Norman Jay MBE

Nor­man Jay MBE is unques­tion­ably one of most respect­ed and pop­u­lar DJs in the world today. Born in Not­ting Hill, Jay played his first gig aged 8 at a 10th birth­day par­ty. Influ­enced by his father’s record col­lec­tion of blue beat, ska and jazz, by the late 1970s he was con­sid­ered an emerg­ing author­i­ty on con­tem­po­rary Afro-Amer­i­can music includ­ing funk, dis­co, soul and jazz fusion

 

Dur­ing a series of late-70s trips to New York, vis­it­ing fam­i­ly, Nor­man was inspired by the city’s unique and vibrant club scene, and on his return to the UK teamed up with his broth­er, Joey, to build the Good Times Sound Sys­tem, play­ing funk, soul and dis­co at Not­ting Hill Car­ni­val. Cement­ing his rep­u­ta­tion as co-founder of, and prime selec­tor on, the then Lon­don pirate radio sta­tion KISSFM. Jay orig­i­nal­ly coined the term, and sub­se­quent­ly fos­tered the emerg­ing ?‘Rare Groove’ scene, fill­ing the air­waves and many ware­house par­ties under his Shake and Fin­ger­pop guis­es, with the best in 70s & 80s grooves and nascent house cuts. Push­ing the bound­aries of the UK’s emerg­ing club cul­ture he went on to co-found the first ?‘Par­adise Garage’ style club in Britain – ?‘High On Hope’, and, along­side kin­dred spir­it Gilles Peter­son, Nor­man estab­lished the Talkin’ Loud label, spear­head­ing the Acid Jazz scene.