DJ, radio presenter, music producer and event promoter Kev Beadle’s bio reads like a journey through the halcyon years of the jazz, jazz funk and soul scene in the UK from the early 80s right through to today’s various musical manifestations.
From early DJ experiences working with fellow spinners Paul Oakenfold and Trevor Fung in the early 80’s, and then hooking up with Gilles Peterson and playing alongside him at various residencies including Dingwalls, The Wag, Special Branch, The Fez and the legendary Sunday night jazz sessions at The Belvedere Arms in Richmond.
Through the early nineties Kev put together a serious number of compilations for various labels. These included six albums for the ‘Essential Argo/Cadet Grooves’ series for Charly Records, which also included two ‘Best Of’s – Terry Callier and Lou Donaldson and also the very successful ‘Capitol Rare’ series for Blue Note.
After a period of working at Timewarp Records in Croydon he then went on to working at two of the West End’s top vinyl outlets – Soul Jazz Records (now Sounds Of The Universe) and Mr Bongo.
During his time at Mr Bongo he set up the Clean Up Record label – a small independent dance music that specialized in jazz beats, trip hop and drum & bass, releasing music from the likes of Koop, Aquasky, Valerie Etienne and Line Of Flight Productions.
In 1995 the label was then picked up by independent giant One Little Indian and so Kev moved on from Soho record salesman to A&R and Label Manager at OLI right up to 2000.
The Clean Up label went from strength to strength in that period and hit a major high point when original signing Line Of Flight evolved into 1 million+ sales selling indie dance act the Sneaker Pimps. In the five year period at One Little Indian Kev was responsible for commissioning some huge club remixes for both One Little Indian and Clean Up including the anthemic Armand Van Helden remix of the Sneaker Pimp’s ‘Spin Spin Sugar’.
More ‘musical boundary pushing’ compilations also followed in that period including the ‘Nu Jazz Generation’ series for both Clean Up and Vol. 2 for BBE.
Aside from his many DJ residencies and worldwide guest appearances over the years, he has maintained a strong radio presence from pirate radio shows on KJazz and Starpoint in the 80’s right through to his current weekly podcast and show on internet soul and jazz station Solar Radio.
He can also boast to being one of the longest-running DJ residents at the legendary Southport Weekender where he is also the musical consultant for the events most cutting edge room – the Beat Bar and in more recent years the extremely successful SunceBeat Festival In Croatia.
With all this under his belt, Kev is not content to sit on his laurels, preferring to push the musical boundaries, create and showcase innovative new sounds rooted in soul & jazz, and with a DJ career spanning 30 years he is regarded as one of the leading tastemakers in his field.