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A couple months back I was asked to participate in IntraHealth International‘s ambitious project to help publicize the use of open source technologies in medicine as a revolutionary step towards better health care in Africa and other developing regions. This was being done by having artists, such as myself, remix the track “Wake Up” by African musical legend Youssou N’Dour. The finished remixes were to be given away for free, shared, traded, altered … all in the spirit of “open source”. You can read more and hear my effort by clicking HERE.

Now the project has been taken one step further. The parts and stems for Youssou’s “Wake Up” have now themselves become “open”, with all interested music producers invited to create their own remix of the track. This is achieved through the participation of Indaba Music, a community-based web space for musicians to find each other and collaborate online. (Colbert Report fans like myself may remember when Dan Zaccagnino of Indaba was on the show … watch HERE.)

Remixing “Wake Up” and working with Youssou N’Dour’s incredible voice was a thrill for me, and I even learned quite a bit from the experience. I’m sure you’ll reap the same benefits … remixing is a blast, eh? Give it a try.

Read more about The Youssou N’Dour and IntraHealth Open Collaboration project and how you can download the parts and participate by clicking HERE.
LIsten to the remixes already submitted by clicking HERE.

There’s also a contest with prizes for the ‘best mix’ as chosen by a small panel of judges which includes Youssou N’Dour himself. The contest ends May 12, 2009. That’s definitely a nice bonus but I’d mainly just be into the opportunity to remix such a cool track and work with the vocals of a legendary singer.

If you do remix “Wake Up” and post it up on Indaba then be sure to drop me a line with a link to your entry by clicking HERE. I’d love to check out what you do. I’ll be sure to leave a comment on Indaba for your mix as well.

Get remixing!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a new DJ mix here but I’m hoping the frequency increases in the coming months. Soon I should be making an announcement regarding a monthly online radio show I’m launching which will mean monthly mixes that I’ll post here. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here’s the free DJ mix I gave away at our April 2009 ¡Club Queso! party in Orlando, FL. I’m personally quite into this one, as it starts in a deep, techy house realm and smoothly evolves into the funky stuff. I hope you’ll dig it as well. (more…)

Right on, everybody … you may remember a time when a little party called Holy Frijoles! (the precursor to another little party called ¡Club Queso!) was hosted in downtown Orlando at a curious upstairs spot named AKA Lounge. It’s a cool club right by the corner of Pine and Magnolia, with steps leading up to a roomy, dark space tailor-made for dancing and drinking and the sorts of activities one does in nightclubs when funky tunes are playing.

And thus it’s been a while since I’ve played there myself … but this Saturday I’m revving up the wayback machine and returning to AKA Lounge to help launch a new regular night of house music mayhem titled Solid. I’ll be joined by a trio of associates, Rob Slac, Edson Xavier, and John Stuart, as we load up the tunes and fling aural goodness out onto the floor for all dancing feet to behold. (more…)