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Master remastered

Louie Vega takes a break from the turntables and strikes up the band

by SCOTT C

As one half of the dance music powerhouse known as Masters at Work, “Little” Louie Vega has produced hip hop, R&B, house and techno alongside his longtime partner Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez since the early ’90s. This New Year’s Eve, Vega brings his 12-piece Elements of Life band to Montreal, to ring in 2007 in style at 514’s swanky, dining-drinking-and-dancing party, Celebration. The Mirror spoke to Louie over the phone from Barcelona.

Mirror: I know you probably have several New Year’s options that bump up just about every year. It’s obviously a lucrative gig. How did you choose this booking, in the end?

Louie Vega: It’s definitely a big deal, and I was supposed to spend it at home with the family, but the opportunity came up for me to be together with the Elements of Life band. We haven’t gigged all year because we’re working on a new album. I mean, we’ve had a few small things, but not the usual 15-gig tour that we do in Europe, the U.K. and the U.S. I’ve been DJing just as much, and using the musicians in the studio, but not all 12 of us at the same time.

M: How long did it take to get a cohesive group together, one that you really felt good about to take on the road?

LV: Well, I’ve been working with a lot of the guys in the band for eight to 10 years in the studio, but we’ve only been touring for the last four years. When we first went out, we went to Japan and did 16 shows, and that was where we really got the hang of being with each other on stage. At first, I wasn’t even going to go on stage, but the guys in the band convinced me. They said that people would probably love to see me conducting the band, much like I had done in rehearsal. It’s wonderful because I’m not DJing, but I’m still playing the music through my band.

A new spin

M: Are you a trained musician?

LV: I play keyboards, and I had a little classical training for about five years when I was younger, but not really. In the early ’90s, I did the When the Night is Over LP with Mark Anthony, and played on there, and just kept it up. A lot of the early Masters at Work stuff has me playing keyboards on it, but in the latter years, as I got older and had all of these great musicians around, I got spoiled. When I’m on stage though, I’m not even playing an instrument. I’m just conducting the band.

M: So you’re literally up there constructing arrangements the same way you would with sections already tracked in the studio.

LV: Yeah! I’m bringing to life exactly what I’m doing on my records, except the band takes it a step further when they start improvising. There’s a lot of fun stuff that happens. It’s really something I never thought I’d be doing, but a lot of my family has done this. My uncle was a famous salsa singer who worked with Hector La Voz and Willie Colon, and watching them with the band when they were performing always stayed with me.

M: It seems like quite a natural progression to me, looking back on how your music has evolved over the years. You’ve always made music that people can feel, but the next logical step is conducting things live.

LV: It’s great. It almost feels like when I first started DJing, except people get to see me and the music in a different light.

With Jojoflores at Celebration at Théâtre Olympia on Sunday, Dec. 31, 7 p.m., $85 ($145 with dinner)