“Sit back and relax while we blow through your minds”
Revolutionary jazz, soul, dub, fourth world, Brazilian, funk, Afro, zouk, gwoka, freedom sounds, deep house, leftfield nuggets, obscure grooves and forgotten classics – the idea is to find the connections to create a unique cosmic bubble. Some of these connections might be obvious, like a transition from zouk to makossa, or from Miles Davis to Gangstarr, while others might appear much less so, like a jump from Tom Ze to Junior Murvin, or deep techno to uplifting soul – it’s this combination of knowledge, ability to read the crowd and spur of the moment inspiration which can create magic.
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As with most people, my tastes can be traced throughout my life journey(s). The more you grow, the more music you’re exposed to, dare I say the more you live, the more refined your tastes become. And, usually, the more eclectic too – at least in my case. Genres have long become meaningless when it comes to define music that moves me.
I started out in the mid 90s as a radio DJ / music coordinator at Radio Campus Clermont-Ferrand, France. During those formative years my original love for post rock and all things Jamaican quickly expanded to hip hop, funk and soul as I started to play local dives and organising my own little events around the city.
Then, at the turn of the century, came a one-year spell in New York City which was a big turning point in my life. My flatmate in Harlem (and soon to be mentor) introduced me to the magical worlds of The Loft and Body & Soul, and incidentally to a new found love for (spacey) disco and cosmic music in general. No way back from there.
A close friendship with David Mancuso would ensue, and once resettled in London in late 2000, I soon became part of the Lucky Cloud team which has been hosting the quarterly Journey Through the Light parties since 2003 (here’s a great article about the team). David sadly left us in November 2016, but his spirit lives on and guides us on a daily basis.
Music is therapeutic; it raises your life energy… If your life energy is raised then music is healing – what more can we want.
(David Mancuso)
As part of the Voices collective with kindred spirits DJ Alex and Ramar, we shared our love for deep house, balearic, and disco music for the best part of a decade (the 00s) through our regular events across London. In the later years we had the honour to hold residency at Plastic People, the city’s most revered club, welcoming luminaries like Daniel Wang, Gerry Rooney or Victor Rosado.
Plastics, where I spent almost every Saturday night between 2001 and 2007 is the one single place where I learnt the most, thanks to one man: the one and only Ade Fakile aka Abdul Forsyth.
Throughout the years, through visionaries like David, Ade and good friend and bona fide audio freak Laurence Passera, the search for optimal sound has always been the #1 priority – it will most likely forever be. The better the sound, the less you hear the system, the more you hear and feel the nuances in the music, the deeper the experience. Music just flows, it becomes its own entity, like oxygen or water. Simple fact but oh so true. Once you’ve realised that, once you’ve heard the likes of D Train‘s “Keep On” at the Loft or Tom Scott‘s “Today” at Plastics, your life shall never be the same again.
These obsessions with both music and sound led to the launch a new night, on a fine evening of July 2005, BEAUTY AND THE BEAT, alongside friends and fellow DJs / musical hosts Jeremy Gilbert and Belle Bete. This night has been defining my life ever since, and a whole community around it.
I often describe our style as “organic psychedelic soul” (from Pharaoh Sanders to Patrick Adams, Talking Heads to Larry Heard, Ebo Taylor to ATCQ, Jorge Ben to Lee Perry) played on an audiophile sound-system (Klipschorn and Tannoy speakers, Sugden and Mark Levinson amplifiers, Isonoe mixer, Technics decks with modified Jelco tone arms plus Audio Technica VM750H cartridges).
Nineteen years on and we are still loading and unloading vans every month, in true sound system fashion. Without the core BATB family crew there would be no party, simple.
Through word-of-mouth our labour of love has reached cult status and quietly become the longest running monthly audiophile party in London. Read more about our history here.
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Also proudly part of the Brilliant Corners family, which opened in November 2013 the first bona fide “audiophile” venue in London. Home to both the cult Played Twice and Freedom Suite events, as well as our very own Sarava! night, the venue has become an oasis in the heart of Babylon.
Last but not least, since 2017 Tim Lawrence, Belle Bete and myself have started a sister community party sprung rom the rhizomes of BATB and Lucky Cloud: All Our Friends is an invite only bi monthly affair – register on the website!
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Neither a musician nor a producer, but when time allows I sometimes enjoy taking my scissors and my glue and toying around to carve some special CW edits.
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On the RADIO front, I’ve hosted a bi weekly show (“Tourbillon”) every other Sunday from 2007 to 2016 on the DEEP FREQUENCY web radio (please note that this was way before the internet radio trend took off!). All shows are still available on the archives, up to #183!
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And while I’m at it, here is a recent interview and accompanying mix I did for the top quality music blogs Ransom Note, and Ransom Note.
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THAT SCULPTURE
In the fall of 2008 I spent a couple of months modelling a few hours per week for artist Tomoaki Suzuki, who wanted to do a miniature sculpture of ‘a street fashion icon from the streets of E8″ (sic).
His sculptures are made of lime wood, hand-crafted to perfection following methods of traditional Japanese wood carving to create figures which have a distinctly urban street style.
This particular sculpture proved extremely popular, it was exhibited in London, Germany, Tokyo and in Paris where my mum saw it with pride. It was bought by Gerard Faggionato of the Faggionato gallery in Mayfair where it currently lives.
Cédric by Tomo
UK journalist (national press plus radio plus specialist periodicals) would like to speak to Cedric for comments on gwo ka article for UK monthly mag.
Could I phone you? A bit urgent I’m afraid. Many thanks if you can help.
Hi Philip,
I am only seeing your message now – will send you an email now to see if you still need me!