with computer based production techniques”. Coming from producing hip hop style beats he had always heard snippets of jazz tracks he loved, so the fuller musical expression of actually making his own jazz music was inevitable.
His cover version of The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” with Alice Russell has also helped bring his “Jazz Jihad” mission to a wider audience. Aiming for an edgy sound whilst continuing to search for a more personal expression, Nostalgia 77’s influences include free and spiritual jazz as well as 60’s funk and soul and Afro sounds.
2008 saw the release of Nostalgia 77’s ‘One Offs, Remixes & B Sides’ album - an eclectic and stunning collection spanning jazz, hip hop, electronica, funk and more - which has gained dazzling reviews. A host of inspired collaborations on this double CD include guest vocals by eminent jazz diva Beth Rowley and remixes from the likes of Bonobo. Nostalgia 77 recorded a Maida Vale session for Gilles Peterson’s Radio 1 Worldwide show in May.
The latest project on the agenda for Nostalgia 77 is an intriguing collaboration with bona fide legends of contemporary jazz and avant-garde experimental music, Keith and Julie Tippett. Entitled ‘Nostalgia 77 Sessions featuring Keith And Julie Tippett’, the album (due out in March 2009) is a collection of beautiful original material that spans blues, jazz and soul music, threaded through with experimental flourishes, and represents a journey of musical discovery for all the artists involved.
Nostalgia 77 Octet
Hitting you with amazing live musicianship, alongside great (award winning!) song writing, Ben Lamdin brings his craftsmanship to the stage with a nine piece live band. The Nostalgia 77 Octet’s debut album ‘Sevens and Eights’ was recorded live at the Jazz Café at their second ever gig and includes six full length live jazz tracks and an 18 minutes of the critically acclaimed Nostalgia 77 track “The Hope Suite.”
Follow-up studio albums recorded in the Welsh valleys have received great reviews from dedicated Jazz fans and eclectic club DJs alike.
‘Borderlands’ was voted Jazz album of the year at the 2006 Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards whilst 2007’s ‘Weapons of Jazz Destruction’ is based on a long running joke about the power of jazz to fight the infidel and is a dark journey through rhythms and melodies from around the world.
The Nostalgia 77 Octet headlined Brighton’s Loop Festival in August, and played at the Jazz Café, London, in September.
Nostalgia 77 can be booked as a DJ or as the full live band.
