An artist who has such talent, style and longevity is a rare creature nowadays... and Italo-German Vincenzo Ragone, known to the House world as Vincenzo, is indeed one of these special creatures! Hard to track down and often a man of the night, Ragone has been casting his deep and truly one-of-a-kind takes on House and Techno out into the ether for well over a decade.
Vincenzo was a true child of the Acid House explosion, and one of an original cast of Hamburg based Djs and Producers, hanging out and collaborating with friends who would later become some of the trend setting icons of the present - notably Poker Flat's future ringmaster Steve Bug offered him some crucial gigs at the revered 'Reduced' parties at Hamburg's 'Front' Club! From here on the star in the making went on to produce his first ever productions for the Raw Elements label, alongside Sandro Catallo in 1995, and then released his first ever solo tracks with the label in '97.
His production energies began to draw him further and further into this magical music, which knew no bounds, and in 1998 Vincenzo released his debut album, the classic '1-800-Vincenzo,' on none other than the newly blossoming Dessous Imprint to great International applause. Numerous solo and collaborative releases followed, notching up studio time in New York with Alexi Delano (aka A.D.N.Y), leading to the A.D.N.Y & Vincenzo project. Clearly picking up a heavy dose of those soulful, US House flavours that would never wash away... His year spent living in New York proved Vincenzo had real International appeal, and increased touring to play gigs in House Clubs stateside, as well as globally, confirmed this musical passion was meant to be.
His relationship with the funky yet stripped, Deep House movement continued through his enigmatic 'Strip Joint Grooves' series on Dessous, and also through further collaborations with San Francisco's Dj Rasoul, Nottingham's John Buckby aka Schmoov, Marc Schneider (aka Snider) and many, many more. Indeed his name and musical offerings continued to elevate and inspire, and recent releases and remixes on Dessous and Hamburg's Liebe*Detail records suggested a more mature, techy sound had sprouted from the seasoned house-head's mixing desk. 2007's notable remix for the Liebe*Detail offshoot label 'Spezial', a stunning re-think of a Move-D modern classic, 'Anne Will', won him notoriety for effortlessly transcending both the Deep House and Minimal Techno worlds.... creating a reduced beach party track that also had the power to deeply rock the clubs!
Vincenzo racked-up a serious amount of air miles over his long and busy career (and he continues to do so!) He has worked with some of the most important producers and labels within his field of expertise, yet he maintains a humble existence, not wanting to over -play his part in the grand scheme of things. In fact, he shouldn't be so humble, as his records, both old and new, are consistently played and charted by a spectrum of Djs that most producers could only dream of... No surprise then that his most recent EP for Dessous, 'The Resident,' picked up big support from steve bug,laurent garnier,josh wink,ian pooley and sasse.only to name a few: proof once more that this traditionally-underground impresario of House is here to stay, and continues to share his unique sound with the world.
Influences
just listen to:
surface - falling in love
carly simon - why
Q - the voice of Q
bobby caldwell - open your eyes
george benson - love ballad
norma jean - saturday
steely dan - peg
deodato - night cruiser
ashford & simpson - it seems to hang on
girgio moroder - evolution
karen young - deetour
teena marie - i need you lovin´
klique - i can´t shake the feeling
hi mate ! where you are is beautiful !!! really.... sounds so warm 'n' chilly ! ;-) but i can never forget the charmer !!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW *love*
Hey Sir Vincelot! No sleep till Brooklyn. Check mal unsere neuen Songs. Werd auch mal am Samstag ins Watergate schlendern. Meld mich vorher noch per Phone. Greetz Len!
Diesen Mittwoch - 30.04- geht die Dimension des verrückten Feierns im Mädcheninternat in die dritte Runde und wir rocken gemeinsam glückselig in den MadMai. Los geht es um 20:59 Uhr mit live Funk outside- für Frühankömmlinge steht wie immer an der Kasse eine Überraschung bereit. Und das alles für nur 5 Euronen. Wer uns an der Kasse gebührend an-Määähääähääd zahlt nur 4 Euro!
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