Choice Cut: Club Nouveau’s Jay King wants to “Dance Tonight”

Jay King is one of those “soundtrack of your life” type of artists. Whether you’re tuning in, streaming, dropping the needle on the vinyl or pressing play on the CD or cassette (if you go back that far), his music transports you back to specific places and brings back to mind certain activities and encounters. However, King, like so many talented songwriters, producers, singers and musicians, is not content to live in the past He’s remained busy, releasing his Soul Bossanova project in 2021.

As the title suggests, Soull Bossanova featured tracks that united R&B with that Brazilian samba swing. Each of the album’s ten tracks had a breezy, laid-back feel. Still, ever the musical explorer, King could not resist twisting it and he did just that with his reimagining of the song “Baby, Lets Dance Tonight.” The version heard on the album had the trademarks of the music made popular by legends ranging from Antonio Carlos Jobim to Sergio Mendes- namely a percussive swing, a touch of jazz improvisation and romantic themes and settings.

While King’s remix maintains the storyline of a man working to lead an attractive lady to a night of dancing and hopefully an evening of romance, the arrangement is more of a fusion of 1970s era funk infused dance music. Either way, “Baby Lets Dance Tonight” is a fun track that will transport the listener back to a specific time a place. Check it out here.

By Howard Dukes