| e-liz (aka Elizabeth)'s
Profile Motto: DON’T STOP DANCING (may be interpreted metaphorically). Motivations: I started DJing because I was desperate to have the ‘right’ music to dance to. Then the DJing took a life of its own! Future matters: music festivals in Africa; more radio; regular sessions of chillout Afro-Tropical tunes in suitable café / social venue. About myself I have always loved music and I discovered
dance relatively early on: I am fascinated both by their immediate (i.e.
non-mediated) performative and participatory aspects and by their more
intellectual dimensions (location and role within a given culture; relationship
between words, music, rhythm, musician, dancer, audience, etc).
I first discovered African music during a trip to Kenya. Congolese music was everywhere and I was soon hooked. Over time my interest spread from central and east African music to all African styles and, eventually, across the Atlantic to latin and other forms of composition. Arabic influences from the East and North Africa also came into the melting pot, and all the while ‘World Music’ was taking shape as a commercial domain. Desperate for lack of ‘proper’ music to
dance to, in the early 1990s I started to DJ at parties, and soon
afterward I started a regular African night at the Devonshire Arms. This
tradition, notwithstanding a few brief interruptions and variations,
continues unbroken to this day, its latest incarnation being CALABASH.
I also hosted Afro-Tropical radio shows on local radio for a few years (African Waves on Cambridge Red and AfroTropicaLogic or ATL on Cambridge University Radio). These were fun and I really appreciated the chance to play all styles of music (not just dance music) and to be able to speak a little about the cultural context from which the music emerged. I also enjoy producing themed compilations, and this worked very well in terms of radio programming. Over the years, I have greatly enjoyed
DJing at many different events such as marriages, birthdays, book launches,
corporate events, anniversaries, graduations, leaving parties and the
like. I still see in my mind’s eye many happy sweaty brows and countless
faces beaming with recognition or with the excitement of in-body discovery
… one of the rewards in this line of work!
I would like to express my thanks to Maths Dr Anthony Z Owinoh and my N.I.C.E.R. colleagues for many happy years of shared DJing. Future matters:
- I would like to attend some more music events / music festivals in Africa. - I like the idea of running an Afro-Tropical radio programme again; as things currently stand in my life, such an idea may not be very feasible or wise. Though maybe if I were to cooperate with the N.I.C.E.R. DJs ... - I would enjoy playing relaxed sessions of Afro-Tropical music in the ‘right’ venue: a suitable café or social meeting place. Can anybody tell me whether such a place exists in Cambridge? |
| Nick |
| Innocent |
| Catherine |
| Elizabeth |
| Rumba John |