notes from a native sun

The Houston Press Awards are upon us once again. This year, for the first time, Soular Grooves (Saturdays, 930p, KPFT 90.1 and 15 years strong!) is nominated for Best Radio Program

After 15 years, its a testimony to the great talent and hard work of ALL the djs involved (past and present) to successfully carry on a vision that was first realized and put into action in 1995! To bring underground music to the Houston airwaves that subscribed to the aesthetics of soul and jazz, without the restrictions of locking into one genre or the other, spanning many tempos, many moods, but somehow maintaining a signature sound. That is a tough task at hand, especially for 15 years, and it’s well executed week-in and out by the djs/programmers of Soular Grooves! To all involved: thank you and congratulations!

I have been invited to perform at the awards showcase, which this year is held on a Saturday (Aug 7th) rather than the customary Sunday of past years. Truth be told, I was called as a last-minute replacement for one of the Best Club DJ nominees, so naturally, when The Houston Press called, I was initially hesitant, but in the end saw it as a wonderful opportunity to represent Soular Grooves.

I go on at 1am at Washington Grill (2811 Washington)

wearing my idealist/optimist hat, i held on to the notion that mj had gone into a hospital-induced coma, similar to that one administered to dj melodic, when he had cardiac arrest. i pictured that in 3 days, we would hear the news that mj had survived and was on his way to a full recovery. well, for about a year now (since hurricane ike), i have had no cable and therefore watch no tv. i literally get my news from twitter (i guess i could go online to cnn.com… but nah! ), so as the news was coming, i relied on twitter posts, at best third or fourth hand info…

anyway, i digress… i was really shocked and saddened by the finality of “cnn has confirmed it” (since tmz has zero!! credibility)…

at first, shock, then a quickening depression sat in… honestly, there is alot more going on in my life, naturally, that contributed to that, but mj’s death definitely had an effect. i believe that when an icon passes, you consider immortality, in general, and ofcourse your own… and the closer you felt to said icon, the harder the effect… i remember when presley passed and how it affected my mother at the time, though i was but a tiny wee-lad (well maybe not, but i was young…er!)…

when the shock and depression subsided, i considered the next step in grieving mj: how to remember him and the legacy he had created, and how to pay respect to the influence his music has had on me personally, and professionally…

as with jb’s passing, i thought about a tribute… however, because mr. brown’s music regularly appears in my sets, i was able to grab all my vinyl, head to the radio show that following saturday and do a tribute without hesitation… with mj, it’s different… though i was a big fan (more on that, later) and enjoyed his music tremendously, aside from “human nature” and other songs that were sampled by hip hop artists (i.e. delasoul and nas), mj just didn’t appear in my sets all that much (perhaps a few times a year, i might play a tidbit of ‘human nature” and then “it ain’t hard to tell” )

i had less than 24 hours to come up with a tribute that would represent the aesthetics of soular grooves and what we all at the radio show, represent. i heard comments like “many will want to show up for a dj sun tribute”, in encouraging me to do a party or respresent at a night like rocksteady mondays. i don’t want that to be the driving force, however… it should be done right… you have one opportunity to do tributes right and pay the proper universal respect to the soul, history, legacy of an icon like mj… with that, you’re also building on your own respresentation within the universal consciousness… i could go on and on about that, however, i presented this build-up to announce that the right representation of a soular grooves/dj sun tribute comes in the person of the are (russell gonzales)

the are was a quick choice because of his production project using jacksons material and the fact that he is a huge fan of mj, as well.

it took one call and he was ready to do it at the drop of the proverbial hat.

a little additional note about how mj influenced me: i remember the first thing ever by michael jackson and how it was introduced to me. i was a kid in holland when “ben” was released. my pops bought the 45 and at the time, there were numerous tv appearances that were aired on dutch tv, showing the jacksons and michael jackson’s performances. with pops (who is at best, conservative, in how he expresses himself) excitedly encouraging me to watch these kids (at the time) performing, those minutes made a huge impact… the 45 was carried with us, when at 7, i moved to suriname, and continued to play a role: aside from hearing it still being played regularly on the radio, the song also served as somewhat of a standard bearer for us, as kids… i remember on several occasions gathering with friends to have impromptu singing contest and invariably, “ben” was the standard to which we were measured (who could best hit the notes, mj belted out?!)

my sister, francesca, with mom's... in suriname...

i just had a convo with my sister and she conveyed the following similar sentiments: it was from “ben” to “off the wall” that we experienced the most influence from mj… in between there were the jackson’s hits in the 70’s, jermaine jackson’s split and solo career, and then the subsequent mj split from the jacksons, culminating in off the wall!… ofcourse thriller was a landmark (with mtv, the numerous videos etc.), and i don’t want to take anything away from that classic, but by then i was less impressionable (so to speak)…

so whenever i am asked about which are the 5 most influential albums, i always cite: 2 albums by bob (marley ofcourse!, who else?!)- kaya and rastaman vibration, massive attack’s blue lines, portishead’s dummy, and a tribe callled quest’s people’s instinctive travels…

the above albums are works that i can play from start to finish…probably know all the words to… and have served as pivoting chapters in my life… i could elaborate on each, but that would be 5 separate chapters…

the point i am trying to make: there is another album that doesn’t surface on my radar, because less people are familiar with it and because it doesn’t get into my repertoire, unless i’m doing the houston international festival and they ask me to highlight my country (btw, josh zulu, simiyu, and i are playing at the ifest again, this year: april 18-19, and 25-26)

it’s “lieve hugo’s king of kaseko”…”lieve hugo” which loosely translates to “dear hugo” was the king of kaseko. he died at the age of 40, in the mid 70’s, at the height of his popularity. all songs from that album were played on surinamese radio, with the most popular one, the one listed below.

i started reminiscing a bit and searching for more material about suriname music and came up with:

and then a documentary about suriname and a recent controversy surrounding the “selling” of the rainforest in suriname

the following are quotes from about.com regarding mercury retrograde…pay attention, there is a point to this:

“This happens three to four times per year, when the planet Mercury slows down, and appears to stop (station) and move backward (retrograde). It’s an optical illusion, since there is forward movement, like speeding by a slow-moving train — as it recedes, it appears to go backward.

Since Mercury rules communication, it’s said that everything goes haywire in that area — emails get deleted or bounced back, mail is returned, calls go out into the ethers, etc. Some people find that their computers go on the fritz or phone lines go down.

There’s a long-held belief that it’s best to avoid making set plans during the Mercury Retrograde. This means being cautious about things like signing contracts, and forming partnerships and corporations.”

so, i was hipped to this by a friend who is into astrology and suddenly alot of things that were happening around me, made more sense…to make a long story short, the recent mercury retrograde phenomenon took place from jan 11 to feb 1, this year… during this period i felt like there were certain things (many of which i will make annoucements about below) were held “in limbo”…

for example, it took a couple of weeks to solidify a very exciting party to happen on sunday february 22nd. now here is what is exciting about this particular party and why it was a relief when it finally received a go-ahead:

1. j boogie (om records, sf) will be the first special guest at a proposed monthly installment we have dubbed soularium

2. it is an opportunity to do a monthly at the house of blues

3. it presents a date to finally do the para ep release party

it’s further believed that once mercury “goes direct” (feb 4), that a number of things fall into place…and frankly that is the feeling that i have right now…

dj Sun | Para from visionar – e on Vimeo.

during a photoshoot for houston modern luxury magazine’s february 2009 issue, debra smail shot a quick interview with me at the flat. alex luster and debra are visionar-e.

i am going west to spend some time with toph one and j boogie and do two shows. one in sebastopol with dj malarkey on thursday february 12th and the other on friday the 13th at club six, with aforementioned.

the vibe in sf is just so amazing. everytime i have gone, i have been well received and had a ton of fun. i was invited to speak at a high school by a houston transplant who works at said school, which i will do on the 11th.

on the 12th i will travel to sebastopol and play with dj malarkey. i spoke with dj drm (more on him later) who spoke highly of the juke joint parties, and said that musically it was a good fit for me. then the capper with toph one (who is a blast to party with!) and j boogie at club six to do a proper release party for the para ep, in sf. appropriate, as j boogie’s conributed a remix to the project.

this week, dj drm visits houston for a week. he will play with me at block 21 on thursday and friday…thursday in the main room… friday in the howard hughes room…he’ll accompany on some other gigs, as well (the grove and hotel zaza), and then also play at rocksteady mondays, at the flat on february 9th.

that was very surprising (only perhaps because i don’t watch tv and see very little news!): it snowed in houston! freaky!…well maybe not so much…we do get some snow every 6 years, i think and were probably due..

i’m dreaming of a white…??? ehh…wait a minute!…all this greenery around does not make sense!…

i believe i made mention of a manager in some previous blogs: her new nickname is “bossy” … she tags herself that way, and i am more than eager to run with it…it’s bossy’s “fault” that these blogs are (relatively) on time… bossy has me working, and bossy is an outlet: i can blame everything on bossy. for example: if i can’t make it out to play, or you don’t see me out much, it’s bossy’s fault!

bossy doesn’t know that i play hooky sometimes, tho, and end up at the record store

i found some really nice old school reggae 45s (that i promptly played at rocksteady mondays…every single one of them!) and a rare astrud gilberto lp (well, i had never seen it before and it was exclusively played and produced by brazilians)… i scored! i am still a vinyl nerd!

i’m experiencing a bit of a “calm” surrounding the new ep: i have not received vinyl or cds just yet and as soon as i do, the placement at various retail spots like sloan hall, domy’s, stir-it up, sound exchange, etc, starts in earnest… this coming week i should also start receiving some feedback from giant step, who serviced the ep around the world. when i hear from dj sabo we will be able to schedule the release party in houston, as well… it’s a calm anticipation of sorts… bossy will keep me on point, tho… no doubt!

…a few hours later…. ups delivers a few boxes and presto!…vinyl and cds in hand!!… i will have those on me at block 21 tonight and the flat on monday…