MDR Selects, a series where we invite our favourite artists, record stores, labels and more to curate a playlist of songs that hold specific meaning to them. For this edition we welcome Tina Edwards & Charles Vaughan, two of the finest connoisseurs of, and leading authorities on, the current explosion of UK Jazz.
Tina Edwards is journalist, broadcaster and DJ who has developed a reputation as a renowned tastemaker. She has hosted Worldwide FM’s flagship show WW Daily and been involved with Balcony TV, London Live & Jazz Standards, often using her platform to champion female participation within jazz circles and the wider media industry as a whole. A recognised authority on all things jazz, Tina is a widely published author on the subject, through the likes of Supreme Standards (an editorial platform she co-founded and runs with Love Supreme Festival) and has accrued a quite frankly scary amount of knowledge that means her DJ sets are packed to the brim with the best emerging talent out there.
Charles Vaughan is no stranger to eclecticism, where anything from surging jazz & disco classics to thought provoking IDM & experimental sounds that refuse to be confined to the electronic music spectrum’s genre categories can be heard. Through his work with ‘On The Corner Records’ he was able to explore the meeting points of jazz and electronic music, which could be heard on his well respected Noods Radio show ‘inter / sect’. Charles has also released a number of his own productions on the likes of Birdland Records, that stylistically embody his eclectic approach to DJing.
For their MDR Selects, Tina & Charles have curated a storming playlist that gives listeners an insight of what to expect on their new show on Worldwide FM, “Universal Sanctuary”, and the tour of the same name which they are currently embarking on. As Tina explains “Universal Sanctuary is very much nestled in the intersection between jazz, electronic music and club culture. I played some of these tunes on our opening night of our UK tour, in Cambridge, and I remember the rapturous energy when M.I.A dropped with the broken-beat influenced jazz band Paper Tiger. We’re really excited to launch the new show on Worldwide FM; given the nature of the music we’re playing, it made perfect sense for us to tour first, exploring the biology of what we do, right there, on the dancefloor.”
For Charles, it offered the opportunity to “embody the spirit of ‘Universal Sanctuary'” with “a mix of tunes that I’ve really enjoyed preparing for the tour. I’ve got a mix of some heavier and more electronic influences, everything ranging from the cuban dubstep exploits of Mala to the 160bpm ferocity of Lone & Machinedrum. But I’ve also brought together some incredible acoustic rhythms from Cuba and SE London, as well as a historic and emotional selection from the late Aretha Franklin. All the selections presented have that jazz energy woven into their tapestries and exploring how they intersect with each other is at the heart of Universal Sanctuary for me.”
You can catch Tina & Charles for the Liverpool leg of their “Universal Sanctuary” tour at Wavertree Worldwide at Smithdown Social Club on Saturday 12th October.
|| TINA EDWARDS || CHARLES VAUGHAN ||