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Soul by the pound >> Consulting Jojo Flores on his new Gotsoul label
Jojo Flores is a guy who knows when the music feels right, and that’s something he’s planning to put to good use when he and his partners Judy Lee and Stephane Lacroix introduce their new label Gotsoul Recordings to Montreal and the world. Jojo, whose name goes hand in hand with garage and soulful house in this city, has provided music lovers with weekly installments of Therapy, a consistent home to deep house, Afro-Latin rhythms and the odd classic. He’s also got a reputation for handling his business, which is exactly what Gotsoul intends to do. “We’re obviously going to be putting out 12-inch vinyl,” he explains, “but we’re also going to put out CD compilations for trendier companies like hotel boutiques, restaurants and clothing stores—kind of like the Café Del Mar comps. We plan to do consultations for different places and make CDs to suit their needs.” Only in Montreal
could the term “mixed CD consultant” have any sort of true
ring to it, but it doesn’t end there. Gotsoul’s first release
will feature the production talents of Yoruba priest and native New
Yorker Osunlade, whom Jojo became friends with after he made the trip
to Montreal for Therapy. “He actually wanted to move here at one
point,” says Jojo. “Right after the whole September 11 thing,
he just wanted to get out of New York and he asked me to look for a
space for him. He ended up moving to Puerto Rico instead.” Along
with Osunlade, you can also expect releases from Dennis Ferrer, Jojo
himself and the many homegrown talents that have yet to shine. “The
label needs to grow and get strong before we can focus on guys that
are lesser known, but we’ll work our way down.” : At Jello’s Therapy tonight, Thursday, June 13, 10pm |
Everybody
knows that Montreal has soul, even if it has been taking a backseat
to retro-electro and all kinds of minimal tech madness for quite some
time now. The problem is, we all know somebody who technically should
be basking in the warm sunshine of critical acclaim, but they seem content
making sure the music feels right.