Gilles Peterson project

Less than a year after the release and resounding success of Gilles Peterson Presents Havana Cultura: New Cuba Sound, this same globetrotting DJ and tastemaker is back with something new. Actually, new may not be the best way to describe it, but we can say with certainty that Havana Cultura Remixed, appearing this June, is something fresh: two CDs guaranteed to keep us dancing to our favourite Cuban tunes from that first Havana Cutura album.

Gilles began this latest project, the second phase of his teaming up with Havana Cultura, by gathering together world-class DJ heavies such as Carl Cox, "Little" Louie Vega (Masters at Work), Solal (Gotan Project) and MJ Cole, as well as a pair of up-and-comers from Havana called Wichy de Vedado (D-jazz co-founder) and Edgaro (from Doble Filo). Gilles harnessed all this dancefloor energy and distilled it into 11 blistering New Cuba Sound remixes, constituting CD1 of the new release. The second CD is reserved for an hour-long mix of the remixes, expertly spliced together to sound like a club set by Gilles himself.

"For me it was just a natural progression to rework those live studio jams and take them to the club domain with this new Remixed album," Gilles explains. "For example, I felt that Louie Vega could elevate the Afro groove of "Roforofo Fight" to new heights, and he did not disappoint me. Together, a handful of maestros – 4hero, Rainer Trueby, MJ Cole and Carl Cox – alongside the cream of the Cuban electronic scene…makes for an intriguing blend of the traditional and the contemporary and only serves to underscore and celebrate just how far Cuban music today has, and continues to, evolve.”