Walter Gibbons - Jungle Music

Walter Gibbons remains one of the most important and unheralded DJ / remixers in New York dance music history, a pioneer of reel to reel edits and the art of the remix and a tangible link between early hip hop and disco through his quickfire turntable skills developed during the mid-‘70s.

Gibbons would become a prolific remixer for Salsoul and developed a style his contemporaries called ‘Jungle Music’, a raw, uncompromising approach to DJ-ing and mixing which often extended tracks to 10 minutes plus with tribal percussion breaks and off-the-cuff, unexpected production touches. This compilation focuses on some of the more adventurous and ground-breaking mixes that Gibbons produced during the disco era including a freeform treatment of Dinosaur L’s ‘Go Bang’, Paradise Garage favourite ‘You Are My Love’ by Sandy Mercer and underground disco rarity, ‘I’ve Been Searching’ by Arts & Craft.

Tracklist:

CD 1

1. JAKKI – SUN… SUN… SUN… (Walter Gibbons Original 12” Edit)

2. DOUBLE EXPOSURE – TEN PERCENT (Walter Gibbons 12“ mix)

3. TC JAMES & THE FIST O’FUNK ORCHESTRA – GET UP ON YOUR FEET (Keep On Dancin') (Walter Gibbons mix)

4. GLADYS KNIGHT – IT’S A BETTER THAN GOOD TIME (Walter Gibbons 12” mix)

5. SALSOUL ORCHESTRA – MAGIC BIRD OF FIRE (Fire Bird Suite)

6. SANDY MERCER – YOU ARE MY LOVE (12" version)

7. BETTYE LAVETTE – DOIN’ THE BEST THAT I CAN (Walter Gibbons 12“ mix)

CD 2

1. DINOSAUR L – GO BANG (Walter Gibbons unreleased mix)

2. STRAFE – SET IT OFF (Walter Gibbons 12” mix)