ELI ESCOBAR

It’s been a couple of years since Classic released an original artist album, the last one being Luke Solomon’s critically praised ‘Timelines’. This time round Classic brings a relative newcomer into the fold.

Eli Escobar has slowly been building a credible reputation out of his home in New York, releasing his first single back in the late nineties and moving more recently from hip hop into dance music. As a DJ, he harks back to a golden era of disco and early house music, graduating through the 90s during which he was brought up on a diet of underground house including Classic’s early output. In recent years Classic’s head was turned by his wonderful album ‘Up All Night’ that was released on Night People, a label from New York that Eli (pronounced ‘EL-EE’) has a vested interest in. Following up the album with a series of singles, the label swiftly became a cult dance classic.

‘Happiness’ continues from where ‘Up All Night’ left off, championing the disco cut-up ethos from lesser known staples. Eli also enlists the vocal talents of Nomi Ruiz and the legendary Vanessa Daou, who most notably featured on the classic Danny Tenaglia and Peter Daou’s, ‘Surrender Yourself’ back in the 90s. Moving from straight up house party jams such as the title track, ‘Happiness Pt 2’ into raw Chicago work outs like ‘Chaka Khan’, Mood II Swing inspired deepness such as ‘Winters Anthem’ and ‘I Need U’, before wrapping it all up with straight up disco floor fillers like ‘Phreeky’ and ‘Can’t Stop Dancing’.

‘Happiness’ will surely solidify Eli Escobar’s place as more than a “one to watch” producer, this will take him into the realms of a torch bearer for a new generation of underground dance acts.