Norman Jay @ F Lounge Bali ,thurs sep 28 th 2006

[ableh]

In these days and times, where 'superstar' DJs are served up like gum from a vending machine, a few genuine legends stand out from the crowd. When it comes to trail-blazing, certain names spring to mind - the New York DJ pioneers of the seventies and eighties like Larry Levan at Paradise Garage and David Mancuso at The Loft or their Hip Hop counterparts Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaata and Kool Herc. Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy giving birth to House music in Chicago, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins invented Techno in Detroit.
But in the UK, Norman Jay surely stands as one of the genuine musical pioneers. A veteran DJ/Producer of more than 25 years, Jay was instrumental in popularizing soul, funk and disco music in the UK - and doing it from the roots up. Having spent time in the US at the tail end of the 70s and then again in the 80s, he's played at legendary venues like Paradise Garage and Body & Soul. Perhaps it was the vibrant NY scene that inspired him to head back to the UK and set up with his brother Joey the legendary Good Times Soundsystem, but the rest, as they say is history. Not that it was smooth sailing. His initial attempts to play his beloved funk soul and disco at London's Notting Hill Carnival were met with bemusement or out and out hostility. Such is the lot of movers and shakers. Today, he's an integral part of the carnival. His rep as an underground DJ continued to grow and in 1985 he decided to set up a pirate radio station with DJ compadre Gordon Mac. They named it Kiss after the famous New York station. Again, the rest is history, for Kiss and its charismatic creator proved to be a lodestone for the bright new stars of the day – the likes of Gilles Peterson, Danny Rampling and Coldcut's Jonathan More. Today Kiss FM is one of the UKs biggest radio stations. Alongside friend and then protégé Judge Jules (who played soul music back then), he kick started the popular Rare Groove scene that took London by storm in the late eighties – indeed, the term, which is now part of popular music parlance the world over – was invented by him for his 'Original Rare Groove' show on Kiss. At the cusp of the 90s, Jay teamed up with Gilles Peterson to set up the Talking Loud label, in the process launching the careers of a raft of artists that included the likes of Galliano, Omar, Young Disciples and Incongito. His Good Times compilations – produced with brother Joey – are highly acclaimed by DJs and the public at large displaying as they do a vast store of genre-leaping musical experience and taste. In 2004, Jay was awarded the MBE by the Queen. Nowadays, Jay is happily concentrating on his first love – Djing. He's the DJ of choice for celebrities as diverse as the Rolling Stones to footballer Thierry Henry to designer Pierre Cardin and has played at clubs all over the world.

All of which is simply to say, you lucky punters will be able to check him out right here in Bali not once, but on two occasions, which means with a bit of luck you'll be hearing him on both a House and a Classics tip.

here we go :The legendary Norman Jay @F Lounge  BALI ,starts 11 PM

opening set by DJ RIZAL & EMON