The Beirut Groove Collective (BGC) was established in 2009 by two of Lebanon’s pioneer DJs – Ernesto C. and Rami O. (aka DJ Stickfiggr) with the support of other Beirut musical pioneers like Ramsay Short – one of the first to introduce Beirut to a soul music flavor. <\/p>\n
The goal of the BGC was and is simple: to document, promote and preserve the best in African and African-influenced musical traditions – particularly Black American musical strains – jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, funk, rare-groove and hip-hop. <\/p>\n
At the time of its founding, Chahoud and Obeid knew that the musical offerings of this type were sparse, and mostly devoted to the more mainstream, commercial varieties of music. Certainly, there was no real appreciation of the rich musical heritage that made up the current fare of R&B and generic rap and jazz varieties played in clubs and on the corporate radio airwaves. <\/p>\n
Thus, with a little motivation and the help of a group of equally dedicated DJs and music connoisseurs, the BGC began a humble attempt to do something new in Beirut – organizing “house-party” events with a premium on utilizing alternative, community-oriented spaces as a means of drawing parallels to the underground funk and soul parties that used to occur in the major urban centers of America and Africa in the 1970s. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Beirut Groove Collective (BGC) was established in 2009 by two of Lebanon’s pioneer DJs – Ernesto C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":220802,"template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-28296","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-public-sector"],"yoast_head":"\n