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MUSIC > Swingsett
Soulful underground music, including nujazz, deep house, hip hop and drum & bass have all been a part of
Swingsett's long NYC-based DJ career, going on 14 years at this point. He has been dj'ing in NYC since
1992, actually getting his first club and rave work in his native Colorado (Denver), college radio station and
house parties in 1988. Since arriving in NYC, he's been very closely related to and involved with the US
Drum & Bass, Downtempo and Nujazz scene since, as a resident or 'regular guest' at the United States'
first weekly jungle party, Konkrete Jungle, been local support for dozens of shows with Giant Step, sharing
playtime with many of the world's best, including Mr. Scruff, Seiji, Incognito, Carleen Anderson, Donald
Byrd, Guru's Jazzmatazz, Gil Scott-Heron, DJ Krush, Roni Size/Reprazent's debut live USA show in 1997
,
and other events with "Magic" Juan Atkins, Joshua Iz + Diz, Jef K, Miguel Migs, Holmar Filippson, Shy FX,
Gilles Peterson, DJ Ron, Charlie Dark (Attica Blues), LTJ Bukem, Neil Aline, DJSS, Die & Krust, Bryan Gee, ,
Afronaught, Cooly's Hot Box, D-Influence, and Soulstice.
His DJ residencies and guest spots since 1992 have taken him to countless clubs and bar lounges in
Manhattan and internationally. Some of his NYC residencies and guest nights include his own landmark 7
year running Testpress Sundays (1997-2003) weekly at Drinkland, PS1, Shine, Centro-Fly, Baktun, Joe's
Pub, Tavern On The Green Summer Series, and Happy Ending to name a few. Internationally, he's played
Bar Rhumba and Dog Star Pub in London, Kerma in Helsinki, Hamburg, Toronto, Vancouver, Raw Fusion in
Stockholm, events in Amsterdam, Copenhagen (Club Vega), Tallinn (Estonia), Cannes (MIDEM), San
Francisco, LA, San Diego, Seattle, Denver, and WMC Miami ('96, '97 and 2000-2003). He's also been rated
as a Top 100 International DJ by Bikini Magazine and Streetsound.
Swingsett's roots are diverse, yet all have the quality of soul, dub or jazz flavor, from hip hop, rare funk
and soul, then moving into acid jazz & abstract hip hop, before focusing primarily on jungle and deep house
in 1996. He formed a dj/ production partnership with DJ Wally from 1996 to 1998, and continue their
musical collaborations into this year. Their 'Dog Leg Left' LP on Ubiquity Records was one of 1997's most
critically and DJ-acclaimed releases. He then hooked up with J.Warrin (formerly of Slide 5), as they shared
an understanding and influence of dub, jazz and soul.
Together they formed Ism Records as an outlet for their collaborative 12" experiments with breakbeat
drums and heavy sub-bass and beautiful melodics. Swingsett's depth in music and beats as a DJ and
producer combined with J.Warrin's jazz musicianship and production background, produced an innovative
sound that seamlessly moves between styles of breakbeat, dub, soul, house and drum&bass. Recording
under the name DJ Swingsett & J.Warrin, in 2000, they released a full length CD, "Sights Unseen", which
featured the vocal talents of Lisa Shaw on 3 of the album's songs. Ism Records expanded to include two
additional labels, ism'assive Recordings for drum & bass and Esho Recordings for deep, soulful house, both
releasing a slew of highly rated and press-lauded singles from 2000-2002. Since 1995, DJ Swingsett has
produced or collaborated on music released on Ubiquity, Om, Liquid Sky, Dope On Plastic!, Wave Records,
IRMA Records, Sirkus (UK), In Flight Entertainment (UK) and his own Ism Records imprint.
Currently, Swingsett continues to operate Ism Records focusing on nujazz, broken beat and deep house
vibes. He also continues music production with Takuya Nakamura (of Organic Grooves and Ism Records),
and plans are in works with longtime collaborative partner DJ Wally. All the while organizing, booking and
promoting special NYC events and dj'ing with his ears focused keenly towards melodic, jazz-flavored, deep
dance and atmospheric music.
Swingsett's website
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