Have a great New Year!

I hope y'all had a great 2012!
There's a lot of Tropical Heat on the horizon for lucky 13!
Keep your wheels turning!

Fela The Musical ~ Cast Party

My partner in Caribbean Crime ~ Love On The Run ~ & I were honored to DJ for the Fela! The Musical Cast party recently!  The intimate affair was held at the swanky men's clothing boutique Seize sur Vingt in Soho.  The fancy duds were pushed to the side to make way for the funkee dancers ~ and dance they did...there was even a spontaneous Bus Stop moment!  It was a treat to have so many of the cast members, including Fela himself, Sahr Ngaujah, getting down to the Tropical Heat Wave sounds!  Here's a little video I put together from the night...



+ Some Pix...

My Disco Is Caribbean Disco ~ Afro Caribbean Mix for the Fela party!

My partner in crime Love On The Run and I are hyped to have been hand picked to DJ the cast party for the re-opening of Fela The Musical!  You know we're gonna bring the African and Tropical vinyl heaters as we're joined by artist Sinkane, who will be playing LIVE  percussion alongside us!
Here's a new mix to get y'all in the mood ~ this one's for the Funkee Funkee People!

With a secret Tropical Heatwave gig on the horizon (rhymes with Fela...) ~ I thought I'd throw a new mix up for y'all...More news coming soon ~ for now please enjoy the Funky Good Feeling!

The Blue Notes ~ Can I Change My Mind

The Blue Notes were a staple at Nassau clubs like the Rum Keg Room & The Back Room at the Barmoral Beach Hotel in the late 60's. Early on their line up included of a young Frankie Zhivago and Ralph Munnings. By the time of their 3rd release, "Moving Up with The Blue Notes" (Proctor-Blue Records), the group consisted of: Godfrey Deveaux (drums), Lawrence Makeba Rolle (bass), Garry Davis (guitar) & Marvin Henfield (vocals). The overall vibe is a soulful Caribbean jazz style which lends itself nicely to cuts like "Fever" and "By the Time I Get To Phoenix", but the standout is the band's deeply moving cover of Tyrone Davis's soul classic "Can I Change My Mind".

Enjoy!

McBB

Island Jazz Quartet ~ Feel Like Makin' Love

This time around we have one of the deepest steel drum cuts out there!
Arranged by Mark Hinds and privately released on his eponymous record label.
Mr. Hinds takes on the Eugene McDaniels/Roberta Flack groover with a massive rhythm section...I really wish he would have let the drummer loose a little, because whoever it is on the skins is in the pocket! Nonetheless the quartet supplies a perfect bed to float the smooth steel drums as they ride over the track like a warm tropical breeze.

McBoing Boing on the radio...

I had a great time with the Downtown Affair crew last week on the radio!
Thanks to Alex & Mike for having me down...if you missed the show it's available for download or streaming here: CLICK ME!

"Enter Voodoo Island" ~ A guest Mix from Young Swizzy

A young Frenchman in a crisp white suit sips a smoking concoction of exotic jungle fruits and his own private stock of Rum out of a monkey skull goblet while the nearby hi-fi spins intoxicating rhythms...

Welcome to Voodoo Island!

Young Swizzy is ready to transport us on a journey through French Caribbean sounds from the 60s to the early 80s. He says, "For me the madness started a few years ago, in the search of a different kind of groove when I discovered what Hugo Mendez and the Sofrito crew were doing in the UK: bringing back early tropical sounds on the dancefloor. The latin sound of course but better to me is its strong influence on more local music through all the carribeans and especially the french islands like Martinique, Guadeloupe or Haiti, with rythms like Begine, Tumbele, Gwo-Ka, Compas...With a really strong Antilles community in the Paris area, French Caribbean records manage to make their way around here, so most of the records I used were found in yard sales."

Swizzy's inspiration came from the deep heads that run Superfly Records in Paris as well as the awesome work of Les Mains Noires (http://www.lesmainsnoires.blogspot.com/) with its great mixes of dirty Caribbean jazz.

He adds, "This mix is a tribute to two real amazons friends of mine: tattoo artist Laura Satana (http://laurasatana.com/) & tiki/exotica sculptor Bai (http://bybai.jimdo.com/sculpture/)."

Thanks to Swizzy for our inaugural guest Mix here at the Tropical Heatwave HQ ~ ENJOY!



TRACKLIST:
Intro: Mandingo - Tiger in the Night
Ryco Jazz - M'Puli Mua Munie
Chano Scotty y su Combo Latino - Mi Serrana
Orchestre Tropicana d'Haiti - Tromperie
Barel Coppet et Mister Lof - Jeunesse Vauclin
Maxi Twenty - Lily
Abel Zenon y su Combo - Bon bon accourez y donc
Orquesta Americo y sus Caribes - La Mochila
Robet Mavounzy - Chauffe Begine La
Chakachas - Coco Seco
Tuco - Tuco's Jam #3
Les Freres Dejean - Jam Session #2
Gemini All Stars de Ti Manno - Vive le Disco
Scorpio - Carnaval 83
Outro: Mandingo - Pagan Ritual

DJing on the Radio tonight

I'll be spinning on WNYU tonight from 10:30-1am with the dons of downtown disco Mike McGill & Alex Biedermann~ it's
A Downtown Affair y'all!
There might even be some secret weapons dropped...tune in to find out!
http://letsgetserious.net/

Tropical Heatwave ~ The Party... 3/1/12

* Calypso Disco * Afro Funkee * Latin Soul + more Caribbean Heat!

LoveOn TheRun and I will be your disk jockey operators tonight (9pm-1am)!

Tropical Heatwave @ The Bellwether 594 Union Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11211

Esquires with Brass featuring Clive Bradley ~ He's A Strong Man

This week we have a tough 45 on the Tropico label. The Godfather of Steel Band funk, Clive Bradley, joins the Esquires with Brass on "He's A Strong Man". Clive was a master of the pan, but he switches it up and slides over to the keyboard here as the group takes on a Stax influenced Organ swinger with monster drums and an infectious horn section. There will be many more posts about Mr. Bradley in the future as his output spans five decades. Unfortunately he passed away in 2005 (the NY Times did give him a great obituary), but his legacy of deeply inventive Caribbean compositions lives on!

Black Affairs ~ It's Alright

Another slice of Caribbean Funk!
The LP, "Vacances Avec Black Affairs", comes from Guadeloupe on the Univers Disque label. Hiding out at the tail end of a slew of Cadence Lypso & Reggae tracks is the Funk cut "It's Alright". With its laid back Antillean groove, janky guitar line and smoldering sax solo, it's a perfect fit for the Tropical Heatwave express!
The track is written by Angelo Allen & the players are: Uruille James (Bass-Vocal), Ridley Prince (Organ-Vocal), Esau Jacob (Drums), Alganon Prince (Solo), Rudolph Marie (Cowbell), Joseph Boland (Rythme) & Pierre Labor (Alto & Tenor Sax and Flute)
Enjoy!
McBB

Tropical Heatwave ~ The Party...

Fellow Caribbean Disco fiend, DJ Love On The Run, and I will be throwing down some hot Island sounds this Thrusday @ El*Ay*Si (47-38 Vernon Blvd, Long Island City, NY 11101)!

* Remember to ask for the Duke!