About this Playlist
Sharing Soulful sounds from across the globe sent direct to the Hoof’s stables. Listen to ‘Where To Start With Oliver Belz’ playlist, featuring music wrote, performed, remixed and produced by Oliver.
Music selected by the Hoof.
The Bahama Soul Club are a Portuguese-based group whose unique blend of soul, jazz, funk, bossa nova, afro and Caribbean influences has firmly put them on the map of the black music scene as one of the most exciting contemporary outfits.The band led by Oliver Belz started in 2005 under the former name of The Juju Orchestra.
So what’s the difference between Bahama Soul Club and other Nu-Latin, Bossa, or whatever Jazz projects? Bahama Soul Club is better! Simply put, it’s an original combination of afrolicious Bossa-Jazz with 60s Soul and 70s Funk. The positive vibes and contagious rhythms transcend boundaries, language and race, for a timeless sound that nobody can resist!
One of the most beautiful surf spots in the southwestern Algarve is the beloved beach of Zavial. Not far from the recording studio of the Bahama Soul Club. Giant waves are given and the breathtaking pictures of the stunning wave riders are never out of your mind. ‘Surfing Zavial’ is the soundtrack to one of these intense surf sessions and narrates the magical co-play of surfers, waves, boards and sunshine. A driving Bossa Jazz with a daredevil surfing alto sax. A charged field of pure energy and chilled company. Close your eyes and you have the full scene in a flash. The song ‘Surfing Zavial’ is dedicated to a lax collective of cool surfer dudes at the beaches of the Algarve and the funny people around.
The Hoof caught up with Oliver for a chat afew months ago on the release of the new single ‘The Rooster Calls’ featuring the grande dame of soul, his beautiful neighbour from the other beach in the South-Western Algarve. Josephine Nightingale is one of those local legends, so thoroughly soulful, sincere, full of spirit and definitely unique. The track was written especially for her and even her first words are enough to captivate the listener until the end. A brass-heavy burner with a captivating drive based on a dry drum beat, soul inspired horns and rolling bass lines. A wonderfully confident release full of detail and heart. Josie grew up in Coventry and had the privilege of sharing her home with some of the best guys and girls like The Specials, Selecter, The Beat … A powerful time, a Cov kid from the ghost town. What a legacy.
Tell us about yourself and how you got into music.
I’ve been working in the music-cosmos for almost 50 years, and played drums since kindergarten. Then studied paintings and graphics during the 80s and worked as a drummer in jazz-rock, and soulbands.
In the 90’s I discovered my love for composition, sound engineering and music production and wrote ballet scores for several theaters. I also produced artists for major record companies and created big sound designs for show events at Volkswagen. Finally, I decided to bring all these experiences together and work only on my own kind of music.
I founded and produced “The Juju Orchestra” and later “The Bahama Soul Club” beside some others. These projects were quite successful and still are. To complete my musical cosmos, I started my own record company called Buyú-Records and a publishing agency.
How have you kept busy during the last year or so, any new projects on the go.
There is always a special magic in the neighborhood when sunny midday jams morph to sundown sessions to party-till-dawn skanks. We then just put those jams on tape. So, ten sunny love songs to oh, those sandy beaches! Hmm, let’s call it Sundub.
It’s an album recorded mainly with the local legends. To me personally it’s the most different album to all other productions before. Sure it’s based on Bahama Soul-ish reknown rhythm and sound with all the love to hidden details in arrangement and production. But this time I spotted more on some shuffling bits of Reggae, woven threads of 70s roots, lush arrangements, captivating hangout vibes.
To be honest, to develop Reggae music as an own artform was the most challenging task. But the combination of Reggae with Afrolicious Bossa-Soul and Nu-Jazz was pure satisfaction. That’s definitely my personal sound of the South Western Algarve.
What’s the inspiration behind the project.
Inspiration has always been in my life! The inspiration comes from within, the urgent need to be creative … But yes, I mean, what comes out in the end can be influenced by the surroundings. Living in the Algarve is a fully different lifestyle, and the music is certainly different from what I’ve written before. I think this album “SUNDUB SOCIETY” is affected by the blissful energies of the sun-drenched coast. The multicultural verve, the wave riders, spiritual seekers, rainbow healers, the mystic maidens and the dreadlocked beauties, …. and of course the funky smell of sandy flip flops.
Tell us about your writing and recording process, how has the album been put together.
The idea for ‘SUNDUB SOCIETY’ and the work on the songs were born from a vague idea after the release of “Bohemia After Dawn”, the last album on which a few artist friends from the Algarve had already contributed. Increasingly during the last production I became aware of the amazing complexity of local artists, talented individuals to be found performing all day and night in the bars and near the beaches.
I usually scan the world for standout singers with special voices to get them featured on my albums and there’s still a good bandwith of surpassing voices around the globe, but this time I wanted to show a commitment to this beloved colourful community of the Algarve!
These artists from the local neighborhood, quite literally across the lane, What a discovery! So I found my studio blessed with some serious vibes, the SUNDUB SOCIETY. My lovely family at the End Of The World with unique artists like Josephine Nightingale, Tiago Saga, Naomi Falcon, Cutty Wren, Hedvig Larsson, Maisha & The Chicks On Beer…
What is your 2023 looking like, what are your hopes and dreams, do you have any exciting plans, new releases, tours or gigs.
You know, it would take more than a couple of albums to bring these local Algarvian troubadours together. So there are a lots of exciting ideas for the future! So be aware!!
Can you give us a classic track, something that has inspired you or simply one you love and never get sick of listening to.
All through all my life it has been, it actually is and of course will stay forever: STEELY DAN !! I grew up with their first albums and never lost any fascination the past 50 years. Favourite album: Gaucho
Can you recommend any new music, something that you’ve just discovered or are just really digging at the moment.
It’s not new, but for the last few weeks I’ve been listening to “Fat Freddy’s Drop”
Can you share a favourite playlist.
How do you prefer your music to be heard, streams, downloads or physical product sold. Why?
Listening to music is quite individual and depends on personal needs and situations. So everything goes. There is no idea or preferation on how people should do it. But for me … Suuure, it’s listening to vinyl!! As I’m old enough to grew up with collecting vinyls as the only available media and never sold any when it was outfashioned there is a huge collection today. What a treasure!
How do you connect with your audience, email, social media, PR firms.
Mainly social media, you can follow on Facebook or Instagram
What’s the best way a fan could help you today if they had just ten minutes to spare.
The biggest favour fans could do us, and certainly a much more lasting support, would be to stream our music on Spotify. As often as possible!! Put it on playlists, share it with your friends. It’s all about the streams to make a living as a musician in these days. A loyal audience can make the difference! Support us on SPOTIFY here.
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your career in music.
I would certainly play as a humble amateur musician with a few musician friends from the neighborhood in the bars of Sagres (Algarve). Certainly and most often in the “Dromedario” and of course the “Bossa Brew House”.
Two of the most beautiful bars with an incredibly delicious local craft beer. Really, creating my own beer, a childhood dream, has now come true in my fine brewery in Sagres. So, when I am not available in the studio, and not on some stage around, I am brewing beer. Come by, try it!!!
Buy music from Bahama Soul Club on Bandcamp here
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The first single from the first incarnation of the band ‘Juju Orchestra’ became a huge worldwide success, going straight to #1 on the German Club Charts and staying there for more than 12 weeks. The album “Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime” with guest vocals from soul-jazz crooner Terry Callier RIP and Carolyn Leonhart from Steely Dan was released in 2007 and became a smash hit in the worldwide club jazz scene and again reached #2 on the official media control Jazz Chart.
In 2008 the band’s name was changed to Bahama Soul Club and their first album ‘Rhythm Is What Makes Jazz Jazz’ amazingly following up on the outstanding success of The Juju Orchestra. They hit the mark once again with guests like Isabelle Antena from Nouvelle Vague and Mrs. Pat Appleton from DePhazz, with whom they also established a 9-piece live orchestra and played all famous jazz festivals elsewhere in Europe.
2010 marks the release of the second Bahama Soul Club album, ‘Bossa Nova Just Smells Funky’ with guest singers Xantoné Blacq from Amy Winehouse Band, British shooting star John Turrell, Kojato and again Pat Appleton, just to name a few. It soon became the band’s biggest success with radio features on ALL German public radio stations and countless “CD of the month” / “Album of the year” features worldwide, along with many Chart entries. With this album BSC became one of the most important contemporary European Jazz projects and were finally invited to the big German Groove Festival in Sao Paulo/Brazil.
The band release their third album in 2013 ‘The Cuban Tapes’, an exotic blend of Cuban rhythms and tropical flavors executed with the trademark Bahama Soul Club style. This full-length once again features a host of talented vocal guests such as Danay Suarez, Arema Arega & Telmary Diaz from the contemporary Cuban scene, 3 generations of american soul singers Bessie Smith, Spanky Wilson and Ruthie Foster, and Anna Luca from Club Des Belugas. It’s the most successful album today with 25.000.000 streams on Spotify.
In 2015 the track ‘Kind Of Latin Rhythm’ was placed in a Hollywood movie with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock. In 2016 they delivered the 4th full-length LP ‘Havana ’58’ a homage dedicated to Cuba’s roaring years before the revolution. An huge release, critically acclaimed worldwide and featuring Cuban singer Sexto Sentido, Arema Arega, Olvido Ruiz and the famous Brenda Boykin.
Bandleader Oliver ‘The Uncle’ Belz’ moved to Portugal’s south coast in 2017 and started working in the tranquil and inspiring environment of their new Portuguese recording studio located in an idyllic Algarvian countryside setting between Lagos and Sagres.
Fast forward to 2020, now 4 albums deep and with fans worldwide clamoring for more, the time had come for the 5th full-length, which Bahama Soul Club promptly deliver in the form of ‘Bohemia After Dawn’ The soundtrack of a lifestyle compiled in 12 sun-soaked songs, recorded at the band’s new residence in Algarve, Portugal.Again no compromises with guest singers. They had John Lee Hooker, Billie Holiday, Sister Wynona Carr, Arema Arega and also an eclectic selection of local talent with Portuguese artists Josephine Nightingale, Taly Minkov-Louzeiro, Mr. Cutty Wren and Hedvig Larsson. All artist friends from the neighborhood, quite literally across the lane. What a blessing, what a discovery! With today 60 Million streams on Spotify, there is no doubt Bahama Soul Club are officially claiming their rightful spot at the forefront of the international club jazz scene for many years to come!
