The album liner notes describe Black Feeling as “a rhythmic feeling, a soulful feeling”, but the project covers a diverse mix of genres, from deep funk to Latin jazz. The three-volume series sees Ferguson re-working a number of carefully chosen originals, ranging from the obscure to the renowned, from around the globe to around the corner. The first Black Feeling album was released on UK label Freestyle Records in 2007, with the third instalment emerging last year to critical acclaim. As for the inspiration behind the project, Ferguson had a few different motivations.
“A bunch of us are making music in the world of funk, soul, jazz and Latin with that kind of fusion which we cover on the records,” he says. “There’s this amazing canon of work out there, and I’ve picked some of my favourite tunes in those genres and I wanted to reverse engineer them to find out how they worked and what made them tick. Making an album of cover versions was just a great way to get inside these tunes and take the arrangements apart – work out what made them so great.”
From a DJ perspective, Ferguson says some of the original recordings can be difficult to spin in a club setting because they either sound a little thin or have a solo that plays too long. “Not saying that they need to be fixed up,” he says, “but I guess [I’ve been] tailoring them for a modern dance floor just a little bit.”
Given Ferguson’s passionate interest in these genres, becoming intimately familiar with some of his favourite tunes was, of course, a lot of fun. And the fun grows when it’s shared. “I love this music,” he says. “I want to expose more people to it.”
While the album artwork makes the records look like ’60s rarities that you’d find in a loaded second-hand store, the Black Feeling albums were all recorded at John Castle’s studio, The Shed, which is tucked away in his parents’ backyard in Melbourne’s Eastern suburbs. “It’s where all The Bamboos’ records are made and where most of the records I’ve worked on have been recorded,” Ferguson says.
Some of Melbourne’s top funk and soul talent played on the three volumes, including members of The Putbacks, a band that Ferguson claims to have “one of the best rhythm sections in the country, if not the best for my money”. Hiatus Kaiyote’s Simon Mavin, who was previously a member of The Bamboos, played on the second volume; while Ben Grayson, one of the original members of The Bamboos, plays keys on the third volume. “And also a great keyboard player named Sam Keevers, who’s been a legend of the local jazz scene for quite some time.”
Grayson will join The Putbacks’ Mick Meagher (bass) and Rory McDougall (drums) in the lineup for the upcoming gig. “And some of the horn players from The Bamboos will be there as well, so it should be good fun.”
The gig goes down at Revolver Upstairs. Ferguson wanted to steer away from traditional jazz venues, given the Black Feeling tracks are suited to a dance club environment. “It’s great we can do it at Revolver,” he says. “Some of the very first Bamboos gigs were at Revolver, and some of my first ever DJ gigs way back in the day were at Revolver so it feels like a spiritual home to a degree, it’s going to be really fun to go back.”
BY KAYE BLUM
