CRATE WORK: Moments In Soul (1990)
Each week we look at a piece of rare or notable sleeve art from StudioPensom’s vinyl collection.
TRACK: Moments In Soul – JT and the Big Family.
LABEL: Champion Records. 1990.
DESIGN: Bite It, aka Trevor Jackson.
No review of record sleeve design can go very long before mentioning Trevor Jackson, the prolific designer and illustrator who dominated British club culture from the late 80s to mid 90s. There was a time when if you picked up a flier or twelve-inch there would be a good chance it would be graced by Trevor’s exuberant, playful artwork.
Moments in Soul was an interesting release. It’s a document from a brief period of cultural cross fertilisation when the 80s jazz and rare groove scene hybridised with nascent house sounds to create something entirely new.
Jazzie B would find most chart success in this area with Soul II Soul, but other outfits were also tearing up the clubs at the time with tracks in a similar vein, such as this one by JT and the Big Family (Producer Christian Hornbostel). It samples The Art of Noise and The O’Jays, and like Soul II Soul features vocals from the young Caron Wheeler.
Trevor’s style on this release plays homage to 50s jazz album illustration and lettering, and to me seems to clearly prefigure what Jamie Hewlett would go on to do with Gorillaz.