“Sit back and relax while we blow through your minds”

(Byron Morris & Unity)

 

 

 

Revolutionary jazz, soul, dub, fourth world, Brazilian, funk, Afro, zouk, gwoka, freedom sounds, deep house, leftfield nuggets, obscure grooves and forgotten classics – the idea is to find the connections to create a unique cosmic bubble.

 

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As with most people, my tastes can be traced throughout my life journey(s). The more you grow, the more music you’re exposed to, the more refined your tastes become. And, usually, the more eclectic too – at least in my case. Genres have long become meaningless when it comes to define music that moves me.

I started out in the mid 90s as a radio DJ / music coordinator at Radio Campus Clermont-Ferrand, France. During those formative years my original love for post rock and all things Jamaican quickly expanded to hip hop, funk and soul as I started to play local spots and organising my own events around the city.

 

Then, at the turn of the century, came a one-year spell in New York City which was a big turning point in my life. My flatmate in Harlem (and soon to be mentor) introduced me to the magical worlds of The Loft and Body & Soul, and incidentally to a new found love for (spacey) disco and cosmic music in general. No way back from there.

 

A close friendship with David Mancuso would ensue, and once resettled in London in late 2000, I soon became part of the Lucky Cloud team which has been hosting the quarterly Journey Through the Light parties since 2003 (here’s a great article about the team). David sadly left us in November 2016, but his spirit lives on and guides us on a daily basis.

“Music is therapeutic; it raises your life energy… If your life energy is raised then music is healing-what more can we want.”

(David Mancuso)

 
 
As part of the Voices collective with kindred spirits DJ Alex and Ramar, we’ve shared our love for deep house, balearic, and disco music for the best part of a decade (the 00s) through our regular events across London. In the later years we had the honour to hold residency at Plastic People, the city’s most revered club, welcoming luminaries like Daniel Wang, Gerry Rooney or Victor Rosado.
 
Plastics, where I spent almost every Saturday night between 2001 and 2007 is the one single place where I learnt the most, thanks to one man: the one and only Ade Fakile aka Abdul Forsyth
 

Throughout the years, through visionaries like David, Ade and my man Laurence Passera, the search for optimal sound has always been the #1 priority – and will most likely forever be. The better the sound the more you can hear and feel the nuances in the music, and the deeper the experience. Simple fact but oh so true. Once you’ve realised that, once you’ve heard the likes of D Train‘s “Keep On” at the Loft or Tom Scott‘s “Today” at Plastics, your life shall never be the same again.

 

These obsessions with both music and sound led to the launch a new night, on a fine evening of July 2005, BEAUTY AND THE BEAT, alongside friends and fellow DJs/promoters Jeremy Gilbert and Belle Bete. This night has been defining my life ever since, and a whole community around it.

I often describe our style as “organic psychedelic soul” (from Pharaoh Sanders to Patrick Adams, Talking Heads to Larry Heard, Ebo Taylor to ATCQ, Jorge Ben to Lee Perry) played on an audiophile sound-system (Klipschorn and Tannoy speakers, Sugden and Mark Levinson amplifiers, Isonoe mixer).

 

 

Fifteen years on and we are still loading and unloading vans every month, in true sound system fashion. Without the core crew there would be no party, simple.

Through word-of-mouth our labour of love has reached cult status and quietly become the longest running monthly audiophile party in London. Read more about our history here.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
Shortly after celebrating our 10th anniversary in July 2015, we took a step forward and released our first record (by our mates Soundspecies) on our brand new BEAUTY & THE BEAT label, featuring remixes by Wolf Muller and Breakplus. The 12″ was a big success and sold out within weeks. We now have 5 strong releases and a few goodies planned for 2021 – check our bandcamp here.
 
 

Cedric Woo – Japan Tour

 

 

Also proudly part of the Brilliant Corners family, which opened in November 2013 the first bona fide “audiophile” venue in London. Home to both the cult Played Twice and Freedom Suite events, as well as our very own Sarava! night, the venue has become an oasis in the heart of Babylon.

Last but not least, alongside Tim Lawrence and Belle Bete, we’ve tried to fill out the Saturday-afternoon-into-evening party slot with our newest venture, All Our Friends. Invites only, register on the website!

 

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Neither a musician nor a producer, but when time allows I toy around with crafting some special CW edits.

 

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On the RADIO front, I’ve hosted a bi weekly show (“Tourbillon”) every other Sunday from 2007 to 2016 on the DEEP FREQUENCY web radio. All shows are available on the archives, up to #183! Next chapter, the “Cosmic Dance” show on RUN DEM RADIO.

 

]|I{•——» ♪ «——•}I|[

 

And while I’m at it, here is a recent interview and accompanying mix I did for the top quality music blogs Ransom Note, and Ransom Note.

 

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THAT SCULPTURE

 

In the fall of 2008 I spent a couple of months modelling a few hours per week for artist Tomoaki Suzuki, who wanted to do a miniature sculpture of ‘a street fashion icon from the streets of E8″ (sic).

His sculptures are made of lime wood, hand-crafted to perfection following methods of traditional Japanese wood carving to create figures which have a distinctly urban street style.

This particular sculpture proved extremely popular, it was exhibited in London, Germany, Tokyo and in Paris where my mum saw it with pride. It was bought by Gerard Faggionato of the Faggionato gallery in Mayfair where it currently lives.

2 Comments

  1. UK journalist (national press plus radio plus specialist periodicals) would like to speak to Cedric for comments on gwo ka article for UK monthly mag.
    Could I phone you? A bit urgent I’m afraid. Many thanks if you can help.

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