Masters at Work

Last night a DJ saved my life

 

I think you'd be hard pushed to find a deep house fan, or perhaps even just a house fan that doesn't own a 12" by, has been inspired by, hasn't played their music and who wouldn't still pay to hear two of the most influential DJ/Producers of the last 20 years - Master at Work!

 

The New Yorkers have amassed an incredible catalogue of work over the years, one that includes hundreds of original productions, remixes and side projects, redefining the way we think of music in clubs.

 

"Little Louie" Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez officially started their union as Masters At Work in 1990. Vega, a prodigious DJ around New York, met Gonzalez, a producer, through burgeoning house DJ Todd Terry. Gonzalez’s song "Salsa House" was a favourite of Vega, who fell for its Latin-influenced, everything-goes flavour. Desiring to remix the song, Vega asked Terry for an introduction, and almost instantly the two bonded over their insatiable appetite for music of all kinds.

 

Vega was born in the Bronx in 1965 and raised in an environment rich with Latin music. His father was an accomplished saxophone player and his uncle was renowned salsa singer Hector Lavoe. While Vega embraced the music of his Puerto Rican heritage, it was his pair of club-hopping sisters – regulars at David Mancuso's famous late-'70s Loft parties and at Paradise Garage – who introduced him to the vitality of dance music. Already taken with roller-disco and hip-hop, Vega attended Paradise Garage for the first time in 1980. There he witnessed the magic of DJ Larry Levan, whose ability to blend music from seemingly every genre and era into a seamless groove would foreshadow the spirit of Masters At Work. Through the mid-'80s, Vega began to make a name for himself as an up-and-coming DJ, playing house and freestyle in Bronx and Manhattan hotspots like Devil's Nest, Roseland and Studio 54. He was also doing remixes and original rhythm tracks, including one of his early breaks remixing Information Society's "Running" for Tommy Boy.

 

Gonzalez was born in Brooklyn in 1970. As a kid, he initially shunned Latin music, falling in love with the rebellious party beats of hip-hop. He worked as a buyer in a local record store while a teenager, mastering his skills as a DJ playing on the side. In the late-'80s, Gonzalez and a friend began organising popular neighbourhood block parties under the guise Masters At Work. Gonzalez met Todd Terry through these parties and lent Terry the fresh MAW moniker for two eventual club hits – "Alright, Alright" and "Dum Dum Cry." In return, Terry let Gonzalez borrow his drum machine and recording equipment, on which the blossoming producer recorded several tracks for the influential Nu Groove Records, including "Salsa House."

 

Their name says it all – Masters At Work. For over a decade, "Little Louie" Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez have shepherded dance music down new paths with their inventive production style and imaginative feel for different musical forms. The two native New Yorkers have amassed an overwhelming body of work in that time, one that includes hundreds of original productions, remixes and side projects, redefining the way we think of music in clubs. Vega and Gonzalez defiantly mix everything they can find – house, hip-hop, funk, disco, Latin, African and jazz – into a universal groove. And in doing so, MAW has become a cultural mélange unto itself, emblematic of the multicultural society in which we live.

 

 

It's fitting in the 20th year I've been messing around with house that it's their 20th year too (see we have so much in common!). When untitledmusic started out I knew nothing about who were the real house legends to be and the vinyl I bought back then proves it!  -  rave was just fading away (which will explain all those dodgy XL Records) and Oakenfold was changing the face of indie music with the Happy Mondays, but out of New York came 'Little' Louie Vega and Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez - and I've been a fan ever since!

 

The pair who at one time were a mainstay of my sets with their MAW work and under the aliases of Kenlou and Nuyorican Soul haven't been as prolific in over the years (I say that on my own experience and there's bound to be some crazed fans out there that know otherwise), but when they turned up on the Red Bull Academy lecture series it rekindled the love I have for their work. I'll say now I forgive them for remixing some shocking tracks, Simply Red being one of them! So, if you’ve got a few days to spare and are in need of an education in house, then head over to their Spotify account and get listening.