Sidestepper
The brainchild of Richard Blair (b. 17 June 1965, London, England), a producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist who initially found work at a studio in Birmingham in 1988. In 1990, he moved to the Real World Records' studios. Among his credits there was the 1991 recording sessions for Toto La Momposina's La Candela Viva, on which he acted as engineer and co-producer. This ignited a love for the music of Colombia. La Momposina invited him to visit her in Colombia and he remained there for the following three years, producing a variety of local artists. Back in London in 1995, Blair immersed himself in the local dance music scene and arrived at the idea of mixing the music of Colombia with the beat driven sensibilities of UK clubland via a project that became known as Sidestepper. The first fruit of this was 1997's Southern Star, followed by the Logozo EP which was released by the Apartment 22 label a year later. On this recording Blair experimented with vocals for the first time and it attracted the interest of Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures label. More Grip was Sidestepper's debut for the label and was recorded in Bogota in 1999 with a number of renowned local musicians and singers including vocalist and regular collaborator Ivan Benavides, Sergio Arias, Ronald Infante and Andrea Echeverri. The album featured a full-blown live sound mixed in with digital beats, taking in a variety of Colombian styles alongside elements of drum 'n' bass, funk, reggae and hip-hop. To promote the album Blair put together an eight-piece band (including Benavides and others involved in the recording) and undertook a short European tour.
Listen to Sidestepper
at Finetune.
Albums
- (2000) More Grip
Top Tracks
- Hoy Tenemos
- Bacalao Sala'o
- Chevere Q' Chevere
- Tremendo Vacilion
- Me Muero
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