Skeewiff formed in Brighton in the mid 90’s and their retro take on breakbeat funk quickly saw them win underground acclaim as well as have a number of worldwide hits under their Shaft alias. They formed Jalapeno Records to remove the outside influence of record labels (they had signed their hits to Ministry of Sound and Universal) and Skeewiff moved in an ever more esoteric direction.
The boys now had complete control over their music and got to work with some of their heroes like the legendary keyboard player Alan Hawkshaw and the original funky drummer Clyde Stubblefield.
Skeewiff always idolised the greats of production music and in the mid 2000’s they left Jalapeno to form a new (and immediately successful) company to give a fresh take on the library music they loved – Pedigree Cuts.
Now the boys have returned to Jalapeno for a special album of updated cover versions of some of their very favourite tunes.
The first release from this series was a killer 7” featuring Spanish Flea –made famous by Herb Alpert and his Tijuana Brass Band and Exclusive Blend – one of the funkiest library jams ever made by the great Keith Mansfield.
The duo continued their rich vein of form with Amen Brother, a track steeped in legend. This musical masterpiece, boasting one of the most sampled breaks in history from The Winstons, has indelibly shaped the foundations of countless genres and played a pivotal role in the birth of modern electronic music.Now the boys drop the beast that is Misirlou, an eastern Mediterranean / Arabic influenced track that combines its ethnic roots with surf rock
Their take on The Cat is a homage to Blue Note’s Jimmy Smith, who’s known for popularising the use of the Hammond B3 organ, creating a link between Jazz and 1960’s Soul music, and inspiring a generation of organ players in the evolution of the modern jazz, funk and soul music which followed.
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