The Martinez Bros

Hey “Kid” get off those decks that’s for the Martinez Brothers!!!  I am a  Martinez Brother biznatch!!  It probably didn’t go exactly like that but I can picture something similar happening more than often. If your reading this you’ve probably heard about the Martinez Brothers; especially because they have not only played at serious clubs like Shelter and others around the world but also because they have such  great understanding & solid foundation of what house music is in relation to their young age. Word of them has spread quicker than a hot soulful house remix of an R&B jam. These young men were born with the light of the house gods guiding & shining on them. I’m talking about the youngest one being only 16 years old (Chris) and the oldest 19(Steve). Dennis Ferrer from Objectivity has been their mentor after Chris contacted Dennis through Myspace as a fan to let him know how much a fan he was. Dennis Ferrer gave Chris & his brother a chance to play for him after listening to one of their mixes and things just grew into the house music phenomenon that is now called the Martinez Brothers.

Last weekend another dance inducing event thrown together by Aquabooty (Miami); featured these young house music lovers. They brought the baby powder shaking crowd out as well as the fresh new heads. To see both of these generations come together to share that one love is what the vibe of the music is about. Dad must be so proud; nice job dad.

This night they started out playing quite hard I suppose as a hook to those not well versed in what the Martinez Brother sound is but as the night progressed they gently layed it out one by one hitting us over the head with that knowledge. If you didn’t know deep soulful house; now you know.  They even gave us some old skool hip hop to not oohffend. Checking these kids out should be on your deep house music checklist so I’ll help you kick things off for December

Dec 6 2008 1:00A	PACHA	NEW YORK, New York
Dec 20 2008 1:00A	LC CLUB	NANTES, FRANCE
Dec 27 2008 1:00A	TIME SUPPER CLUB	MONTREAL, CANADA
Dec 31 2008 1:00A	ROSELAND	NEW YORK CITY, NY

Till then keep it deep & soulful ….Enjoy the pictures.

MARTINEZ BROTHERS MYSPACE

MOONSHINE heats up New York’s East Village

Friday, November 14th I found myself in New York. A trip that was suppose to be stricktly a one day business venture  turned into an unexpected musical madness venture.  If you haven’t already heard there is a new event heating up the East Village every Friday @ SB3 named MOONSHINE. This event is put together by Chicago’s Luis Baro a star pioneer in spreading the word of house music as a promoter/dj & super fresh music producer Scott Wozniak. This combo could only bring about a smashing house music event so I added an extra day to my trip.

The weekends event would not only have Eric Kupper a top shelf (producer/remixer/musician) but also my personal top soulful house west coast dj Ricardo Torres playing tunes for us.

I ride up to the entrance and I recognize Jay-J standing next to the door guy. Does this mean I will be jamming next to Jay-J all night…just maybe.  I unintentionally name dropped when I seriously don’t do that I was simply saying hello to the man, but i presume it didn’t hurt. I step inside the lounge and I hear the music coming from the underground no pun intended. I rarely step foot in a physically underground anything in Miami (due to sea level) so I can appreciate this minor detail.  I get downstairs and pay respect to all the talented dj’s / musicians that will be taking us on that musical journey for the night.  Luis Baro had just wrapped up and Scott Wozniak was getting in the groove. Eric Kupper followed and to finish the night off Ricardo Torres from West Coast Collective.

Ricardo Torres’s  carefully crafted mixes from day one in 2003 when I first heard him have left me completely mesmerized. Mr. Ricardo Torres has a fine hand for picking those songs that you can’t easily forget. I like to call these tracks “soul impressions”.  Listening to one of his sets is an experience to me and I think everyone should get an opportunity to do so.  He serves that west coast sound up right and wont let you forget it surely making the West Coast Collective peepz value that he’s apart of their family.  You can catch more from the West Coast Collective family at http://www.westcoastcollective.com

Ricardo took us there with tracks like Jill Scott’s “He loves me” Jay-J’s remix, Cheek Venus (Sunshine People), & Daft Punk’s Brighter (Ian Pooley’s remix) , and of course a beauty of a track Ann Lee – Ring my bell (Jay Serano’s Remix) only to name a few gems.

It was a memorable night having shared such a soulful vibe with serious names in the game and all the welcoming souls that were there to spread the love.  I thank those responsible for the positive vibes and best wishes to all.

Links

Eric Kupper

Luis Baro

Ricardo Torres

Scott Wozniak

If your in the New York area get your dancing shoes and head to SB3 located at 33 Avenue B in the east village on Friday’s. Tell Luis Wendy sent you and see what happens. You might get kicked out but just for kicks try it at your own risk.

Mr. Louie Vega serves it up with a side of salsa.

Saturday, November 15th just hours off the plane back from New York I found myself at The Vagabond in north-east Miami to ironically catch New Jersey native Little Louie Vega.  I would have been tired otherwise but from the anticipation build up I did to myself of it being “Louie” I was far from tired. I get to the door and there are loads of heads trying to get in.  Apparently Little Louie isn’t so “little”.  I can see myself missing the track “Love & Happiness” I’m a little disgusted but nonetheless happy for the welcoming of this sound.

I slip in with a nice welcome from the lovely people at the door, no problems getting in is always a good sign of the night. Besides you all know how i can’t deal with doorman tactics and high eyebrows at the door.  I walk stright on back following the tantalizing latin house sounds of Louie Vega; unmistakable.  The floor is packed this turnout is huge; to me. Not to mention Sunealo was playing in the patio; if you dont already know they are a group of local Miami musicians that play latin funk and such (must see).

Seriously the place is packed I cant walk from one end to the other. I see an Amazon theme with show dancers dressed as crocodile man, exotic birds, felines, and (book-casing in the dj booth) big green plants. I was in the Amazon. Aside from the distractions people were getting down. Although I always prefer some breathing room to be able to get down; I take it for what it is a sick party. It will always be about the music and dancing for me.

I put my stuff down and start to dance next to the reg-lo lovely house soldiers I always vibe off. It’s sweet; the dance floor starts to loosen up a bit and then I hear La India (my vocal goddess) resonate through the last track. Yes boys & girls this will be the nights peak for me.  The beat drops with those pounding drums and i feel the goosebumps on my arms.  Louie Vega you’re the man!!! As I looked around for a split second coming out of my house induced high there is no one just standing around as far as I can see.  I sing to the top of my lungs in perfect timing with my other beautiful house heads “You just got to believe there is Love & Happiness” as we make inevitable eye contact it was beautiful. If you’re not dancing by now; you’re more than likely rhythmically deprived, but don’t worry you’ll come around.

Now the crowd has that groove going on strong and Mr.Vega decides it’s just the beginning and drops some salsa into his set. That’s what I’m talking about give them what they don’t expect!  Right out of left field some salsa it was great. Mr. Vega played for around 5 hours or so finally breaking it down with some old skool classics that made the dancers start popping and locking.

I ended my night around 30 minutes shy of his closing track. I thanked the man and showed my respects to him and I dipped.

I was soaked in sweat from dancing straight on through the night ; not bad for a person that had been woken up from the hotel room floor by the housekeeper after only 1 hour of sleep …hell no if I would’ve missed my flight. Although I wouldnt have passed up an opportunity to hit up Moonshine with Luis Baro & Scott Wozniack again the following week(story to come)  but i have things to handle back in Miami.

Little Louie Vega will be doing his bi-monthly residency and you can catch him at  30 NE 14th Street – Downtown Miami.