Andrew Jervis invited us to do a mix for his brand new website The Sport of Selection (info here), we couldn't pass on inviting him back on Paris DJs… "I wanted to do a mix of folksy soul music that felt Californian, and captured a sunny Springtime vibe. Not all the artists featured come from California. But as I discovered when I moved here, few people are truly from California. We just move here, soak it all in, and help turn the place into something truly eclectic. So here's a selection of sounds featuring what you might think of when some says California - acoustic guitars, hippy love songs, and some soulful protesting. There are also some newer innovative left coast beats and tracks with a tropical folk vibe. Hope you like!" (Andrew Jervis)

Billy Martin & Wil Blades - Shimmy
(LP/CD/Digital) Royal Potato Family/Amulet Records RPF1123/RPF1124, 2012-05-22

“He is the future to carry on the legend, the legacy of the organ” said Hammond B3 legend Dr. Lonnie Smith about his disciple Wil Blades. We knew Wil Blades as a talented sideman through various collaborations with the likes of Will Bernard, Terrence Brewer, Stanton Moore and Karl Denson. But we didn't expect him to be quite so good and heavy as he teams up with drummer and percussionist Billy Martin. For the first time his dazzling ability to create an overwhelming groove finally stands out, fulfilling Lonnie Smith's prophecy. We won't dither and slither: Shimmy is an important release and it puts Wil in the B3 Hall Of Fame. Paradoxically, he's not reaching those heights in a classic organ trio formation but in a duet. His association with Billy Martin works so well that you can be forgiven for thinking that three people - at least - are playing (do not search in the liner's notes, there is no bass nor guitar). These guys are not really human, they are more like octopuses, multiplying to sound like an orchestra... Building a duet with Billy Martin could have been perilous for Wil Blades, the danger being to be seen or sound like a stand-in organist for John Medeski. The comparison was inevitable but Wil doesn't try to compete at all and find his own vocabular, which wasn't a given. One brilliant idea lies in the addition of a clavinet doubling over the Hammond and adding some extra funkiness to the stainless B3 formula. As for Billy Martin (read the interview we did with him last summer), he writes one of the most glorious chapters of his already brilliant history. Whenever he's alone doing his noisy one percussionman-show, whenever he's playing at two with John Medeski in a more experimental vein (Mago), or playing with MMW or Wicked Knee, he displays the same mastery and boundless creativity. This essential release for every Hammond addict of the soul-jazz-funk party side is no exception.