Wah Wah 45s record label turns 25. From breaking new acts to releasing great songs, this is its legacy

Wah Wah 45s, the UK independent record label synonymous with homegrown danceable soul, jazz, funk, dub, disco and afrobeat, turns 25 this month. It seems fitting that it began life on the dancefloor.  

“Wah Wah began as a club night in the early ’90s, run by Hospital Records label boss Chris Goss and his late brother Simon when they were students,” Dom Servini, DJ, broadcaster and current boss of Wah Wah 45s, tells me. “Having proved its worth at The Albany in the West End, the night was brought to The Jazz Cafe in Camden in the late ’90s by booker Adrian Gibson. Adrian suggested to Chris and Simon that they start a record label to reflect the music they were playing at their night – classic wah wah funk,
disco-jazz, afrobeat and what was then the ‘nu-jazz’ sound that was permeating through the scene.”

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The label was originally conceived as a reissue vehicle, unearthing hard-to-get funk and disco gems and pressing them on to 7-inch vinyl, but it was quickly determined that this model would be unsustainable. 

“Reissuing old music was becoming increasingly expensive, and harder to do as the major labels started to get a stranglehold on smaller labels that had previously released independent funk and soul records,” Servini explains. “After a year or so of running the label, we realised that both financially and artistically, concentrating on working with new artists was the way forward.”

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Despite covering a vast breadth of genres within its niche, the quality of new acts Wah Wah 45s has broken over the past 25 years has never faltered in its consistency. Recent favourites of mine include London based duo Lawne, who blend the exhilaration of high-octane, sustain-and-release style jazz with intellectual electronica, and a collaborative project made up of Ghanaian xylophonist Isaac Birituro and multi-award-nominated producer and musician Sonny Johns, aka the Rail Abandon, whose music sounds in part like it grew out of the earth. 

Dele Sosimi, the afrobeat luminary and former bandleader for Fela Kuti, has also found a home on the label, claiming space to express his musical prowess beyond tradition and incorporate aspects of dub, electronica and modern jazz. Reissues still feature occasionally in the repertoire, for example the late Haitian pianist Henri-Pierre Noel, who composed and played with a wonderfully percussive, lyrical style, owed a resurgence of interest in his music to the label reissuing several of his albums before he died in 2018. 

“On the whole, our ethos is based on releasing great songs that will stand the test of time, and ones that have a soulful feeling,” Servini says. “Whether that’s delivered in the world of electronica, jazz, afrobeat, dub, house or any other genre is secondary to that.”

Given the financial risks and supply chain obstructions involved with running a vinyl-focused independent record label, a robust vocation is crucial. Wah Wah’s commitment to artist development, along with its numerous charitable engagements, have been fundamental to its longevity. 

When I ask Servini to reflect on some of the most significant moments in the label’s history, he mentions the loss of founder Simon Goss to lung cancer in January 2010, commemorated by an annual Jazz Cafe event called ‘Simon Says’, which raised over £60,000 for the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation. Additionally, an album by Youthsayers was rereleased this year, with every penny reinvested into the South London-based project which teaches young people to play instruments and work together as musicians.

“Live music has always been a hugely important part of what we do,” Servini adds. “And some highlights in that regard include flying a heavily pregnant Alison Crockett over from the US and watching her totally wow the audience at our Cargo residency in the early 2000s, as well as seeing the magical Talc enter the stage for the first time at the same venue. 

Putting on both Resonators and Hackney Colliery Band for the first time at The Vibe Bar (now 91 Living Room) were special moments for us too, as well as our first big shows with The Milk, and more recently celebrating Dele Sosimi’s 60th birthday with an unforgettable show at The Jazz Cafe.”

Aptly enough, Wah Wah 45s will celebrate its own quarter century on the dance floor, with a party at London’s Village Underground on 21 September featuring various live acts from the Wah Wah canon along with headline DJs Charlie Dark and Aroop Roy. 

When I ask about the label’s future, Servini is sanguine. “We take it day by day, month by month, year by year, and as long as beautiful music and great musicians, songwriters and artists are out there for us to work with, then we’ll keep doing what we’re doing.”

Get tickets to the 25th anniversary party on 21 September at Village Underground

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