digei de bairro: um do bonfim
Francisco Espregueira
Pedro Tenreiro is a veteran and legendary DJ and an unstoppable dynamo of good music and taste in the scene since the time DJ’s were just a “small piece” of what it meant to go to a club. Beyond being an essential pioneering figure in the Porto (and Portuguese) music scene, he is a former A&R (introducing many young up and coming artists in the 1990’s and 2000’s), producer and re-edit master behind projects such as Mr. Spock, Illmatic+Phaser and Dancin’ Days. In 2020 he presented, together with Hugo Passos, the project Bonfim, named after the zone in Porto where he lives and now showcases a new project titled Um do Bonfim, paired up with an amazing collection of 'soulful’ tools and sketches that he’s been dropping on Bandcamp under the alias digei de bairro (translating to neighborhood DJ). Once again, unstoppable…
Um do Bonfim is composed by three tracks reimagined by Tenreiro. Opening up with a beautiful instrumental version of Stanley Cowell’s “Here I am”, our favorite digei de bairro expands the warmth of the original, creating a comfortable setting for what follows. “Message in the music” is, as the rest of the record, a sort of educational content, taking on the first part of the last track of another lost classic from the Black Fire Records archives, “Southern Energy” - the only album recorded by r’n’b and jazz collective Southern Energy Ensemble in 1977. Our personal favorite, “Sweet thing”, builds the momentum for the beautiful arrangement originally created by The Stylistics in “It Started Out”, reinventing the progression of the music and giving it an epic and nostalgic feeling. Available on Bandcamp, Um do Bonfim is the result of the infinite music archives of Pedro Tenreiro and could’ve very well been the soundtrack of a Spike Lee movie.
“Mais de quatro décadas depois de começar a animar festas de Paranhos às Antas, de Nevogilde à Foz, de Lordelo a Matosinhos, de Ramalde ao Bonfim, o digei de bairro decidiu partilhar algumas das caóticas ferramentas que o distinguiram ao longo dos anos.já foi conhecido como Dancin’ Days antes de ser despromovido a digei de bairro!”
“After more than four decades animating parties from Paranhos to Antas, from Nevogilde to Foz, from Lordelo to Matosinhos, from Ramalde to Bonfim, the neighborhood DJ has decided to share some of the chaotic tools that have distinguished it over the years. Formerly known as Dancin’ Days before being demoted to neighbourhood DJ!”