Louie “Lou” Gorbea
Underground House Magazine had the pleasure the meet Louie Lou Gorbea during this WMC08′ at The Shelter Party. During the days of the conference we visited some of his appearances. At the same time that we were able see and hear up close and personal how impressive his talent is; we also encountered a person that is very noble and humble. It is a pleasure to introduce this talented artists in our relaunch.
Lou Gorbea, a native New Yorker, is internationally celebrated for his unique DJ mixing style, revered for his studio production process, recognized for his radio broadcasting and is highly respected by his peers within the music industry for the contributions that he has made to the development of dance music.
The multi-talented artist began his illustrious musical career as a dancer performing with the celebrated Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and the prominent American Ballet Theater. His profound love of dance is evident in his distinctive DJ technique and funky recording projects; by focusing on the dancer’s response, he manipulates grooves with soulful percussive breaks, rhythmic tribal beats and melodic Latin Afro-Cuban baselines, thus making music to dance to rather than creating dance music.
Since he emerged on the club circuit in the early 80’s, with his resident DJ gigs at the famed nite clubs the Gallery, Excalibur and Destiny, he has continued to leave his mark on the New York City party scene. Gorbea is acknowledged for successfully hosting and promoting ASHE; his own soulful underground dance parties at various venues throughout the tri-state area. Maintaining a dedicated following among club heads for over 6 years in an unpredictable and constantly transforming NYC party circuit is a remarkable feat achieved by few. For the past five years, Gorbea along with his cohort, DJ extraordinaire, “Little” Louie Vega, have thrown their annual infamous Dancing on Water/River Ocean summer boat rides with dedicated house head flying in from all around the world to jam while circling the Island of Manhattan. Gorbea is famous for spinning electrifying old school sets and burning up the dance floor with his special guest appearances at various NYC venues including, the scandalous supper club, Discothèque, the ritzy Pacha, the legendary underground hot spot, Shelter, the famed Latin disco, Copacabana, and John “Jellybean” Benitez‘s notorious Ain’t Nuthin But A House Party at the Union Square Ballroom to name a few.
In 2006, Gorbea slammed the turntables at Seventh Heaven sharing the stage with legendary DJ and producer Victor Simonelli and rocked the house with UK born and bred East End twins DJs Bobby & Steve, at the Clevelander Hotel during the Annual Winter Music Conference festivities in South Beach. His notoriety from spinning at exclusive NYC clubs and the WMC led to his oversees engagements where he worked the wheels of steel at the fashionable nite spot, IL Ciclope” in the Marina de Camerota region of southern Italy and at One Happy Cloud, the exclusive hot spot located in Athens, Greece. This outstanding DJ has gained global notoriety by rocking the airwaves with his guest dance mix shows on 97.8 KISS FM back in the 80's; one of New York’s hottest radio stations and on the “Candy Store”; a funky Saturday night mix jam featured on WBAI 99.5 FM, New York City’s trendiest non-commercial community radio station.In addition, Lou’s soulful tribal sets have been a regular staple on the underground internet radio show Cyberjamz.com, as well as, featured on the weekly Monday madness mix on Downshiftradio.com/UMFM & UM Radio Web and are currently being broadcasted on the XM Radio, America’s #1 satellite radio program.
Lou Gorbea is a multi-faceted artist that has played a fundamental role in the advancement and expansion of dance music and has received worldwide acclaim as a remixer and producer. He is accredited with remixing and producing cutting edge dance tracks for Vega Records, the subsidiary of MAW Records, the New Jersey House label owned by powerhouse DJs “Little” Louie Vega and Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez. Gorbea has gained universal recognition for his avant-garde Vega Records’ cover version of the Yoko Ono 80’s cult classic “Walking On Thin Ice” featuring the sultry singing sensation, Anane for her debut solo album, “Selections”, released in 2006. He also received praise for his poignant production of “LUV 4 MONEY” (Brown Sugar Mix) on the dynamitic double disc set of Vega Records Compilation Vol. 1. On November 14th 2007, Vega Records, hosted the record release party for Gorbea’s latest production “Feeling Good”, featuring funky vocalist Jannae Jordan at Cielo, the ultra chic nite spot in the Manhattan’s meat packing district. Lou Gorbea’s uplifting DJ style, spiritual production work and unceasing commitment to his craft have propelled him to the forefront of the dance club scene. His innate creativity, passion for music and exceptional understanding of melody, harmony and rhythm are the driving forces behind his success within the music industry, which undoubtedly will continue during future decades to come.
Underground house Magazine had a few questions to find out a bit more about what Lou Gorbea is working on these days.
Q? Lou, tell us what artists are you working with currently and tell us a little about them.
Q? what will be coming out in the near future from these artist?
A. I opened up my record label called Omi Tutu Productions with my first release called Darren Clark’s Project….with Darren Clark...2009 Releases Can't Get Enuff and Mi Rumbero, produced by Looweer.
I just finished working with Manchildblack on a track called “We are” being singed by Cocosoul Records.This production is in collaboration with Chris Perez.
Manchildblck is an amaizing performer and a great song writer
Almost completed is a track I did called “Peace” feat. Marcel Schooler of Khaimar Mgmt. There was a snip of the track on the WMC08′ Vega Records snippet. Track was recreated for the 2009 listeners.
In the works is another track called “Izzy’s Mind”, A percussion track with some Yoruba Chants and Awesome drums.
The Peace track is also something I look forward to being released because the message in it is so powerful begging for PEACE universally.