Gavinco - Dumont (2021)

Shall Not Fade’s Season Series imprint hosts Brighton-based DJ and producer Gavinco (Joe Newham) for its first long-play release - Dumont LP; a mellow yet rhythmic collection of jazz house explorations. Gavinco - real name This is his second LP in a year, and blends organic instrumentation with clubby samples.

Dumont is a polished piece of work, smoothly produced and flowing from song to song imperceptibly like the pianist improvising to entertain punters in an uptown jazz bar. The title track is all swinging, dusty sax scattered with sharp natural keys, although the rough and ready undercurrent suggests something clubbier. It prepares you for the harder ‘Electronic Feeling’ that takes similar jazz stylization but ups the house beat; a bassiness builds into the end of the A-side with ‘Transit’ centring around saxophone loops and elevated percussion that gets hips moving. This is stripped right back for wistful guitar and soulful female vocals in ‘Sweetness’ - ‘Carry On’ acts as a meeting point between this and the danceable rest of the record, summer vibes passing through it as the pulse of house influence builds. Newham plays with Herbie Hancock-style flute trills during ‘Fusion’, vintage funk guitar rising hazily from the rhythm like a mirage. If ‘Fusion’ evokes sun-baked Balearic beaches, ‘Dévouée’ is the gentle tide cooling them, fading chord stabs mirroring placid sax. Digital bonus track ‘Estrella’ carries a layered brass section, building to a euphoric drop - though taking a sound palette from candlelit jazz clubs, this is sunshine music.