Headline, August20, 2013

''' 4HERO '''

The low streets of Dollis Hills in suburban north-west London aren't the most obvious location for a studio that's produced some of the most innovative urban British music of the last 10 years, -even more. But then, as the movers and shakers go, 4hero are pretty low-key themselves  -shy even. Luckily to break the ice, Notebook has bought Dego  -the slightly more voluble half of the duo-  a CD of the new album by little-known veteran US jazz singer Andy Bey. ''Bad boy!'' he enthuses through a broad grin. ''His voice is wicked!''

4hero's last album, Two Pages, first for Talkin Loud, was actually the third of their career. When it was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. it brought them, belatedly, into the public eye just as drum'n'bass seemed to be floundering. Reinforced, the drum'n'bass label Dego and partner Mark formed back in 1989, proved to be a truly pioneering force. But Two Pages seemed to be searching for (and finding) ways forward, incorporating jazz, folk and soul influenes, as well as live instruments and the band's trademark lush orchestration.

''''Reinforced is like a great old uncle,'' Dego laughs,''it does what it does as a drum'n'bass label. It's great, but our sound is more than just that, and I found myself turning down tracks. It was getting silly.''

Hence the formation of 2000Black, a new label designed to foster new talent. ''I've done it to try and change things,'' Dego continues, conscious that Talkin' Loud is perhaps the only UK label to nurture black music, ''especially black progressive music. People look to America. They want the UK version of Wu-Tang Clan, the UK version of so-and-so. There's our own sound here, you know? Maybe they don't have the guts to actually go in and support artists over here.

I don't just mean sign them and put out five albums and hope that by the forth of one they've started to do something.''

Of course, since the release of Two Pages, drum'n'bass has ceased to be latest fad. Its most visible star, 4hero's old mate Goldie, has been dropped, UK garage has come and almost gone. Dego lays much of the blame on the door of the media: ''Everybody's needing something new all the time. You know; ''We're still not writing about that.''

4hero's new album, Creating Patterns, is the natural development from Two Pages.''There's some things on the album that I consider drum'n'bass,'' avers Mark, the duo's quieter partner,'' but it is how drum'n'bass has progressed, how we've made it progress.'' Actually it's a sublime, heady mix of folk, soul, jazz and electro. Along with rapper Roots Manuva's new album, it's one of the first genuine classic British music has produced in years. Much of its warmth and scope derives from a stunning series of vocal cameos which, fittingly, are more the product of chance and 4hero's extended family than an A&R man's Filofax.

''It was natural,'' Diego confirms. Philly soul poet Ursula Rucker, he says, ''is like a family, so we are goona do that.'' Alma Horton is a friend who'd been a backing singer for Philly queen of nu-soul Jill Scott, whose deliciously lazy ''Another Day'' has to be an anthem in the making. Then there's a long-time hero, soul jazz legend Terry Callier, who seems to have finally found the perfect collaborators. ''He turned up here with his guitar and started writing songs,'' Mark remembers, still visibly awed.''It was mad. He'd met Dego at some jazz festival in San Francisco, gave him his number. and called. I thought it was joke at first. We wanted to bring him into the land of electronic madness but keep in touch with his sound.''

Fashions come and go. Largely immune to them, two unassuming men called 4hero will always be making music. In the widest sense, of course, their music is probably ''soul'' a much misused term that seems to fit very snugly here.  ''After all is said and done,'' says Dego, gesturing around the ramshackle studio, where a dusty MOBO award nestles on a high self among random clutter,''this is where we're meant to be. That whole dance culture, Dj-idol, pop-personally type thing just doesn't appeal. We're in this because we love making music. That's it.''

With respectful dedication to all the Students, Professors, and Teachers of Burma. See Ya all on the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless : '' A World Beyond Your Imagination ''

Good Night & God Bless!

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless