Greg Bowes When legendary DJ Little Louie Vega played here last year he altered the country’s entire clubbing complexion with a steady stream of soulful, carnival grooves. As further evidence of the scope of Vega’s influence on global music culture, Latin house instantly became the sound of South Africa’s summer and continues to be popular with the party public. Vega will no doubt fan those flames when he returns on October 6 and 7. When asked via e-mail if he’s aware of the monumental effect his last visit had Vega replies: “That’s what I live for: making music and playing it with love, creating an atmosphere and inspiring the new dance generation.” Vega’s Midas touch extends to the studio and his work under various guises has upped the stakes in many fields. He’s best known for his work with Kenny “Dope” Gonzalez as Masters at Work, a prolific production team who steered house music through the Nineties and released earth-shattering tracks like I Can’t Get No Sleep and Moonshine with alarming regularity. They’ve also turned in huge remixes for a staggering array of musicians including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Deee- Lite, Ce Ce Peniston, Femi Kuti, Saint Etienne, Incognito and 4 Hero. Their hip- hop tracks were a major influence on the United Kingdom’s jungle scene in the early Nineties and under the Nuyorican Soul banner the duo helped rescue acid jazz with The Nervous Track before turning in one of the genre’s defining albums in tandem with jazz music greats like George Benson and Tito Puente. Vega, who’d been DJing since the late Seventies, worked with Marc Anthony and Debbie Gibson before meeting up with Gonzalez and borrowing a moniker from fellow New York house hero Todd Terry. Part of their remarkable output has just been compiled on the Tenth Anniversary Collection four-CD box set which includes seminal Masters at Work pieces like The Ha Dance and Our Mute Horn, club recalibrations for Lisa Stansfield, House of Gypsies and others and hits like The Bomb, Kenny Dope’s worldwide smash as The Bucketheads and Deep Inside from Vega’s Hardrive project. Despite glitches at last year’s birthday bash that put his appearance back a few hours Vega remembers the event fondly. “I had an amazing time,” he recalls. “There was a lot of love and appreciation for the music – I really liked the fact that the crowd and the DJs were open-minded to the music I brought out.” And who wouldn’t be impressed with his amazing amalgam of tribal rhythms and bruising basslines, jazz and Latin licks, up New York nightclub keys and soul-diva vocals underpinned by a stomping four-square kick drum? The respect Vega elicits here from kwaito and house exponents like DJs at Work and Oscar Warona is indicative of South Africa’s long-standing appreciation of the style. “I was really surprised by the influence that house music had on the producers there,” Vega says. “Everyone knew of and felt vibes from the pioneers like Larry Heard [aka Mr Fingers].” Vega will no doubt open our ears with some startling new sounds this year – exactly what they’ll be remains to be seen, and Vega’s remaining tight-lipped. “You’ll find out soon enough,” he says. Be sure not to miss out on the fiery festivities.