American House Weekend at XIII

He is known as the "Miles Davis of dance music". Over twenty years of his phenomenal career, he has transformed the face of contemporary pop culture, becoming the inventor of a new genre - soulful house. His production talent breathed new life into artists such as Barbara Tucker, Roy Ayers, and Tito Puente. Louie Vega grew up in the Bronx, New York, in a family of musicians. His father played saxophone in jazz bands, and his uncle, Hector LaVoy, was a well-known salsa singer. Lou was raised on Latino music, but his musical tastes were not limited to just merengue and salsa. In the early 80s, the Bronx provided ample opportunities for developing a good musical taste. In the mid-80s, Louie Vega absorbed all these musical influences - from the love of "Latino" inherited from his father to hip-hop, disco, and the emerging British new wave. Lou Vega played sets at Devil's Nest, Studio 54, and Palladium, where hits by Gloria Gaynor, Run DMC, and Depeche Mode could all be found. In addition to DJ work, Lou Vega discovered his talent as a producer. Teaming up with another excellent musician, Kenny Dope Gonzalez, he started organizing the first street house parties in the Bronx - Masters At Work. Inspired by the atmosphere of these parties, the famous Todd Terry even "borrowed" this name for his project, releasing the track "Alright" in 1987 under the alias Masters At Work. However, Terry quickly made amends by connecting Louie Vega and Kenny Gonzalez with pop celebrities in desperate need of new musical ideas. Masters At Work did the first house remixes for Saint Etienne, Debbie Gibson, soul divas Barbara Tucker, and Latin music king Tito Puente. Later, Louie Vega and Kenny Gonzalez focused on creating their own music, creating the new project Nuyorican Soul. The self-titled album of 1997, featuring gospel singers Jocelyn Brown and India, soul legend Roy Ayers, and rapper Jazzy Jeff, gave birth to a new musical style - soulful house. Critics today call Louie Vega's work "epoch-making," placing Nuyorican Soul alongside albums like Daft Punk's "Homework" and Roni Size's "New Forms." The 21st century opened up new opportunities for Louie Vega. Together with Kenny Gonzalez, he launched the MAW label, becoming the home of the global soulful house movement. His signature Soul Heaven parties are successful worldwide, from London and New York to the ever-awake Ibiza. Louie Vega's solo project, Element Of Life, featuring live shows with musicians Dimitri From Paris, Raul Midon, India, and Albert Sterling Mendez, is also highly successful. Louie Vega came to Moscow for the first time on the recommendation of his colleague and friend Kenny Dope Gonzalez, who had successfully performed at XIII on Halloween in October 2004. Little Louie Vega, Masters At Work June 17, Friday (22:00 - 6:00) One of the pioneers of Chicago house, Todd Terry, has firmly established the nickname "Todd The God." He was dubbed the god of dance music back in the late 80s when Todd Terry released incredibly successful remixes of hits by Everything But The Girl, Björk, Annie Lennox, Sting, and Tina Turner. He remains the god to this day, playing fantastic sets that include house, hip-hop, and Latino music. Todd Terry's musical education began in the early 80s in the infamous Brooklyn, New York. As a teenager, he was part of a hip-hop street crew called the Scooby Doo Crew, which posed serious competition to none other than Afrika Bambaataa. However, a completely different sound soon flooded the streets of Brooklyn, and Todd Terry had to forget about hip-hop. Chicago house and later disco captured Todd Terry's imagination to the extent that all his musical experiments from then on were linked to this musical style. Todd Terry made a serious impact on the New York house scene in 1987 by releasing the single "Alright, Alright" under the alias Masters At Work, which he "borrowed" from his friends Little Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez. The track became a big hit not only on New York dance floors but also made its way to radio, paving the way for dance music on radio and TV. The trend of creating dance remixes of pop hits took the world by storm. Todd Terry played a hand in this "dance fever," creating around a hundred of his own versions of songs by Sting, Björk, Annie Lennox, Tina Turner, and even Robert Plant. Two of his remixes, "I'll House You" by the Jungle Brothers and "Missing" by Everything But The Girl, caused a sensation, entering the "hall of fame" of house music. In the early 90s, Todd Terry moved to the UK, where he spent several years as a resident DJ at the famous Ministry Of Sound club. It was there that British journalists christened him "Todd The God." This nickname has stayed with him forever. Despite changing musical tastes and fleeting trends, Todd Terry continues to remain a true deity of the dance floor, a DJ for all times. Todd Terry June 18, Saturday (23:00 - 6:00)