Long before headliners like Hugel, EDX, Moguai, Morten and DJ Jazzy Jeff were trusting him with their crowds, Bruno Verdugo was cutting his teeth on ’90s oldschool R&B, hip-hop and house in Hamburg, Germany. More than 25 years later, he’s the resident at the city’s iconic Golden Cut, with releases on Kontor Records and WePlay Music, and the kind of reputation you can call a ‘DJ’s DJ’.
Today, Bruno adds another chapter with ‘Come Closer’ featuring Christin Ignacio on Carrillo Music Group.
Ignacio, a German-Filipino singer, saxophonist and songwriter, describes her sound as voice, sax and soul: two worlds, one voice. ‘Music was always more than just sounds to me,’ she says. ‘It is the way to express deep emotions that words cannot grasp.’
The release caps a year that took Bruno well beyond Hamburg. Last October, he joined Michael Simon for ‘Dheba’ on Katun, a hypnotic blend of sitar, organic percussion and synth textures, followed a month later by his Suddenly Free EP on Café de Anatolia. In April, ‘Weri Weri,’ his collaboration with Jo van der Meer on Sosha Records, rang out across Hotel Garbi Ibiza during WePlay Music’s Tonspiel On Stage showcase at IMS.
Back home, the summer stayed busy. Bruno teamed with Jenesis for Urban La Nuit at Nikki Tiger, brought the Urban Roofdrop afterwork to the rooftop at Villa Viva with a soundtrack of Afrobeats, Amapiano and house, and closed out the open-air season with D-One at the Aftershave Revival Summer Closing at Sands Bar, a love letter to oldschool R&B and hip-hop.
Get closer to Bruno’s world. Stream ‘Come Closer’ with Christin Ignacio, then dig back through ‘Dheba,’ ‘Weri Weri,’ the Suddenly Free EP and the ‘Mysterious Lover’ remix, among others in his collection you will be moving to in the clubs.
As a label owner, he’s keeping those R&B roots close. Earlier this month, Groove By Nature Records released GBN011, a ‘Mysterious Lover’ remix with German DMC champion DJ Iron featuring Garfield Bright of ’90s R&B group Shai, best known for the Billboard Hot 100 runner-up ‘If I Ever Fall in Love.’
