Away from the dazzling lights of the superstar DJ arena we may find Jazzy M busy with a spot of house work, humming along to a Genesis tune or taking some downtime, lounging and getting dirty with some bad-ass hip hop. Yet, although Jazzy M may be akin with domesticity he is not your typical man about the house. Jazzy, in fact, bears the title of the “Godfather of House”. A label that adequately sums up his MASSIVE contribution to the house music genre over the last 25 years. He was, after all, the “young child growing up in London who became the first Brit to play house music”.

25 years down the track, Jazzy continues to be an influential force in the house genre keeping his sounds and creative process always new. It is not surprising considering Jazzy’s motivating forces are his “love and passion for the music”. As Jazzy says,

“The day that I don’t become excited by what I do and the music, is the day that my legs give way!”

It is easy to imagine that Jazzy M has not only witnessed some amazing moments in the last 25 years of dance music but also inspired some amazing moments . Jazzy recollects,

“One of them would be the first Ministry of Sound at the Dome. To see 15,000 people singing my song “Jazzin’ The Way You Know” was truly mind-blowing. But there are too many others to name. Playing my 8-hour birthday sets at Ministry was always awesome. With over 60 countries under my belt there are so many good experiences.”

Jazzy has seen the rise and expansion of house music in all its varied forms including its popularisation with the emergence of the super-club. Jazzy M was THERE on the opening night of Ministry of Sound in 1991, playing before Larry Levin and went on to remain a resident for seven year. Asked about being a part of the experience Jazzy had to say,

“I knew I was part of something special, and I told the owner at the time that they will have every single superstar DJ in the world play here. And I was right!......In the beginning it was very underground, very fashionable, very cool and very different. The commerciality of the brand has attracted a wider audience of all sorts of people – who are not necessarily all club-heads”.

What about the music? How did the super-club phenomenon affect the house Genre?

“Out of all the genres of House music, house itself has only bettered in quality. The music has withstood 10-15 years and now the quality has become second-to-none, some of the best house music ever is coming out now. The effect has seen a growth in quality but on the downside, the commerciality of house has led the bubble to burst in the UK. Now every child that comes out of school wants to become a DJ”.

Jazzy M’s achievements have expanded well beyond the success he has experienced with Ministry of Sound. This man is responsible for introducing thousands of people to house music with the first ever radio show in the UK dedicated to nothing but House music; ‘The Jackin’ Zone’ . The show ran for 10 years and sporned the career of ‘Maxi Jazz’, now of ‘Faithless’, who with Jazzy, made jingles for the show.

Jazzy also keeps some fairly respectable company. Over his 25 years in the industry, Jazzy has been connected to, collaborated with and been an inspiration for some of the biggest names in the industry. Names like Pete Tong, Paul Weller and The Style Council, Jimmy Sommerville, DC Lee, Orbital, Paul Oakenfold, Arthur Baker and Julian Jonah, to name a few.

We will continue to see the “Ambassador of House” mixing it up on the home front, getting loose with the best of them and generally inspiring some freeing of the joints with a good booty shaking. Jazzy elaborates,

“There is a possibility of me working with my friend CJ Mackintosh and perhaps Tim Deluxe. But my new label Oh-zone is taking up most of my time. Oh, and I have a band project coming up called ‘Erotic World’. Watch this space!”

If we are to expect anything, Jazzy informs us it is,

“Only the best! I feel that I have finally found out who I am and what my capabilities are on a personal front, but I am always furthering and bettering myself in these areas. Soundtracks and film scoring has become increasingly appealing to me, but Oh-zone recordings and a lot of new projects on the label is where I am concentrating my energies right now. Making people dance all over the globe is of course something I will continue to do where and whenever possible as it still excites me the same way it always has!”

And finally, what about us? With over 60 countries under your belt how does if feel to be finally coming down-under?

“All I can answer to that is, ‘at last’!! It’s one of the last great places for me to visit. The reason I have not made it over before is due to other commitments and the time it takes to get there! I have many listeners on my Internet radio show (see Ministry’s web-site for details) and I can vouch that there is a lot of passion and enthusiasm coming from the Ozzie front”.

Jazzy M will be playing the following cities and venues:

9 Aug – Sydney, Good Vibrations
12 Aug – Brisbane