You can’t talk about UK dance culture without mentioning Ashley Beedle. He’s done it all. And he’s still doing it. A true polymath, it’s harder to find an element of good music that this Bajan-British legend hasn’t been involved in.

A DJ, producer, remixer, label owner, re-edit king, he’s been fighting the cause for the good groove since his musical career began in earnest in the ‘80s. For Ashley, notions of genre mean little. He’s got a deep knowledge of every style under the sun. Be it house, hip-hop, reggae, punk, symphonic soul or raunchy ‘70s rock, what matters more is if it sounds right — has the passion, intensity, funk and flavour to light up an Ashley Beedle DJ set.

The latest example of his masterful reshaping talent is Harmless’ new collection, ‘Message in the Music: The Ashley Beedle Edits’. Compiled, mixed and with additional production from Ashley, it gathers two CDs of rare and classic cuts of all styles and genres — everything from Cymande and MFSB to Family and Al Green — all given a distinctively Beedle-esque re-spray to make them work for today’s floors.

Producing for other artists is yet-another string to his bow. Having lent his considerable studio abilities to great vocal talents like Shara Nelson and Gabrielle, he’s currently working with the Latin guitar genius behind classic covers like ‘Golden Lady’ and ‘California Dreaming’, Jose Feliciano.

And his DJing — the thing that started his career on his inimitable path — continues on unabated, across the UK, Europe and beyond, while a series of much-anticipated new albums through his Back to the World label are being completed, including Afrikanz on Marz, an album with an incredible singer-songwriter, Waterson and rumours of a new Black Science Orchestra project are underway… It seems there’s little Ashley hasn’t already done, then. But he’s bound to keep surprising us.