Mr Bongo Radio with DJ Greymatter
From humble beginnings in the basement of Daddy Kool's reggae shop on Berwick St in 1989, Mr Bongo is seen as the standard bearer for Latin music in Europe. With regular imports from Latin America, Cuba and the USA, Mr Bongo brought the salsa and Brazilian vibe to the masses, establishing a core market for Latin music.
Out of this basement a thriving Latin shop was born and supplied music for salsa dancers, Latin Jazz addicts and Brazilian groovers alike. Characters such as Giles Peterson and the club Dingwalls championed this music and in the following years Mr Bongo established itself as the leader and provider for whole scene.
The shop initially acted as home to the Mr Bongo Record label and the later formed imprints: Disorient (Tokyo sound) and Beyongolia. In 1995 the Bongo empire expanded into Japan, opening a store in Tokyo which provided a useful A&R source for Disorient. After a 2 year crusade Bongo's secured the soundtrack rights to the classic hip hop movie Wildstyle and released two LP's from the film on Beyongolia. Unfortunately, the loss of a large proportion of the exclusive material to major music distributors and internet sales, coupled with rising rents was too much in the end and both shops were eventually forced to close down.
The Mr Bongo record label, now based in Brighton, remains strong 15 years on and still presents an enormous wealth and breadth of contemporary Brazilian music to wider audiences. Releases include albums from hip hop artist Marcelo D2, who sold over 500,000 units of his first album in Brazil and Seu Jorge (City of God, Life Aquatic), both produced by Mario Caldatto (Beastie Boys).
We are pleased to introduce the first in a new series of monthly Mr Bongo shows on Samurai. This first instalment is an all brazilian show hosted by DJ Greymatter and features both classics and new brazilian music, across the board in styles. It also features a preview of the forthcoming Brazilian Beats 'n' Pieces mixtape album coming out on the label later this year.
Next month Phat Kev will be doing a show devoted to the latin funk sound.
www.mrbongo.com
www.myspace.com/djgreymatter
