Soul And / Or Related Artists
masters at work

Masters At Work

Formed 1990, New York, New York State, U.S.A.

Masters At Work consist of:

Little Louie Vega

and

Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez

Masters At Work are Little Louie Vega and Kenny 'Dope' Gonzalez, who together have been responsible for some of the most innovative dance remixes throughout the Nineties and into the Millennium.

Little Louis Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez were both born to parents living in New York.

Although their roots are Puerto Rican, the pair were born in Brooklyn and the Bronx respectively.

Their roots influenced the progression of salsa within many of their musical creations.

Little Louis Vega's uncle is the resected salsa vocalist Hector Lavoe.

His father played saxophone in several Latin groups for 30 years.

Kenny Gonzalez' father Hector Torres is, additionally, a salsa connouisseur.

The pair were involved in two parts of the music scene within the 1980's....rap and house music.

As producers the pair developed a reputation which led them to producing several dance acts at the time.

Collaborating in 1990, they both took their name from Kenny's mobile Deejay team who garnered a reputation at several music dance labels including Strictly Rhythm, Nervous, Cutting and Big Beat.

The name was previously borrowed by Todd Terry during the late Eighties.

The first Masters at Work single, was titled 'Blood Vibes,' on Cutting Records.

Their first solo album 'Masters at Work' LP was released in 1993, on Cutting Records.

The album featured vocal chores featuring Jocelyn Brown, India (Louis Vega's wife) and Todd Terry.

As they released further remixes, they came to the attention of more major label artists including Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Madonna, George Benson, Brand New Heavies, Lisa Stansfield, Chic, Soul II Soul, and Ce Ce Peniston amongst others.

This led to the pair instigating their own Masters At Work Records subsidiary.

By 1997, they were in a position to create, perhaps their finest recording to date under the name of Nuyorican Soul.

The album was well received with House fans and Soul purists alike and featured soul / jazz veterans, George Benson, Roy Ayers, Tito Puente, Dave Valentin).

In 1998, Masters at Work compiled some of their various projects on 'Masterworks: Essential KenLou House Mixes and MAW Records: The Compilation, Vol. 1'.

Recent remixes have featured BeBe Winans, Patti Austin and Jody Watley on her Japanese 'Midnight Lounge' album outing.

In 2002, the pair released 'Our Time Is Coming' on Tommy Boy Records, an album that featured Roy Ayers amongst others.

Real Player

Albums:

The Album (Cutting 1993)

Mixmag Live!, Vol. 10 (Mixmag 1995)

Nuyorican Soul (MAW 1997)

West End Recordings: 25 Anniversary Edition... (West End 2001)

Our Time Is Coming (Tommy Boy 2002)

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