The next release on Parkway Records is a collaboration between label boss Mark Seven (as Parkway Rhythm) and recently deceased dance music legend Boyd Jarvis.
Jarvis, a key figure in the development of house music, died in February following a battle with cancer. Mark Seven has typewritten a letter addressed to "Pool DJs and Store Buyers" detailing how the collaboration came about. Thinking back to when we started Parkway, Boyd Jarvis was always a part of the story. It was the sound of his floating keys over heavy dubs that directly inspired the Parkway sound and gave us the energy to make [PKWY01, 2011's] "Working Girl."
Shortly after that first release I spoke to Boyd about contributing something to the label and sent him a demo version of "Broad St." He told me "Wow man sounds like me, I'm flattered!" It's a measure of the man that I sent him our recycled version of his sound and he took it with such good grace.
Jarvis sent keyboard parts back to Seven, who was slow to complete the mixes. (Jarvis had other releases which he didn't want the Parkway Rhythm collaboration to clash with.) Seven got back to work on them last year and wrote Jarvis, but never heard back. After speaking with friends, he discovered Jarvis had fallen ill.
"Finishing these mixes with Boyd's keys in there was both an upsetting yet inspiring experience," Seven writes. "Boyd's credit only appears on the label of this release but in fact he's on every Parkway record. Thank you Boyd..."
Listen to clips of Parkway Rhythm's "Broad St. Pressure feat. Boyd Jarvis."
Tracklist
A1 Deep Pressure
A2 Demo Pressure
B1 Tribal Pressure
B2 Pressure Keys
Parkway Records will release Broad St. Pressure in July 2018.