CHARLES WEBSTER & THE SOUTH AFRICAN CONNECTION - From The Hill (2 x Gatefold LP)

From The Hill

Allan Nicoll, aka Kid Fonque, and Charles Webster on how they brought together the cream of the South African Jazz, Soul, 3 Step & Deep House scene for a unique album.

“In 1997 when ‘Better Day’ by Presence came out, it was a hit in South Africa,” says Charles Webster, recalling how his decades-long love affair with the South African house scene began.

A slew of 00s remixes would not only cement Webster’s position at the heart of South Africa’s house scene, but arguably create a blueprint for the nation’s own take on the genre. “The sound was bassy and soulful, and that's a reasonable description of what South Africans like here,” muses Charles, now resident in Cape Town.
“If you play his remix of ‘Cafe de Flore’ (by Dr Rockit) even now at any venue in South Africa, it will erupt,” notes Stay True Sounds founder Allan Nicoll, all-round SA scene polymath.

One of this project’s collaborators, WAPO Jije, concurs: “After this tune, a whole new world rose for me to go into producing deep house music.” For FKA MASH, the Webster re-rub of the Michelle Cleis song ‘La Mezcla’ “kickstarted it. My fascination with his work grew even more each time I saw...  more