You may not be familiar with the name Jose Padilla, though im sure you would have heard songs inspired or included on his numerous albums including the Cafe Del Mar Compilations. The Dj reached Legendary status many years ago and is recognised as the man who helped define chillout music in the 1990s
As fans of Jose at KCL me approached our friend DJ Dave Jones of Spacelab and Time Flies for a few words:
When you listen to a chill out compilation after a hard days graft or your having some beauty therapy in your local salon listening to some blissed out beats have a moment to wonder who was the DJ to kick start a genre of music which is easy accessible and a perfect tonic to take you to a sun trenched beach. The innovator of the chill out sessions was a DJ that sadly left us after his final sunset this week Mr Jose Padilla.
His daily communion of chilled out balearic beats was Cafe Del Mar in San Antonio on the West coast of Ibiza and undoubtedly one of the most spectacular settings for a sunset on the planet. He chilled out a generation of club goers with his blend of eclectic downtempo selections.
Born in Girona in 1955 he moved to Ibiza in 1976 and begun residencies in several Ibiza clubs. He quickly made his name at Cafe Del Mar, now a global institution built from Jose’s legendary sets of chilled out beats. His Cafe Del Mar compilations in the 90s sold millions and his style carved out a whole new genre of music like Larry Levan inspired the Garage sound and Frankie knuckles for house and Grandmaster Flash for Hip Hop.
Jose Padilla sadly diagnosed cancer in July and passed away this week aged 64. His legacy will live with dance music forever , the Mozart of the blissed out beat as sailed into the sunset for the last time
RIP
Dave very kindly put together his Ten personal favourite tunes from his chill out selection.
The Korgis – ‘Everybody Got To Learn Sometimes
Jose Padilla – ‘Adios Ayer’
Pink Floyd – ‘Shine On You Crazy Diamond’
Boards of Canada – ‘Dayvan Cowboy’
Cathi Ogden – ‘Stay With Me Til Dawn’
Ennio Morricone – ‘Chi Mai’
Sabres Of Paradise – ‘Smokebelch 2’ (Beatless mix)
Nick Drake – ‘Northern Sky’
Orbital – ‘Belfast’
This Mortal Coil – ‘Song To The Siren’