Lubi 

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LUBI JOVANOVIC: ORIGINAL UK LATIN DON!

Lubi Jovanovic is a latin music DJ, club promoter, tour organiser, p.r. consultant and journalist with 20 years experience in the business. From his base in Leeds (North of England), he has expanded to promoting and working across the whole of the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe, and through his journalism, is known across the global latin/salsa scene.

 He first began DJ-ing at the tender age of 18, playing latin jazz, Brazilian samba, mambo and descarga  to jazzdancers in Bradford in 1983, before running one of the first clubnights in the UK outside London in 1986 – “Club Afro-Latino” – in Leeds. A groundbreaking club that blended salsa with African music many years before Africando made it popular! Remember, this is the time when DJ’s spun vinyl, and dance-teachers were still to make an appearance!

 Bands were the main attraction, alongside the first generation of latin DJs – Sue Steward, John Armstrong, Tomek, Lucy Duran, DJ Dominique, Dave Hucker, Brian Parsons, Sylvester, Snowboy, Ara, Johnny G, to name but a few! A strong and vibrant underground latin scene was already established in London and the bigger cities, and Lubi started working all over the UK as a guest – London, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Newcastle - spreading his own salsa gospel according to Fania! As salsa romantica swept the scene, he kept it real with “salsa dura” from the 70’s and 80’s, mambo, bugalu and latin jazz!

 In 1990, he began a monthly session at The Gallery in Leeds called “Mambo Show”, co-ordinating DJ sets around the top UK bands of the time – Roberto Pla Ensemble, La Clave, Vik Hugo y Salsa Picante, Salsa y Ache. This session lasted four years, and in 1993, a new clubnight ran alongside it. Called “Bugalu”, and at the tiny Café Mex venue, it blended Lubi’s two loves – latin and funky jazz (or “acid jazz” as it was called at the time!).

 In 1995, he and DJ partner Chico Malo launched a weekly clubnight that was to become almost legendary in the UK latin scene – CASA LATINA. For seven years, without a break, Casa Latina rocked to the sound of live salsa and timba, DJ sets, dance shows and dance classes! First at the now defunct Underground, and then at The Wardrobe, Casa Latina presented some of the heaviest gigs ever seen in the UK! Check this line-up out:- Eddie Palmieri, Jimmy Bosch, Alfredo de la Fe, Manolito y su Trabuco, Charanga Habanera, Maraca y Otra Vision, Tito Allen, Issac Delgado, Grupo Klimax, Los Jovenes Del Barrio, Grupo Sierra Maestra, Wayne Gorbea Band, Son 14, Johnny Blas, Candido Fabre, Cubanismo, Afro Cuban Allstars, Orlando Poleo, Ricardo Lemvo, Pucho & The Latin Soul Brothers, La Barriada – these are just the foreign bands! Check the list of UK bands – Roberto Pla Ensemble, Merengada, Sextetto Café, Tumbaito, Raices Cubanas, Salsa y Ache, La Clave, Grupo X, Bombele, Candela, Sidestepper, Mo’timba, Snowboy & The Latin Section – infact, every major band that existed passed through!

 With such a variety of live bands, Lubi’s DJ sets reflected this diversity – salsa dura, mambo, bugalu, latin raga, Cuban timba (converted when in 1990 on a trip to Cuba, he heard, and bought, the first NG La Banda album), meren-house, latino rap, Cuban hiphop, latin drum & bass – almost everything except tex-mex music!!

 Through Casa Latina, his name as a DJ and promoter spread even more. He played regularly at venues in London and across the UK – Bar Rumba, The Scala, Jazz Café (Casa Latina had a monthly residency there for a year), Latin Massive (Bath), Latin Motion (Birmingham), Club Latino (Edinburgh), Pontins Salsa Weekenders, Bacardi B-Bars (major festivals such as Manchester Mardi Gras, V99, Leeds/Reading, V2002). He started running spin-off nights in other cities (“La Bomba” – Sheffield, “Vida Loca” – Stockton, “Buena Vista” – Belfast). He co-promoted the only ever UK show for DLG in London in 1999, and began writing on latin music for the new batch of latin/salsa magazines that sprung up at the end of the 90’s (Latin London, Salsamaniac, Salsaworld).

 Sadly, in February 2002, after every week for 7 years, Casa Latina finished. Lubi and business partner Chico Malo went their separate ways. Lubi immediately launched “SALSOUL!”, a weekly session in Leeds that featured salsa with soul/r&b, spread over two floors. Purely a DJ/danceclass/danceshow affair, in February 2003, it celebrated it’s first birthday with over 500 people attending! Music policy is what it says – salsa with soul! Playing the funkier end of salsa and latin music – r&b latino, Cuban timba,  latin hiphop, funky salsa dura – it attracts a mainly younger crowd who love to switch between floors , checking Soneros Del Barrio or Johnny Polanco one minute, then Nas, Mary J.Blige and Ja Rule the next!

 Lubi’s other regular session is “DESCARGA LATINA”, a monthly live session at The Hifi Club, the son of Casa Latina! First Tuesday of the month, live bands play a set around Lubi’s hard-core salsa/timba/mambo DJ set. No dance class, no dance shows – the focus is purely on the music!

 Guest slots over the past 12 months have included WOMAD Festival (Canary Islands),  Copenhagen Jazzhus (DJ support for Cuba’s Charanga   Habanera), London La Linea Festival (DJ support for Cuban rappers Orishas), Barcelona Powder Room (old school latin funk/ bugalu/mambo vinyl set!), London Jazz Café (DJ support for Chicano rap/funk band Ozomatli), Bar Cuba Galway (Ireland), V2002 Festival (B-Bar Tent). Forthcoming special guest slots include DJ support for Los Van Van in London, more WOMAD Festival appearances overseas (Spain, Italy, Holland), first ever gig in Belgrade (as a 2^nd generation Serb, a very big personal event!), and still to be confirmed, a “Salsoul!” special in Paris!

 When not DJ-ing and club promoting, Lubi writes on latin music for global jazz magazine Straight No Chaser (readership 100,000 worldwide), both interviewing artists, and doing 2-3 pages of reviews in his “Latin Lowdown” column. He also runs Slavoloco Promotions, a latin music p.r. company that does club promo mailouts to djs for various record companies (World Circuit, Palm Pictures, Ryko Latino, Candid Records, Salsa International, Irma Records, Loft, Nascente – to name a few)!

 Finally, DJ Lubi is principle CD compiler for London based Nascente Record, part of the Demon Music Group. Until now, he has compiled the following CDs:- "Beginner's Guide To Salsa" (40,000 sales UK and Europe), "Beginner's Guide To Cuba" (20,000 sales so far), "Salsa Moderna 2" (10,000 sales so far), "Urban Latino" (released in October 2004). In 2005, he has two scheduled releases for the label. "Very Best Of Salsa", release date is April 2005, and "Beginner's Guide To Latin Music", release date June 2005