Lime & Leaf / St Johns X Dublab X The Bloke presents: Sounds from the Caribbean

This four part / five DJ series takes us into the wide world of the Caribbean.

Part 2: Jim Smith & Arturo Guzman of Caribbtion deal what feels like a night at their club. Music with a strong dance tradition and afro-latin twist.

Arturo Guzman
“Raised on Latin pop, tropical party jams, and North American top 40, the teenage discovery of punk rock and art can be blamed for Arturo Guzman’s foray into the underground and radio-play-absent music of the planet. Once the mind and ears were open and hungry, experience in many genres ironically circled him right back around towards the roots of his upbringing – Afro-Caribbean Colombian parranda joints – and naturally directed his bass playing into co-creating with his accordion playing brother, the long lasting Vallenato project, Very Be Careful. Always a record collector, Guzman, aka DJ Artemus Gordo, came upon a sudden awareness of the Caribbean islands’ cross influence on each other while being touched deeply by and interpreting what the rest of the world was doing to keep dancing… and Caribbtion was born. The long running all vinyl night found a home at Miss T’s Barcade in Koreatown and continues every Monday night at Blipsy Bar, in K-town, USA.

Jim Smith
Jim Smith is best know as one of the original founders and current sole proprietor of DTLA’s long- running DIY all-ages art and music space, The Smell. He also works as an organizer for the Teamsters Union during the day, and collects records and DJs in his spare time. One of his passions is discovering new and interesting sounds from around the globe, and has been a regular monthly guest DJ at DJ Artemus Gordo‘s all-vinyl weekly Caribbean DJ night, “Caribbtion” at Blipsy Bar, as well as occasional guest DJ appearances at local DJ nights such as “Bamboo” at the Cha Cha Lounge, “Punky Reggae Party” at La Cita, and “Part Time Punks” at the Echo/Echoplex, as well as his own monthly DJ night, “Smellcade”.”

Special thanks to St John’s Fragrance Co for making this possible and supporting dublab’s programming.

Tune in on July 12th for the third installment.