Cody Currie & Joel Holmes - New Chapter [Toy Tonics]

You could get to know Joel Holmes: American jazz pianist and keyboardist who has been a member of Roy Hargrove's legendary Grammy-nominated band, but is also part of Carl Craig's synth ensemble. Joel now lives in Berlin, where he is involved in the vibrant Neo-Jazz scene. (Yes! Berlin used to be a Techno city, but now it is becoming a Jazz city!)

Joel now takes the next step: he teamed up with Cody Currie, a 24 year old talent born in London, who has already made waves in the house scene. Cody is known as a stylized producer, with a unique and recognizable sound. Much of his artistry was acquired by studying for a music degree in London. His most well known work so far might be a jazzy reinvention of "Devils Shoestring" with more than half a million plays on SoundCloud and YouTube. With his new works, Cody moves away from sampling and works only with live instruments.

Joel and Cody now live in Berlin, where they met Toy Tonics head Mathias "Kapote" Modica. And when they met, there was a vibe. All three have their roots in jazz music and share similar ideas about how dance music should evolve and sound in 2020. (Indeed, Kapote Modica also studied jazz piano and played in bands before diving into electronic music.)

Joel and Cody work in a big studio in the basement of Berlin, at Cody's house. They are working on a new way to combine jazz-funk with real musical skill, MPC rhythms, and live instruments to achieve a fresh new approach to dance music. And there will be much more to come in the next few years.