LITTLE LOUIE VEGA as part of GARAGE 416 at Soul on Spadina (247 Spadina), Friday (April 20). $20. www.garage416.com Rating: NNNNN
No survey of late 20th-century soulful dance culture is more complete than Masters at Work’s exhaustive and exhausting 10th Anniversary 1990-2000 boxed set.
Last year’s eight-disc set plays like a history of the dance floor, or at least of the dance floor whose roots are in New York, as DJs Little Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez run through the dozens of classic tracks with their names on the sleeve.
Whether it’s straight-ahead house, fusion or latin beats, or the dozens of remixes they’ve done of Tito Puente, Daft Punk and Roni Size, MAW have always brought an element of rootsy soul, humanizing and diversifying their electro thump.
Last year also saw the release of their earthy, grinding production for George Benson’s slink through the Bobby Hathaway classic The Ghetto.
2001’s MAW platter of choice will be the sequel to their groundbreaking Nu Yorican Soul project. Guests on the hush-hush project include New York afrobeat singer Wunmi and, allegedly, latin pop queen Gloria Estefan.
The disc is long overdue, but expect a preview when Vega spins at Soul on Spadina Friday (April 20) as part of Garage 416.
