Below is my diary of Miami 2007 which has already been posted at InDaMix Worldwide during the Winter Music Conference.

March 19

Funny how time flies (such as I...) from a year to another! Then here we go for another round by the sunny shores of Florida. Having landed in Miami on Sunday in the late evening, yesterday was all about chilling getting ready for the Conference. The weather is beautiful, a bit windy sometimes with some light clouds...

After meeting with a couple of friends and having dinner, the party marathon "(un)officially" kicked off with the Underground Collective session. As it was literally the only soulful house party going on that evening (remember that the Conferenced does not start officially until Tuesday March 20 + none of the parties from Monday are listed in the "Official 'Unofficial' Guide to Events in and around WMC"), the place was packed and some people had to wait up to an hour to get in (it was a small venue with a sweaty air due to no air condition being available). Lots of people could be met outside the club, it was a big hello from everybody to everybody and that was pretty much about it!!!

This Tuesday sees the massive Soul On The Beach daytime party with an exhaustive line-up of DJ’s and performers. With the forecast expected to be nice, this is a not to be missed event. As a matter of fact, the heat is already picking up with lots of interesting parties going in the night - Get Large, Soulfuric 'Friends Of Ours', Jellybean 'Aint Nothing But a House Party', Code Red, Sweat... This said and as previous years showed, plans for the night where to go might quickly change depending on the vibe of a party... so we shall see and so will you on these pages by tomorrow. As for me, time to go to the Soul On The Beach party. Anyone comin’ here???

March 20

The WMC 07 has started and well started with an even bigger amount of events. This makin’ the competition quite hard with the need of extra energy to be in the position to deliver the very best out of it. That’s the way life goes...

The first day kicked off with Bobby & Steve's Soul On The Beach party. What started slowly soon became an intense vibe with loads o’ DJ’s and producers in attendance. Not even the clowds and few raindrops could stop the party from heating up! The live PA’s were outstanding, with the likes of Keith Thompson, Barbara Tucker, Dawn Tallman and SuSu Bobien amongst other rockin' the crowd.

In the early evening, the Sweat party would be my next stop where Diamondancer, a very talented spoken word artist, was dropping songs from her upcoming "Full Circle LP" awaited on Dark River Media. She was later on followed by Tamara Wellons performed her "Oh Well" live, whilst DJ Minx did her thing on the turntables.

After having a dinner, it was then time to check out the Code Red party to get some deep and raw underground vibes. The last stop that night being the Soulfuric party which took place at the beautifully furnished Set. As you would expect, the sound was pumping and the crowd loved it.

The first day of the Conference already brought up an old dilemma again. I mean, too many events happening at the same time, making it hard to choose where to go and what to leave out. The decision was to miss the Large and Jellybean parties, but only time will tell if this was wise...

This Wed, by the time we speak, I’m expecting to check out two daytime parties by the likes of Yes! And City Deep Music Showcase. The night will be another choice again, with GotSoul, MAW and Shelter going on.

March 21

Another quite busy day with tons of things happening here and there with the addiction of those tropical showers considered like THE pain in the ass by the promoters happenin’ to have outside parties. But THAT is also Miami, isn’t it?

Wednesday was one of those days with so many parties going on, you had to make your pick as it was simply impossible to be everywhere. Unfortunately, there were light rainshowers now and then throughout the day which might have kept people from coming to the daytime parties. Nonetheless, my day started of with a visit at the Yes! party in the early afternoon, but unfortunately it was pouring a bit low albeit the DJ line-up was great. Next stop would be the City Deep Music Showcase which, being located at a some rooftop of a hotel limited the amount of people that could join and enjoy the event (imagine standing on the roof and the building seems like shaking !!!). Just before going for dinner, there was enough time to check out the POJI Records 15 Years Celebration Party for a few minutes.

The first stop of the night was the MAW Party which took place in Downtown Miami at the brand new Y-Ultralounge, a beautiful club with a lovely interieur and even lovelier garden where you could eat, drink and enjoy the music. The setup for the DJ’s was unbelievable, and DJ Jazzy Jeff killed it with his magnificent programming and mixing of classics. Unfortunately, here again the rain stopped the outside party from taking off as it poured down badly.I wanted to grab the shuttle bus on my way back to Miami Beach, but the driver did not stop and just passed the club for some reason. So I had to catch a cab which I shared with Fabio Bacchini and Mickey Moore + two other people. Back in Miami Beach, my ultimate stop for the day was the GotSoul/Therapy Party where jojoflores was doing his thing. Today kicks off with a little bit of a rest for yours truly before going out. Once more, the weather is expected not to be that great (with rain again)...

March 22

These are some of those years in Miami where rain seems like to party along the clubgoers and it’s pretty much like it this year. But is there anything that can be done about it? But let’s stop complainin’ about it as there were loads things to enjoy that Thursday March 22nd.

Thursday, when I first got up, it was lightly raining so I decided to take it easy and get some x-tra sleep. When I left the hotel a couple of hours later, it stopped raining although there were heavy breathes of wind which affected some of the parties. Not much sun either at it was cloudy almost all day long.

My first stop was the Feelin Music Party by this up and coming label from the UK where some great soulful music could be heard. Due to the bad atmospherical conditions, the start of the Roots Party was delayed by about two hours as they had a hard time setting up the system, so I kept hangin' around at the Feelin Music Party for quite a while. The Roots Party will be a moment in history for the WMC 2007 with outstanding live performances by Anane, Mr. V and Miss Patty, while Louie Vega and Kevin Hedge worked the desks and amazed the crowd. There, one of the tunes of the Conference could be heard by the likes of a remix of one of the songs from the Dreamgirls movie soundtrack (I'm currently trying to figure out the details).

After leaving and having some food (and drinks of course), the first stop in the night would be the Fuzion Party with a great line-up of DJ’s and live PA’s by Arnold Jarvis, Darryl D'Bonneau and Diamond Temple & Temple Dynasty. As this party had such a great and intense vibe, I stayed there and therefore missed the Sole Channel Party which I originally wanted to check out. This Friday, the first event to be checked out will be Deep, followed by the Stingily Music/HomeSoul launch Party, Body Music/Slaag and MN2S. This, as a matter of fact, should keep me busy enough for the day...

March 23

Already day #... 5 here in Miami and the beat goes on with another bunch of hot parties here and there, the progressive lack of rest which I’m startin’ to feel but the good news is the return of the sun. So let’s go !

At least, the weather has got back to a much better mood with a lot of sun as opposed to those last days. So the walk down to the Miami Gets Deep fiesta... at Opium Garden was almost too much for me... Nonetheless, I made it to the party which started slowly but was fully packed by the time Dennis Ferrer took the desks for an outstanding set, followed by L.A. Deep resident Marques Wyatt doing his thang.

The next event would then be the Stingily Music/HomeSoul Party which unfortunately didn't get the recognition it deserves although with a great DJ line-up and live PA’s by Byron Stingily and Darryl D'Bonneau.

The only stop for the night was the Body Music Chicago/Slaag Party which was rockin’ and featured outstanding live PA’s by Eddie Nichols, Remmidy featuring Mona Lisa, Dawn Tallman and CeCe Peniston who sang her upcoming single "Feelin U" as well as her classics "We Got A Love Thang" and "Finally" which blew the roof away.

On my diary today is the daytime Deep Haven Party which I suppose is at the private house of the label owner judging by the address of the location... No more plans made so far for the upcoming hours as my body hurts + I need some rest and I really mean it...

March 24

Walkin’ down the streets watchin’ people go by... Those who’ve been to Miami at this specific period of the year should know what I’m talkin’ about... Rain (back again), accumulation of sleepless nights, the usual blablabla. Yes I am... body music!!!

Yours truly had to step and taking it easier as the past few days of senseless partying have taken a tool on my body... Anyway, I still decided to take a walk to the DeepHaven Music Party @ Sunset Island #4, giving me quite a headache figuring out where the place was. The festivities took place at the label owner’s home which is located in a quiet neighborhood. With a pool, massages and free drinks and food - and of course music, this was a great place to chill and relax until the rain came back... A couple of rainshowers got people walking in and out of the house, but this had no effect on the great vibe of the party. Carolyn Harding's live PA was amazing, out-performing all other live performances of the likes I've witnessed this week. She got accompanied by a live band and interacted with the crowd, making her appearance something special.

As it ended up raining, I went back to the hotel to fresh-up and get ready for the night. First stop was the Sobe Soul Party which was running slow while I was there, but I had some nice discussions there. Later on, I went to the Shifted Music Party which was packed and the crowd was movin and singing along the vocals.

This Sunday being the very last day of the conference, me will slow down a bit more as my body really needs to recover. So not that many parties to be checked out. On my diary so far are Afternoon Delight 07, Underground Boston and Unified then I guess this will be pretty much about it for the forthcoming hours...

March 25

Yes I know. I’m quite late this time, but as you may guess, I’m totally done after this uninterrupted series of 24/7 or so. Time to think of goin’ back to reality after a pretty well deserved 48 hrs chillin’ session.

Here we go with the last report... finally!! The WMC has come to an end, and yours truly and many other people attending the Conference need a vacation now to get refill the body with energy. So today I did not even make it to a daytime party, I needed some relaxation at the beach.

In the early evening, I went to the Unified Party to check out various Chicago DJ’s. The party started slow (I guess opening at 5pm was a bit too early) and got really busy around midnight. It was then time to operate my ultimate stop for this Conference buy the likes of the Underground Boston Party where Louis Benedetti gave an exclusive set taking me into deep underground house sounds which to me would be the perfect closing for this year.

Some of the tunes I heard at various parties that got the crowd going:

  • Michael Watford "Unity" (Purple Music)
  • Ann Nesby "It's so easy" (CodeRed)
  • Jennifer Hudson "Family" (Blaze Remix)(Sony/BMG - release unknown)
  • Fish go Deep "The cure" (DJ Meme Remix)(Defected)
  • Terissa Griffin "Wonderful"
  • new tunes by Carolyn Harding (DeepHaven Music) and Studio Apartment featuring Monique Bingham (New World Records Japan)

Expect some WMC 2007 Mixes on Spirit of House as soon as I'm back home and have sorted out all the music I got.