/PLAYLIST/
Louie Vega Playlist
A FEW OF MY FAVS, hard to put in one top 20 but these are ones that have resonated with me for years!
1. LOVE IS THE MESSAGE - MFSB
Growing Up In The Bronx We Heard This All Over The Boom Boxes, And I Remember Our Radio Air Personality Hero Frankie Crocker Playing It On Wbls, It Was Practically His Theme Song And Ours At The Block Parties And House Parties Up In Da Bronx. In My Chuck Roberts Voice “In The Beginning There Was”……Love Is The Message!!!!
2. BAD FOR ME - DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER
One Of My Favorites Of Larry Levan On Remix Duties And Dee Dee One Of The Greatest Singers Of All Time Whom We Will Be Performing With At We Out Here Festival When I Come Out With My Band Elements Of Life On August 17, 2024. A Highlight To Be With Dee Dee!! She Will Sing With Our Band, We Are In Awe Of The Thought Itself. Can’t Wait !
3. SOUTHERN FREEZ - FREEZ
This One I Learned From My Uk Friends Like Gilles Peterson, Paul Trouble Anderson, Patric Forge, Cj Macintosh, Bobby & Steve, And More! It’s A Classic Here In The Uk That We Also Played Back In The States. In New York City To This Day And Around The World It Always Lifts A Floor And Puts On The Happy Faces! Jazz Funk Lives!
4. VIRTUAL INSANITY - JAMIROQUAI
This Is One Of My Many Favorite Jamiroquai Songs. Downtempo And Funky, The Piano Riff Is Spot On!!! I Have Skated To This Tune At Some Roller Discos. Oh Yes I’m A Skater, Dance Skating. I Also Played It As A Test Pressing Over At The Underground Network Parties. It Brings Back Memories!
5. SON SHINE - SAULT
My Favorite Band Sault And Producer In The Uk. Inflow And Cleo (Amazing Singer And Songwriter), Love Their Work I Have Every Album And Listen To Them While Travelling On My Tours And Have Played Some At My Sets, Especially This One Deep For Me Because It Reminds Anané And I Of Our Son!
6. I AM THE BLACK GOLD OF THE SUN (4 HERO REMIX) - NUYORICAN SOUL
This Is One Of My Favorite Remixes Of All Time. By The One And Only 4 Hero !!! Nuff Said!
7. Thinking about your body - louie vega dance ritual mix
If You Want To Pick One Of The Many Tunes The Musical Scientist Josh Milan Has Written And Performed, This Is One That Best Represents My Two Soul Fusion Brother!! He Hit This One Out The Park!!
8. BERLIOZ - DEEP IN IT
New Talent Emerges And Takes The World By Storm Already On The First Album. Jazz House And More! Listen To Anything Berlioz! The Mood Sets In.
9. BACK ON 74 - JUNGLE
Oh The Feeling And Vibes Of This Choon Is One That Is Timeless!! When I Put This One On I Smile!! Good Vibrations All The Way!
10. Coffy* - Anane/Two Soul Fusion
Anané Interpreted This Roy Ayers Classic Just Perfectly!! Funky Disco At It’s Best, I’ve Been Playing This All Through The Year! It’s On Her Disco Ep “Take A Ride” Which Is A Must Have For Anyone Who Loves Disco, Check Out “High” The Sky Boogie Classic She Covered Too !!! Remixes Coming Soon On This Project By Masters At Work, Two Soul Fusion, Dimitri From Paris, Mousse T, Moplen, Jazzy Jeff, Dj Epik And Yours Truly ! Disco Lives!!!
11. THE STAR OF A STORY - LOUIE VEGA FEATURING LISA FISCHER
The Heatwave Classic (The Original Version Penned By Rod Temperton), I Listened To It On Repeat While On Tour In Japan Practically Hypnotized Myself With This Song. When Came Time To Do My Album Expansions In The Nyc I Thought Of This Song Right Away. First I Had In Mind To Sing Lead Was Will Downing, When I Approached His Wife And Friend Of Mine Audrey Wheeler, She Asked Him But He Was Busy With An Album At The Time, So I Thought If Anyone Could Do The Tune Justice Vocally It Would Be Lisa Fischer, And That She Did!! I Also Asked Patrick Adams And Leroy Burgess To Do The String Arrangment And They Took It To The Sun!!! Also My Eol Rhythm Section Axel Tosca On Keyboards, Lusiito Quintero On Percussion, Gene Perez On Bass!! Still Stands As One Of My Favorite Works!
12. PEACE OF MIND - RANCE ALLEN
Rance Allen Has A Voice Like No Other And This Track I’ve Heard Many Times From Djs Like Patrick Forge, Gilles Peterson, Pete Bbe, Paul Trouble Anderson, Bobby & Steve, And More. I’ve Played It As Well And A Fond Memory Later On Is In 2023 January I Had A Show At Here / Outernet In London And Played It To A Packed House And It Went Off Like It Was Brand New Heat!!
13. CAN YOU HANDLE IT - SHARON REDD
Back To My Roller Skating Days, And At Clubs Like The Paradox When I Played Deep Sugar Parties. I Used To Go To Baltimore To Play At Least Twice A Year At The Historic Club. Ultranate And Lisa Moody (Rest In Peace), The Promoters And Resident Djs Would Be On The Dancefloor When I Played It Along With The Many Incrediblle Dancers Of Baltimore. It Was All Good Vibrations At 9am, Yes You Heard Right These Sets Went Way Into The Morning !! After Playing All Night, My Crew And I A Few Cars Deep All Drove Back To New York City!! Wow Good Times !
14. LET IT GO - LOUIE VEGA & THE MARTINEZ BROTHERS FEAT. Marc E Bassy
Good to hear an underground groove with a great melody and vocal go pretty big. marc bassy nailed it on the head with his lyric and melody, and working with my prodigy fam the martinez brothers was such a natural and fun experience. this is just one of the many tracks we’ve created together, more to come! shout out to axel tosca my main bro on the keys! we never expected it to do as well as it’s done, shout out cutting headz and defected for releasing it out to the world! the cover art was so special made by the one and only lee quinones who also did the fame wildstyle graffiti art! royalty all over this one! in search of peace of mind
15. IN SEARCH OF PEACE AND MIND - LOUIE VEGA / FUNKI CADETS
This One Is Very Close To My Heart. A Moment Of Reflection And Spiritual Energy Through Music. When I Made This Record It Was About Searching For Balance While Moving Through Life And Touring The World. Sometimes The Music Is Where We Find That Peace Of Mind. A Deep One For Me.
16. I WANT YOU TO KNOW - GROOVE COMMITTEE
One Of My Favorite House Classics, More On The Underground And Not The Obvious (Although I Can Name You Many Great Obvious Classics), I Wanted To Bring Forth This Huge New York City Jam Produced By Victor Simonelli. When I Hear This Tune It Brings Back So Many Memories And Through Different, Clubs In New York City I Played And Or Hung Out At, Generations Of People Stretching Overseas And Around The World, And Has Lived Through Eras Of Dance Music Over The Years. That’s When You Know It’s A Classic, It Brings Forth Powerul Memories In Your Life, That’s How Deep Music Can Touch, Especially With A Gem Like This.
17. STAY TOGETHER - BARBARA TUCKER
This Song Hits And One Reason Is Because I Was Able To Co-Write With One Of The Premiere Songwriters And Producer Of This Thing We Call Dance Music. Bert Reid Is His Name And He Is The Brother Of Ray Reid, They Both Produced Amazing Classics We All Love Like Unlimited Touch (Who I Was Able To Work With Just Two Years Ago), He’s Written “I Hear Music In The Streets”, “Search To Find The One” And Denroy Morgan’s “I’ll Do Anything For You”. Both Brothers Talented Ray Reid Produced “Gonna Get Over You” By France Joli And The Lax Hit
“All My Love”. They Were Both In The Funk, Soul, Disco, Jazz, R&B Band “Crowd Heights Affair”, Who Are Also One Of My 70’s Favs. When We Got Into The Studio I Had Already Laid Down The Groove And He Began Writing On The Spot And I Had The Mic Turned On And He Just Churned Out That Lyric And Melody.
What A Dream It Was To Work With This Talented Man, I’m Lucky He Came Out To The Underground Network Party I Was Resident On Wednesdays With Promoters Don Welch And Barbara Tucker, That’s Where We Connected And The Rest Is History!! This Was Barbara Tucker’s 5th Recording With Me After “Beautiful People” And “I Get Lifted”.
18 .THE BOSS - DIANA ROSS
This Classic Has Transended Generations And Hit So Many Worldwide Of All Ages. I Perfectly Made Disco Record With Horns And Strings Arranged By John Davis From The Monster Orchestra Who I Was Lucky Enough To Work On One Of His Seminal Hits “Bourgie Bourgie” On Sam / Nervous Records.
Written And Produced By The Geniuses Ashford And Simpson!!! This Is Forever In My Drives. I Also Just Played It At The Disco Disco Party With An All Vinyl Set A Few Weeks Ago At Fabric, London To A Predominantly Younger Audience And They Ate It Up!!
19. FEELIN’ GOOD TONIGHT (SHAPES MIX) - Louie Vega/Willy Soul/Funk Cadets
This One Right Here Is All About That Feel Good Energy On The Dancefloor. When The Groove Locks In And The Room Is Smiling Back At You. I Love Playing This One When The Night Is In Full Flow And Everybody Is Connected Through The Music. Good Vibes Only!
20. WHAT ABOUT THIS LOVE? (EXTENDED MIX) - MR FINGERS
From the instantly recognisable stabs, which launched a trillion dub techno / tech house tunes, to the beautifully stark arrangement, this is a masterpiece of minimal house from 1988
