{"id":606,"date":"2011-07-17T20:41:13","date_gmt":"2011-07-17T20:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ajdancelegacy.com\/~ajdance\/?p=606"},"modified":"2013-01-29T22:20:14","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T22:20:14","slug":"culoe-de-song-16-07-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ajdancelegacy.com\/~ajdance\/culoe-de-song-16-07-12\/","title":{"rendered":"CULOE DE SONG 16.07.11"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CULOE DE SONG<\/strong><\/div>\n
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Last night was dope…Checked out the spot and fell in love with it. I even managed to check into Tambor and see my buds. Man as I was saying outside, you mutha trucka’s know how to party LOL!!! I think the walls were sweating when I walked in. They had to kick you guys out of the venue to boot. I love it!!!! -Divine Disco Diva<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/div>\n

It\u2019s a weekend of all things Africa when there\u2019s a week long black arts festival, a West African DJ Diaspora and a South African playing at<\/span> <\/strong>Tambor<\/a>. The weather of overcast skies, light rains and mild temperatures were not enough to quench the sweet scent of incense that burned across the city. The city\u2019s soundtrack, afro-house echoed its sweet sentiment from Marietta Road to Moreland Avenue. There were enough dreads, head wraps and dashikis in town to clothe an African village.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Well let\u2019s dive into the deep waters of all things deep; that is pure unadulterated afro- beat\/deep house music. The party jumpstarted with the kind of soul that made the mouth drool with saliva.<\/span><\/strong> DJ Stan Zeff<\/a> took control of the knobs and bombarded the gathering tribes with a house vignette worthy of legends. The journey started off deep with congos played over soft finger snaps. The minimal tracks with afro chants pronounced the coming of the spirit. The deity Yemaya; the mother goddess, the essence of motherhood and a protector of children arrived through Lou Gorbea\u2019s and Chris Perez\u2019s featuring Nina\u2019s lead vocals on<\/span><\/strong> \u201cBabalu Aye Y Yemaya.\u201d<\/a> Yemaya greeted the dancers with a nurturing embrace as they danced into her arms. Keeping on the spiritual side of matters, SuSu Bobien\u2019s,<\/span> <\/strong>\u201cYou Bring Me Joy\u201d<\/a> (Guy Robin Remix) brought church to the club. The gospel diva\u2019s vocal rifts sputtered about like fire and brimstone but in a great way. The dancers screamed at the top of their lungs, with fists pumped in the air and heads shaking from left to right as if the Holy Ghost had made a surprise guest appearance. Elements of Life\u2019s,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cInto My Life (You Brought The Sunshine)\u201d<\/a> featuring vocalists Lisa Fisher and Cindy Mizelle, continued to uplift the soul when all of a sudden, from out of nowhere, the room fell silent with a unexpected hush. The music had stopped. However, the people didn\u2019t. \u201cYou Brought The Sunshine\/Sunshine In My Life\/And When You\u2019re Near Me\/It Feels So Right,\u201d sang five beautiful ladies at the top of their lungs. Even without music these lovelies kept the song going-acapella style. And boy could they sing. For the next minute or so, DJ Stan scrambled to find the solution but there wasn\u2019t one to exactly pinpoint. So with the punch of a button the dance anthem started over from the beginning. The people cheered and danced with more energy than previously seen. From this point forth the party would,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cTouched The Sky\u201d <\/a>as Dennis Ferrer\u2019s featuring Mia Tuttavilla\u2019s dub pounced from the JBL\u2019s to heartfelt cheers and fluttering feet. Other highlights included Hosanna Littlebird\u2019s chill-laxed vibe,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cCan Love Again.\u201d<\/a> The Temple Movement Club Mix threw out heart grabbing synths and dropped bass that steadily crescendo into clashing cymbals that banged like African drums and fell on the crowd like the soft showers that fell outside the club. In anticipation for the \u201cinvasion of South Africa\u201d Stan dropped a number from South Africa\u2019s Queen Of House, Bucie titled,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cNot Fade.\u201d<\/a> With the clock ever so ticking closer to 1 am many wondered where was the party\u2019s special guest headlining DJ.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

At the drop of a hat, out of nowhere South Africa\u2019s Culoe De Song appeared on stage, ready to slay the tribe with unfiltered afro-beat\/deep house. Who is this Culoe De Song? Well, he just might be the largest import from the motherland since uhmmm, let\u2019s say, Black Coffee. With a knack for producing titles ranging from,<\/span><\/strong> \u201c100 Zulu Warriors,\u201d<\/a> \u201cWebaba\u201d<\/a> to<\/span><\/strong> \u201cGwebindlala\u201d<\/a> and possessing a laundry list of remixes from the likes of Black Coffee to Claude Monet it\u2019s easy to hear how Culoe De Song has paved Africa\u2019s vibrant deep house soundscape. For as there might be a hundred reasons to dismiss this young man as a deep house leader Culoe proved a thousand reasons more why he is deep house music\u2019s newest and one of its youngest ambassador. Let\u2019s take a deeper look into the soul of Mr. Culoe De Song.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

There hails a young man by the name of Culolethu Zulu from the land of South Africa that embarked on his first United States tour. Culolethu\u2019s first stop on the map was at the electrifying Tambor party. Having remixed his name to the shortened Culoe with addition of De Song translation; Culoe of song, Culoe De Song brought his brand of unfiltered afro-house to a hungry mass of overseas music lovers. Here to promote his latest release, \u201cElevation\u201d several cuts from the album were played for the adoring fans. The young man wearing wide frame black glasses, a fedora and inked with a treble clef on the right bicep appeared smart, confident and determined to conquer the land in the west.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One with an acute ear would recognize several of Culoe\u2019s new cuts played in unadulterated fashion. There was the recent Webaba EP digital release of<\/span> <\/strong>\u201cFar Away\u201d<\/a> with its haunting pulse. Cape Town\u2019s Electro-Jazz live DJs the Gold Fish\u2019s,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cCall Me\u201d<\/a> with Monique Hellenberg on lead vocals had all the ladies heads spinning around in circumferences as if possessed by strange forces. Guys do your lady a favor and make sure to call her back. By evidence in the room there seemed to not be a whole lot of that happening. Culoe De Song\u2019s featuring Shota<\/span><\/strong>, \u201cYini Negawe\u201d<\/a> sung in native tongue was another crowd pleaser that enhanced the afro fever. Durban raised, Johannesburg resident, singer and songwriter Ternielle Nelson\u2019s,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cAfrican Woman\u201d<\/a> the Culoe De Song remix with folk guitar and live melt in your ear violins is the new ladies anthem. You go Culoe for taking \u201cgirl power\u201d to new heights. Also, the uplifting \u201cHold On\u201d with vocals by famed Zano had the crowd counting their blessings and holding on and being strong despite adverse circumstances. Talk about the perfect prescription pill per doctor\u2019s order.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Not to be ostentatious, the humble Culoe showcased hits from other genre defining house makers as well. Culoe\u2019s buddy Black Coffee (former Tambor guest) with siren Thiwe\u2019s haunting vocals on<\/span> <\/strong>\u201cCrazy\u201d<\/a> (Manoo & Francois A Deep Journey Mix) took the crowd in deep tribal waters. Sure enough the journey went deeper as<\/span> <\/strong>Kenny Bobien\u2019s<\/a> voice elevated the crowd to new atmospheric heights. Osunlade singing,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cEnvision\u201d<\/a> worked over Afefe Iku\u2019s<\/span><\/strong>, \u201cBody Drummin\u201d<\/a> made the perfect deep-tech thumper. The whopping finale Culoe\u2019s own,<\/span><\/strong> \u201cThe Bright Forest\u201d<\/a> blew the roof off the hinges. The crowd which had lost their minds ages ago lost it even more so when the stripped down power anthem played.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By 2:50 am the loft space was packed. No one wanted to leave. No one could sit still. Even with the house lights at full beam, everyone danced and kept dancing as though no cares of the world existed. Plastered bodies on the sweat drenched walls were scrapped off. The only thing amiss was emergency paramedics carrying people stretched out on gurneys.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The night marked the celebration where African rhythms and sacred drums transcend into a deeper consciousness. Tom drums kicked on three-count intervals. Finger snaps marched over maracas where two-count notes meet. Hand claps traded spots with hissing hi-hats as crashing cymbals clashed on every eight-bar intervals. Bongos from the congos thumped deep with tech effects in perfect harmony. This South African treat was rarely experienced on U.S. soil. Where did this music come from? Africa. And what was this music called? Afro-Beat? Afro-House? Deep Tech? Or Progressive House? Whatever the categorie(s), no nomenclature could contain such a diverse music portfolio. This intersection where soul syncs with progressive proved successful during the uber-experience of avant-garde afro art. Furthermore, Culoe De Song\u2019s humbled spirit and Africa\u2019s deep house rhythms were cemented in the psyche and stamped on the hearts of every man and woman in attendance. Yes, Africa was here to stay.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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