Roots NYC | Louie Vega & Kevin Hedge

A godfather of global dance music, Louie Vega has painted an award-winning career from a palette mixed with everything from salsa and afro-beat, to jazz, hip-hop and soul.
A godfather of global dance music, Louie Vega has painted an award-winning career from a palette mixed with everything from salsa and afro-beat, to jazz, hip-hop and soul. What distinguishes the Grammy winner and 4-time nominee as one of the best living house music deejays is his ability to evolve alongside the times, distill the current musical landscape through his unique taste and put his own timeless spin on it. ???Little??? Louie Vega, as he is sometimes affectionately known, was born in the Bronx into a musically gifted family (his father, a jazz saxophonist, and his uncle, Salsa King H??ctor Lavoe). The ???Little??? moniker is ironic, given the fact that by the 80s he was deejaying at clubs he wasn???t even old enough to attend, holding residencies at Studio 54, Devil???s Nest, Hearthrob, Roseland, and the Palladium. Soon Vega was producing his own remixes, which included Information Society???s ???Running???, Noel???s ???Silent Morning??? and Debbie Gibson???s ???Only in my Dreams???. Then in 1991 he joined Atlantic Records???and hit the mainstream. Teaming with an-up-and-coming Marc Anthony, he helped to produce ???Ride on the Rhythm???. An immediate hit, the single put Vega and Anthony on the map. The duo would rock the club circuit, with their success culminating when they opened for Tito Puente at his 100 Album concert at Madison Square Garden.
One of the keys to Vega???s success is his knack for refusing to being boxed into any one category, not only reflected in the various music styles his songs play with, but by his fruitful collaborations with other artists. And so more success came in 1991 from the production team he created with Brooklyn-based deejay Kenny ???Dope??? Gonzalez. Masters at Work, as they were called, were responsible for the critically acclaimed albums ???Nuyorican Soul??? and ???Masters At Work ??? Our Time is Coming???. Not to mention the duo found the time to remix and or produce for Michael Jackson, Luther Vandross, Madonna, Jamiroquai, Tito Puente, India, Janet Jackson, Tania Maria, George Benson, Black Eyed Peas, Jocelyn Brown, Los Amigos Invisibles, Bebe Winans, and Earth Wind & Fire.
Vega has always been hungry for a challenge, and the aughts saw him move into new roles that expanded on his artistry; first up, that of record label owner. Featuring a roster that included Anan?? Vega, Luisito Quintero, Elements Of Life (his live band), Mr. V, Boddhi Satva, Hugh Masekela, Roberto Roena, Lisa Fischer, and Cindy Mizelle, Vega Records has released over 130 singles and 9 Full Length CD / Albums. In addition, Louie Vega has released over 25 compilations (with over 2 million cds sold) on the industry???s most revered imprints, including Ministry of Sound Recordings, Defected Records, Kingstreet, Azuli, Division (Italy), Concept, & Strictly Rhythm records.
In his other venture he joined with world-renowned NYC-based jewelry designer Kenny Hwang to create a signature line of hats, jewelry, t-shirts, and additional memorabilia. As these businesses flourished, so did Vega???s music, and in 2006 he received a Grammy Award for his remix of Curtis Mayfield???s ???Superfly??? on Rhino Records. Then, not more than a year later, Cirque Du Soleil approached him and the house-music group Blaze to compose and produce a song for a once in a lifetime event. And so Anan?? Vega and Elements Of life performed the song ???One Dream??? to the acrobatics of Cirque Du Soleil during the 2007 Super Bowl Pre-Game Show to over 70,000 people at Dolphin Stadium in Florida and were seen by 145 million television viewers.
???Yet as we move through the twenty-tens, Louie shows no signs of slowing down???
The past four years since April 2010 have brought forth yet another outlet for Vega. Hosted by Vega and Kevin Hedge, the Roots NYC LIVE Radio Show airs on WBLS 107.5 (New York???s longest running R&B and soul radio station). Rated the #3 radio show in New York on Friday night, they air every Friday from 10PM ??? Midnight (stream live www.wbls.com). To keep the music flowing on all the continents, Vega can also be heard every Saturday from 5pm ??? 6pm over IBIZA SONICA on the Sunset Ritual Radio show with Anane Vega in Spain (www.ibizasonica.com), and every Saturday at 10pm via KAYA FM???s Dance Ritual with Louie Vega (www.kayafm.co.za) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ever the music innovator, in 2013 Vega released Elements of Life ??? Eclipse on the legendary Fania records. The record, 4 ?? years in the making, keeps the style of Vega???s earlier albums (African, Jazz, Latin, World), but injects it with Soul, R&B, Gospel and Blues. Featured artists on the album include Anan?? Vega, Lisa Fischer, Cindy Mizelle, Ursula Rucker, Josh Milan, Luisito Quintero, Oveus Maximus and an all-star cast of musicians. The occasion was momentous not only because it was the first new artist album Fania had released in years. In Vega???s words, ??????[It] really comes full circle now, being able to be on the label my uncle H??ctor Lavoe was on and the Fania All Stars who are all great inspirations for me. Fania Records is to Latin music what Motown is to R&B and Soul, so to even be a small page in this encyclopedia of music is a dream come true for me.???
With all the good fortune he???s received, Vega finds it crucial to give back. During most of his free time he donates Vega Memorabilia to auctions, deejays at fundraisers and serves as a good will ambassador for the Christian Rivera Foundation. Currently, Vega and Anan?? are headlining their Sunset Ritual brand, an outdoor party held at prestigious beach clubs around the world and drenched in the sounds of House, Global Disco, Afro tech and Old School. Sunset Ritual has toured the Mediterranean every summer since 2010, including a two-year residency at the Blue Marlin beach club in Ibiza. Just this past year, from the 21st of June until the 20th of September 2013, the Sunset Ritual???s good vibes were back in Ibiza, this time at the famed Ushua??a Hotel. This May 2014, Anan?? and Louie will release the first Sunset Ritual cd/dvd. Then in the summer Sunset Ritual will resume across beaches of Ibiza, Formentera, Italy, and Greece. In 2014, Masters At Work will reunite with a full blown project and Anthology on the House Masters Defected Release #21. Louie Vega & Kenny Dope will once again come together to create music and do what they do best, produce and make you dance!Breaking down musical barriers and bringing people together through a love of music has always been Vega???s aim; after more than 20 years in the game his contributions continue to positively influence the global house and world music.
Listen closely as the best has yet to come from Louie Vega!


Kevin is one half of the songwriting/production team known as
BLAZE. They have been recording dance-oriented music for
over 25 years and are considered to be pioneers in soulful
house sound. As songwriter, producer, and re-mixer Kevin has
worked with some of the industry???s' biggest names.
Most recently Kevin has release his first track in over 6 years,
"Follow Your Heart" on the High Rise Label, debuting at #2 on
TRAXSOURCE within the first day of its release FEB 15th 2012.
The track feature's RICK GALACTIK of DJN Project and has
the signature BLAZE sound we've come to know and love over
the past 25 years. Kevin is back in the studio and there is no
stopping him, be on the look out for new music coming soon!

BLAZE, the trio started to develop demo recordings in the style of the days popular club music. With ???DJ??? Kevin at the controls, Josh ???the piano man??? on the synthesizer and the ???lead vocal??? styling of Chris, they turned out song after song for other artist and producers to record. Some included ???This Time??? by Colonel Abrams knock off Hunter Hayes, ???One Man??? by Chanelle and ???Reachin??? ??? by Phase II. The three ultimately signed their first record deal with the newly formed Quark records in ???85, producing three major club hits of the time; ???Whatcha Gonna Do???, ???If You Should Need A Friend??? and ???Can???t Win For Losing???.
The BLAZE sound caught the ear of then Motown Vice-president of A&R Timmy Regisford, who immediately put them to work on numerous Motown projects. ???These guys were making productions that was raw enough to move the club, but they always kept the integrity of the songs.??? Regisford on Blaze. By now, the Blaze sound was capturing the spirit of dancers in the clubs and the hearts of radio listeners in NY. With so many original productions receiving commercial success, the team was in high demand as remix producers and overdub musicians for other remixers. As remixers Blaze have work on Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Macy Gray, Jamiriqui, Lisa Stansfield, Babyface, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson, and countless others. As overdub musicians they have worked with DJ/producers David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, Timmy Regisford, Masters at Work and many others. It was at this point Timmy Regisford decided it was time to take it to the next level, he invited Kevin, Chris and Josh to record a full length album for the soul music icon Motown. ???25 Years Later??? Blazes??? first long player was critically acclaimed upon its??? initial release in ???91 and has since went on to become one of house musics??? classic albums. ???This was the first time we had the time and the budget to experiment, with sounds, equipment, and live instruments.??? Kevin notes ???This project allowed us to try out the song writing and production styles of our musical heroes.??? When listening to ???25 Years Later??? you can hear all of Blazes??? influences as well as their signature soulful house sound. Josh reflects ???We really didn???t know what we were doing. We just tried to emulate the productions of artist like Donnie Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and many others, who created the soul music of the seventies.??? What???s most impressive about this work is, they wrote into the lyrics and the interludes a concept, an over riding theme, the story of a slain civil rights leader who was to be the reincarnate of Malcom X.

After touring with bands and playing places like Wembley arena, most of the Caribbean islands and major cities in the U.S. . Blaze returned home to start businesses that included; real estate, car services, retail stores and nightlife(Kevin and Josh co-owned and promoted the Club Shelter in NYC). During this time Chris decided to continue his career in the now popular hip hop R&B music genre, leaving Josh and Kevin to further their careers by writing and producing for other artist and vocalists. ???We took this time to reflect on where we had been and what we had done, but moreover where we were going.??? says Milan. ???It was during this period we(now only Josh and Kevin) began to find other voices.??? Kevin quips. ??? We really crafted some of the production and writing tricks we are known for today, during that time.???

Hedge and Milan went on to produce three more albums under the Blaze banner : ???Basic Blaze??? on Slip-n-Slide/UK, ???Natural Blaze : the James Toney Jr. Project??? on Life Line/Japan and ???Spiritually Speaking??? on Slip-n-Slide/UK . Also you will find many compilation albums comprising some of Blazes??? greatest hits, a few are : ???6 Hubert St.??? on Avex/Japan, ???Pure Blaze??? on Easy Street/US, ???Blaze Productions??? on Playhouse/Germany and ???Spiritually Speaking then and now??? West End/US. In ???95 Blaze scored their biggest writing success with a song called ???Hideaway??? performed by De???lacy. The song went into the top ten on the UK charts and was added to a vast array compilations, racking up sales in the millions. Josh and Kevin also penned charts hits for Amira ???My Desire???, "Most Precious Love" feat. Barbara Tucker, and themselves with the no# 1 dance hit ???Breathe???. This helps to maintains the duo as one of the most sought after writing, production and remix teams in the business.

Blaze went on to be involved in various other productions and businesses. Kevin later partnered with the ???God Father of Disco??? Mel Cheren to relaunch his seminal dance imprint West End records. Blaze then released their very first mix compilation on West End entitled ???Found Love??? feat. the hit single title track ???Found Love??? by Blaze. A song dedicated to the truest kind of love, the love of self. Kevin spells out ???You can only share love if you have it and it all starts with loving yourself.??? ???I feel Kevin and Joshs??? music is the perfect match for West Ends??? legacy. They produce danceable R&B songs. Not only are they great artist but also
good businessmen.??? Cheren proudly announced. ???Our goal is to do what the label has always done. Release great music that will stand the test of time.??? says Kevin who serves as president. Musically the group have collaborated with super DJ/Producer Louie Vega (one half of the production team Masters at Work) to assist him with the production of his own solo debut long player ???Elements Of Life???. Vega quotes ???Blaze are pioneers in our house music community. I???ve been lucky enough to watch them become masters as songwriters, producers and artists. I was honoured to work with them on the songs ???Elements Of Life??? and ???Brand New Day???. In retrospect, I learned a valuable musical lesson from my experiences with Blaze. There were more emotions inside of me that needed to be expressed, but it couldn???t grow without the fostering I received from so many people, beginning with Blaze.???

After more than 20 years on the scene BLAZE is now just Kevin Hedge and he continues to produce relevant hits today as he did back in ???85. For the past 8 years Kevin has partnered with Little Louie Vega to produced the longest running weekly house party in NYC. RootsNYC located in the heart of NYC's meatpacking district at Cielo Club takes place every Wednesday night with Kevin and Louie DJing each week. Louie & Kevin create a home for house music each and every week, spinning timeless hits that represent the very best the music they love has to offer. Playing together and with Guest Djs and artists they have made ROOTSNYC and Cielo a must attend event each week within the house community and for visitors from around the world. In 2010 Kevin and Louie took ROOTSNYC to the mainstream with America's #1 R&B radio station WBLS 107.5 every Friday night. In two short years ROOTSNYCLIVE on WBLS has become the #1 House Music Show in the nation enjoying a prime time slot from 10pm to 12am with no signs of slowing. Currently Kevin is gearing up for his first original studio production in seven years, "Follow Your Heart" is slated for release February 2012. "I see myself as a tool being used by the universe helping to bring lyrical messages and melodies to the world.??? Kevin explains ???Music is communication. Ideas come to us from the spirit of creation.".

Blazing the past, present and future, Kevin Hedge is truly excited for all the universe has to reveal through music and the creators guidance.