Baker agrees: “We’re entertainers, but we’re also educators. Get them moving and expose them to new sounds . . . well, not new sounds . . . but new to them!” Quinn, a Lowell native, says, “I like to think of us as archeologists. Finding that good stuff to show the world.” Quinn, who named his DJ self after impressionist painter Claude Monet, has been running the soul-funk night at ZuZu for almost four years and wanted to give his DJ friends a new launching pad — Middlesex Lounge seemed like just the spot. “It has a sleeker look and sound system, so we’re hoping to do something to suit the vibe.” Soul Touch has been running a few Wednesdays now, but the official launch comes with Cosmo’s visit next week and a set from resident PJ Grey. “PJ’s always looked to get me up there,” Baker says. “So when he approached me with this opportunity I kind of jumped at it ’cause it’s where my heart lies.”
Although dudes like Quinn, Grey, and Cosmo have an extraordinary catalog and an equally impressive aesthetic, it’s not always about showing off. “When I have the opportunity to do that, to let loose and get really buck wild, that’s the stuff I most look forward to,” Baker says in anticipation of his visit. “ ’Cause that’s what I do it for. I don’t do it to show off my record collection or play that obscure cut from Nigeria that no one’s ever heard of that might be very rare but maybe not that good. I just want to see some booties shaking, people sweating and hootin’ and hollerin’ ! You know?”
COSMO BAKER | Middlesex Lounge, 315 Mass Ave, Cambridge | January 10 | 617.868.MSEX
On the Web
Cosmo Baker: http://www.cosmobaker.com/
Soul Touch: http://www.myspace.com/soul_touch
Soul-Le-Lu-Jah: http://www.myspace.com/soullelujah
Galactic Fractures: http://www.galacticfractures.com
Related:
Dance Factory, Dance factory - side, Party affiliates, More
- Dance Factory
Sean Quinn can’t dance — ironic, given that he’s the man in charge of what might be the best little DIY soul-funk-R&B dance night in town.
- Dance factory - side
- Party affiliates
DJ culture has always been about the party.
- ’S no joke
A roomful of local nominees and friends made it to the Paradise last Wednesday.
- Closing on a classic
Why is it that as Tony Soprano sits on a deck chair overlooking a pristine upstate New York lake, the atmosphere is filled with dread?
- Dexterous feats
Those of us too poor to make it down to Austin for last week’s SxSW festival were treated to a mini-showcase of some of indie rock’s strongest up-and-coming bands.
- Celebration in Beatport
Last week, Miami hosted the Winter Music Conference, a huge festival celebrating the year to come in dance music.
- A Date With John Waters
Valentine’s Day, with its heart-shaped boxes of chocolates and colorful candy kisses, is right up filmmaker John Waters’s kitschy alley, not to mention a perfect candidate for the auteur’s obsession with incredibly strange music.
- Notes from underground
Although it hardly seems likely in a summer of noisy, box-office-busting sequels, independent cinema thrives, after a fashion, in America.
- Hell is other sequels
At first, At World’s End doesn’t seem to differ much from the world outside.
- Ne-Yo: Because of You
If Ne-Yo wants to make a real mark, he’ll have to toss that hat.
- Less

Topics:
Music Features
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, More
, Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music, Media, Ghostface Killah, Radio, Kanye West, Questlove, The Roots (Musical Group), PJ Grey, Less