advertisement

JIVE Magazine Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Release Information

PARIS, FRANCE – It’s 2:00am on a Saturday night in Paris. The decibel level of one boisterous French café nearly drowns-out the ringing of diners’ cellphones. Finishing a long, wine-soaked dinner with ten of his closest friends is a man seemingly at the center of attention: Claude Challe. A DJ and producer who has sold over 1.6 million records worldwide, Challe is on an overseas call with his Asian-American publicist from New York. They’re discussing details of the impending release of his highly anticipated compilation, The Best of Claude Challe (distributed in North America exclusively by MSI Music for Chall’o Music). In mid-thought, Challe tosses the phone to a friend as his bewildered publicist hears a loud crash followed by riotous laughter. Le joie de vivre! Indeed.

Claude Challe’s lust for life emanates from his music; rich, full-bodied and unabashedly life-affirming. Challe is a bona fide celebrity DJ known for playing a sophisticated style of daringly exotic music. Challe’s live DJ sets are painstakingly crafted and filled with an abundance of joyous, uplifting tunes that carry listeners on a voyage – quite literally – around the world. Three discs affectionately named ‘Love,’ ‘Life’ and ‘Dance’ span more than a decade during which time Challe’s career as a DJ carried him  around the world. (A special album sampler awaits your consideration).

The Best of Claude Challe aims high and delivers. From the achingly beautiful keys and soaring orchestral strings of Pink Martini’s “La Soledad” to the moody trip-hop of Andres Linetzky & Ernesto Romeo’s “Sentimientos,” all the way to the joyous trumpets of Willy De Ville’s “Demasiado Corazon,” Challe builds a stunning mix of uplifting instrumentation married with resounding vocals. Dance music lovers will enjoy the thudding 4/4 beats of Suntrust’s “How Insensitive,” but it’s Challe’s wicked sense of individuality that may leave the most lasting impression. Stellar tracks include Senor Coconut’s cover of Kraftwerk’s “Showroom Dummies,” Jose Alberto’s Spanish cover of The Beatles’ “And I Love Her,” and Little Louie Vega’s cover of The Chakachas’ pornographic “Jungle Fever” (originally recorded in 1972 and later appearing in the film, Boogie Nights). Gems like Audio Delux’s hauntingly luscious “60 Seconds” make this CD a keeper.

Born in Tunisia, Africa in 1945, Claude Challe arrived in France at the age of 3. Having grown-up with a potent fascination with Asian mysticism and a deep respect for ancient cultures, Challe demonstrated his devotion by attending Rabbinical school and studying Judaism as a young man. Challe’s manual dexterity as a DJ was foreshadowed in his youth, when at the age of 19, he opened a forward-thinking hair salon in Paris for which he quickly became known as “the man with the golden scissors.” As Parisian jet-setters flocked to his door, Challe abandoned the salon and lived-out a hippy dream as part of a tribe in Sardinia, Italy. Soon thereafter, Challe wandered to India, Nepal and Indonesia. He says, “I like Asia very much, and I try to put Occidental elements with spiritual elements in my music.”

After his youthful adventures around the Far East were experienced, Challe returned home to France and discovered the sounds of new age musicians Andreas Vollenweider and Ennio Morricone. He soon became addicted to the country’s burgeoning nightlife. He dove-in headfirst by opening and managing a series of France’s most famed hotspots. They included: Le Prive in 1974, Le Centre Ville in fashionable Les Halles in ’79, Les Bains-Douches in ’84, El Divino in Ibiza in ’92, and – perhaps most notably – Buddha Bar in ’96. The chic restaurant/club became a longtime destination for Europe’s most glamorous people and it was subsequently the inspiration for Challe’s immensely successful Buddha Bar mix compilations. Adamant about his newfound passion, Challe went on to enjoy success with huge events like the “Reveillon de Mondes” event for 50,000 people, held at Vincennes and produced in conjunction with Radio Nova.

By 1996, with a wealth of unsigned new tracks and a plethora of promising producers on his doorstep, Challe launched the record label Chall’o Music to much fanfare. Nearly a decade later, Chall’o Music is busier than ever discovering new artists and delivering exceptional music to the world.

Globe-trotting aside, the DJ booth is where Claude Challe is the happiest. He says, “I consider the art of DJing to be the passion of life. When I’m DJing, I give myself to the people. When I play, I’m in the music.” Today, Claude Challe’s DJ booth consists of three Technics SL-1200 series turntables, four Denon dual-drive CD players or two Pioneer CDJ-1000 digital decks, and either a Rane or an Allen & Heath mixer.

The official U.S. CD-release party for The Best of Claude Challe will be held at The Consulate General of the Republic of Poland at 233 Madison Avenue (at 37th Street) in New York City on Thursday, September 29th.
  

TRACKLISTING:

 
CD1 : Love // CD1: Love

1.              PINK MARTINI « La Soledad »
2.              JOSE ALBERTO « And I Love Her »
3.              RHYTHM & SOUND W/ CORNEL CAMPBELL « King In My Empire (King Version) »
4.              SALIF KEITA & CESARIA EVORA «Yamore »
5.              ANDRES LINETZKY y ERNESTO ROMEO « Sentimientos »
6.              LILI BONICHE « Ana Fil Houb »
7.              SAID M’RAD « Crying Angels »
8.              PASCAL of BOLLYWOOD « La Vie En Rose… Indien »
9.              CRAIG ARMSTRONG « Weather Storm »
10.             CLAUDINE LONGUET  « A Man And A Woman »
11.             STEVE BERESFORD « Vous Qui Passez Sans Me Voir »
12.             LOS CHICHARRONS  « Love Magic (Original 12’ Mix) »
13.             TOUCH & GO  « Straight To… Number One  (Dreamcatcher’s Mix) »
14.              CLAUDE CHALLE « Wake Up My Love »
15.              NINO « Amor Amor »

 
CD2 : Life // CD2: Life

1.          TRANSGLOBAL UNDERGROUND  « Taal Zaman »
2.          ZEHAVA BEN « Ya Mama (Deep Dive Corp’ Remix) »
3.          KARMIX « Voyager »
4.          MALIK ADOUANE  « Shaft (version orientale) »
5.          GYPSY SOUL « Czardasz »
6.          SENOR COCONUT  « Showroom Dummies »
7.          SUBA  « Felicidade »
8.          SUNTRUST  « How Insensitive (Original Mix) »
9.          DA SILVA « Soledad »
10.         AUDIO DELUXE « 60 Seconds »
11.         NIKOS DIAMANTOPOULOS « Everytime »
12.         JERK HOUSE CONNECTION et AKRAM « Each and Every Day »
13.         CLAUDE CHALLE & ADAM PLACK  « Carmenita Dancing »

CD 3 : Dance // CD3: Dance

1.          LOUIE VEGA « Jungle Fever »
2.          GORAN BREGOVIC   « Cajesukarije Cocec »
3.          WILLY DE VILLE « Demasiado Corazon »
4.          SIDESTEPPER     « Logozo »
5.          ANGEL TEARS   « Inshalla »
6.          HOVANNES K.  « La Cumparsita (Tang’Oriental House Mix) »
7.          THE R.E.G. PROJECT  « Batwannis Beek »
8.          T.C. 1992  « Funky Guitar »
9.          HOMBRE  « Shake The Body (Remexe O Corpo) »
10.         SILICONE SOUL   « Right On »
11.         RALPHI ROSARIO  « Maula (Bhangra-Hydrate Vocal Mix) »
12.         A GUY CALLED GERALD « Humanity (Ashley Beedle’s Love & Compassion Mix »
13.         DELERIUM  « Silence (Fade’s Sanctuary Mix) »