Track Listing

1. Runaway
2. MAW Latin Blues
3. Gotta New Life
4. It's Alright I Feel It
5. Jazzy Jeff's Theme
6. Roy's Scat
7. You Can Do It (Baby)
8. Shoshana
9. I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun
10. Nervous Track
11. Nautilus (Mawtilus)
12. Mind Fluid
13. Sweet Tears
14. Habriendo El Dominante

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43218 in Music
• Released on: 2000-08-28
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
Little Louis Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, the New York DJs/producers otherwise known as Masters At Work have consistently ignored musical rules when creating their genre-busting music. Nowhere is that refusal more apparent than on their 1997 Nuyorican Soul project. The aim was to explore New York's rich musical heritage by fusing quality jazz, latin, Salsoul disco, funk and hip-hop together. The result was a typically melody-soaked, sublime but burly MAW-style atomic jam, perfect for both dance floor and lounge. Supported by a cross-generational cast of musicians including vibraphonist Roy Ayers, vocalist Jocelyn Brown, New York salsa queen India and Philly hip-hop producer Jazzy Jeff among others, the pair joyously straddled the house/retro divide. Not only was this a ground-breaking album but Vega and Gonzalez successfully resurrected the credible careers of those who had become known as schmaltzy easy-listening fodder: their version of Rotary Connection's "I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun" fused swirling keys with only the best wonky disco ingredients. Sweetly sung by Jocelyn Brown (who previously was under-used as an archetypal shrieking diva), this is a five-minute slice of pure joy that doesn't fail to move. They masterfully reconstructed the glory days of legendary guitarist/singer George Benson with his contribution to the glorious "You Can Do It (Baby)". Elsewhere they provided Roy Ayers with his best material in aeons with "Sweet Tears" and gave us a real taste of real Nuyorican latin-jazz with the great pianist Eddie Palmeiri on " Taita Caneme" and "Habriendo El Dominante". Nuyorican Soulis an unpredictable, inventive, wonderful, landmark album. --Na'solo So' Fahed

CD Description
"Little" Louie Vega and Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez, the duo who collaborate as the Masters At Work production team and are the musical guides for NUYORICAN SOUL have made a career out of pollinating dance floors with funky sounds for nearly twodecades. Funk, jazz, house, R&B, hip-hop and a slew of Afro-Latin-scented rhythms are just some of the ingredients in their clubland stew, and their ability to consistently move the crowd is the chief reason the two have long thrived as DJs and producer on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jazzy improv is at the heart of all the tracks, whether on the pure around-the-horn solo spotlights handed out to Tito Puente's all-star ensemble ("MAW Latin Blues"), in George Benson's guitar-vocal interplay ("You Can Do It"), or with Roy Ayers running his vibes all around a funky house beat ("Sweet Tears"). Jocelyn Brown brings diva flair to the psychedelic trip-hop of "I Am The Black God of the Sun", and the pure disco of India's "Runaway" breaks down into a sort of Philly Soul dub. NUYORICAN SOUL is dance music that sets a challenge for boththe butt and the mind, just like George Clinton said it should.

Customer Reviews

Throughout my life.....
.... I hope to hear this album on a regular basis.

I bought the NuYoricanSoul album when it first came out... and still, whenever I go into a bar, restaurant, or club and hear the soulful tones of India and Jocelyn Brown (accompanied by Roy Ayers, George Benson and Tito Puente and mastered by MAW - Lil' Louie Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez), I die and go to heaven.

This is the music that you want to accompany your laid-back, funky, sunny, HAPPY lifestyle (and if you don't have one yet, it'll be sure to help you on your way!). Music that you can relax to, music that you can make out to - hell, even music that you can dance to (in the privacy of your own home if you're not that good)!

Everyone I know who has this - or who has heard it during visits to my house (where it is played on a regular basis) - agrees that it is one of the finest albums to come out of the late 90's... and as it's relatively undiscovered by the culture vultures, it doesn't feel to have dated. In fact I'd go so far to say that it is a modern classic.

What makes it so amazing is the fact that it's without genre - a fusion of soul, jazz, funk, Latin, Disco, Beats and rhymes... it crosses so many boundaries that whether you are a fan of one or all of the above, you cannot fail to be pleased by the sound created by two of NY's finest DJ's.

(but no, the Armand Van Helden remix of Runaway isn't on it)

Absoulutely Brilliant!
They can't do anything wrong! This album is a definitive guide to the sound produced by Masters At Work! This is Kenny "dope" Gonzalez and "Little" Louie Vega at their best! Mixing House, Soul, Jazz and beutiful latin beats. Featuring vocal talents of India, Joceyln Brown and George Benson. Stand out tracks are "Got A New Life", "Runaway" and "I Am The Black Gold Of The Sun". Everything they touch turns to gold! This is a must have album for anybody!

An absolute classic cd from MAW - Buy this if nothing else!
This CD is packed full of classics - with guests such as India, Roy Ayres & George Benson.

Produced by "Little" Louie Vega and Kenny " Dope" Gonzalez. (Masters at Work) this one really pushed the boundaries of dance music to new limits on its release in 1997.

It blends the current underground club attitude with latin beats, hip-hop, jazz, funk, disco and soul ie really eclectic and makes a refreshing change to the current crop of 'sound-a-like' trance & house stuff.