Nothing Can Stop The Masters At Work

I have a ton of remixes by Masters At Work aka Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez & 'Little' Louie Vega, so it was a bit of a surprise to find that they've barely featured on this blog. Some redress today then, with a 10-song, 70-minute selection of remixes from 1992 to 2003.

Masters At Work immediately get down to business with a remix of their own side project, Nuyorican Soul, which bravely tackled Rotary Connection's I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun in the late 1990s. I featured this remix and multiple other versions of the song last September.

 

The selection closes with an equally brave rework of I Feel Love by Donna Summer. I've chopped the pounding intro from the full length eleven and a half minute original, cutting in for a (hopefully) smoother segue from Les Negresses Vertes, but it's a monster track nevertheless.

 

Trawling the MAW pages on Discogs for info, I spotted a comment from imad909 who summed it up as well as anyone can: "Years will come, years will go, but the work these two have put out will remain". 

 

I'm succumbing to the urge to dance even as I sit here typing this. Be warned, this groove is highly contagious.

1) I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (MAW Remix) (Cover of Rotary Connection): Nuyorican Soul ft. Q-Tip & Jocelyn Brown (1997)

2) Show Me (Masters At Work R & B Mix): Ultra Naté (1994)

3) Reaching For The Stars (Masters At Work Mix): Fantastic Plastic Machine ft. Incognito (2003)

4) Time To Make You Mine (Kenlou Supa Mix): Lisa Stansfield (1992)

5) Helpless (The Kenlou Remix): Urbanized (1992)

6) Around The World (Mellow Mix): Daft Punk (1996)

7) Nothing Can Stop Us (House Mix): Saint Etienne (1992)

8) Very Important People (Masters At Work Main Mix): GusGus (1999)

9) Après La Pluie (Main Vocal) (Rukus Dubba): Les Negresses Vertes (1995)

10) I Feel Love (Masters At Work 12-Inch Mix): Donna Summer (1995)

Nothing Can Stop The Masters At Work (1:11:22)

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun

In 1971, (The New) Rotary Connection releases their fifth and final album, Hey, Love. The writing was already on the wall: superlative singer Minnie Riperton had already been presented as a solo artist the previous Christmas; although a few years away from career-defining song, Lovin' You, her prodigious talent was unmistakable. The last gasp of the Rotary Connection was no half-baked effort, however, and contained the epic blast of celebration and affirmation that is I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun.

A quarter of century later in 1997, Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez & 'Little' Louie Vega aka Masters At Work revisited this classic as Nuyorican Soul. Apart from the switch from male to female lead vocals - superbly realised by Jocelyn Brown - it's a pretty faithful take on the song.

Their remix as Masters At Work ups the funky beats and sprinkles in some Q-Tip for good measure...

...but the winner for me is the 4 Hero Remix, which retains much of the original, then explodes into a breakbeat and strings frenzy in the latter half, to stirring effect.

Last but not least is a more recent take from 2018 by Toshio Matsuura Group, the Japanese DJ and producer joined by an impressive line up, including Tom Herbert (The Invisible, Acoustic Ladyland) on bass, Dan Leavers (The Comet Is Coming) on piano, Crispin "Spry" Robinson (Galliano) on percussion, Tom Skinner (Sons Of Kemet) on drums and Cuban vocalist, composer, arranger, choir director, and band leader Daymé Arocena on vocals. This version is heavier on guitar and drops into a rousing samba for the climax. You can buy the song here.

 

 

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun: The New Rotary Connection (1971) 

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (Album Version): Nuyorican Soul ft. Jocelyn Brown (1997) 

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (MAW Remix): Nuyorican Soul ft. Jocelyn Brown & Q-Tip (1997) 

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun (4 Hero Remix): Nuyorican Soul ft. Jocelyn Brown (1997)  

I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun: Toshio Matsuura Group ft. Daymé Arocena (2018)