Jaymz Nylon is regarded as the progenitor of afro-tech, a spiritual fusion of African, Latin, and jazz rhythms within a modern club context. In 2012, this veteran producer and DJ — who has been releasing records for over two decades — moved from New York to Seattle and quickly established himself as a tireless champion of sophisticated house music in the Northwest with his Passage nights at the Seattle clubs Electric Tea Garden (RIP) and Kremwerk.
For Nylon's Innerflight Music debut, the label and artist have augmented the similarly titled “Inner Flight” with four varied remixes. The original features The Mystic Vibes (a local vibraphone virtuoso) and finds Nylon combining the spiritual with the physical in a work that's a paragon of earthy, celestial house music. It features Nylon's deadpan baritone intonation, recited as if in a hypnotic state: “This is a journey / of loving and learning / This is an inner flight / come on and take a ride / to a place where you can fly.” The transcendent nature of the lyrics is mirrored by the plush keyboard and vibraphone penumbras hovering over the casually bustling rhythmic foundation, all of which are more interesting and organic in essence than your usual house productions. Nylon's own Afrotech Reshape adds shakers, emphasizes hand percussion, and brings to the fore the serpentine melody, which elevates the track to even more sublime heights than his initial template.
As the first remix offered, Montana DJ / producer Kris Moon beefs up the bass and revamps the no-nonsense, hip-smacking four-on-the-floor rhythm into something you might have heard in an early-'90s Detroit techno classic. As is typical with anything Moon touches, the aura is deep, trippy, and cerebral. Joe Bellingham's Reimagined Mix muscles up the kick and reduces the vocal to a few percussive tics, ramping up “Inner Flight” to a smoothly propulsive floor-filler in the process. Veteran Seattle producer Bob Hanssen (of duo Jacob London) offers the most radical transformation here, bringing in church bell tones and upward-spiraling synth arpeggios while making Nylon's voice sound omnipresent. Hanssen has almost totally eradicated the rhythm, repurposing the track for a swirling, eventful house-of-worship experience.
Jaymz Nylon, The Mystic Vibes, and company combine to create an inimitable sound listeners will be hard pressed to find anything else like -- something for more daring and creative souls.
Pezzner - "This has to be one of my favorite Innerflight Releases yet. Jaymz is a visionary, Hanssen flipped the script blissfully as expected, and I'll definitely be supporting Joe Bellingham's version in the clubs. Quality."
Terry Francis - "Joe Bellingham's mix for me."
Daniel Bortz (Suol / Pastamusik) - "Cool one."
Satoshi Fumi - "Love the percussion in this."
Justin Harris (Music For Freaks) - "Joe Bellingham's mix is great."
Alvaro Hylander (DeepWit Recordings) - "The Kris Moon version does it for me … lovely release."
Bill Brewster (DJHistory) - "I really like the original and the other Jaymz Nylon mix. Both are good and very useable."
Hippie Torrales - "Nice!"
Alkalino (Estimativa / Audaz Recordings) - "I love the original, and will try out the remixes."
Al Bradley (3am Recordings) - "Some serious percussive vibes right here … I'm digging the original, Joe Bellingham's mix, and -- in particular -- Jaymz's Afrotech version."
Jeff Berger (Dope Den / Fr33dom People) - "I'm digging the dreamscape of Kris Moon's remix … some chunky ankles dancing around in there!"
Distant People (Foliage / Seamless) - "Great drum work on this … quality summer feel."
Simon Kirk (Stag Beetle Radio Show) - "Simply outstanding … this one's straight into my top ten and I will be hammering it. Well done on a beautiful release."
Available now from Beatport, Juno Download, and iTunes.