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VARIOUS A Tom Moulton Mix Soul Jazz ****

Male model, Billboard hack, jukebox salesman and music executive, Tom Moulton was an unlikely production pioneer. Yet it was Moulton's idea to extend the instrumental sections of disco tracks into lengthy, orchestral, symphonic suites, which was the genesis for the remix that no self-respecting dance track would be without today. While Moulton took many of his initial cues from Coxsone Dodd's Studio One set-up in Jamaica, it was summer trips to hedonistic gay resort Fire Island which led him to experiment with grandiose sweeps of sounds to keep dancers on the floor. In Moulton's hands, pop tunes became epic dramas that were literally bursting at the seams. Whether it was Grace Jones taking gritty robofunk strides on La Vie en Rose or the stunning treatment of MFSB's already lush Love Is the Message, a Moulton mix always had a grand sense of occasion about it. www.souljazzrecords.co.uk

Jim Carroll