Biography
Ezel’s foray into music occurs at an early age. At the age of 9, he took piano lessons at his local school and little by little he gained skills that allowed him to participate in various local groups focused on funk music with Latin nuances such as Santo Domingo Funk Crew and Calor Urbano of which he was keyboardist and composer of songs. Arriving in the mid-2000s, he fully inserted himself into a vibrant local electronic scene, eager for classic soulful and deep house influences such as Louie Vega, and Osunlade, among others, who became main sources of inspiration and encouraged him to pursue a career. as a DJ and producer of electronic music, thus beginning his international career.
In 2008 he released his first productions with labels such as Real Tone Records, Offering Recording, and City Deep under the pseudonym Babyfunk, which is how he was known locally. Quickly at the beginning of 2009 after establishing contact with the famous spiritual house producer Osunlade, who inspired him to take a more internalized look at the sound and aesthetics of his productions, thus making a name change and his name. Ezel stack, simply and without anything else added since with this he reaffirmed what his name essentially means, starting from the Spanish “Es El” meaning that he is him and no one else.
Over the next 4 years, from 2009 to 2011, Ezel saw a systematic rise to a place of distinction in the international soulful, deep, and Afro-house underground scene. Among his first quality works is his first LP titled “Secreto” and released on the important label “Ocha Records” by producer Carlos Mena. The single from the said album “In My Lifetime” with vocals by Tamara Wellons, which was later remixed by figures such as Deetron, Atjazz, and Osunlade, turned said work into a classic that still leaves good taste in the finest connoisseurs of house music. that is done with soul.
By that time Ezel was already enjoying a reputation that allowed him to tour extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and even Japan, where he was invited to participate in an epic Jazz Crossover festival sponsored by the famous Kyoto Jazz Massive, sharing the stage with music greats, such as Navasha Daya (Fertile Ground), and Paul Randolph (Jazzanova) among others. In addition to this, the summer of 2011 saw Ezel perform at emblematic clubs such as the Djoon in Paris, Marula Cafe in Madrid, and Del Mar (Greece) among others.
It was also during this time for specialized studies in audio engineering that Ezel relocated to the city of Barcelona in Spain, an experience that would be vital to elevate his technical capabilities in music production to another dimension, making him a self-sufficient entity in the studio. capable of composing, arranging, mixing, and owning his songs with distinctive feeling and quality.
Upon his return to Caribbean land, Ezel’s career stopped momentarily due to the need to face the circumstances and natural challenges of having left his comfort zone, searching for new airs of freedom and the ability to move forward, which to a certain extent took him At the time he stopped and seemed a little on the margins of the scene, time that he used to grow both in musical vocabulary and technique, thus achieving what was necessary to reinvent himself in 2017 formally and this he did with the announcement of the launch of his independent record label “Bayacou Records” which has been and continues to be the home for most of his productions from that moment to date.
His first works under his label “Bayacou Records” lean towards the strictly Afro-spiritual, somewhat rescuing things as he left them in those times of his LP “Secreto”. Selected works such as “Origins” “Anbla Dio EP” and “Sen Jank EP” with the participation of the famous Haitian singer James Germain, told the untold story of Ezel about the parallelism that he has always established between his external musical expression and his search spiritual interior. Like some others in the scene, such as one of his mentors the renowned producer Osunlade, Ezel is an active spiritual seeker and practitioner of Afro-descendant traditions indigenous to his island and other locations with which his being has had an affinity and that They serve as a compass towards the search, reflection and expression of his inner light, from which all his inspiration emanates to make music and bring joy and elevation in what he does.
As he grew and in the most organic way, Ezel began to emerge again as a capable instrumentalist, now with a more mature and concise tone and sound. It seems as if all the experience of the past is now raised as a perfect amalgamation of influences and recently since the pandemic and so far we have seen Ezel have a dizzying impact as a renowned producer and DJ capable of achieving dancefloor hits both afro and deep as well as soulful and funky. It is unnecessary to detail this journey since it is what we have been able to verify just by looking at the impact that his most recent productions have had. However, we must stop to give important mention to what perhaps constitutes his most important work of recent times and is his most recent work, the release of her second LP, done in complete synergy with an equally talented, special, and unique singer of Russian origin named Rona Ray. Ezel and Rona Ray began collaborating in 2021 with the release of the song “Hard to Stay Away” obtaining instant recognition as something destined to become a modern classic and continues to be so since the song has been re-released on numerous occasions on vinyl and continues as one of the favorite soulful tracks of connoisseurs. From this first success, the duo has made other important contributions such as the songs “Don’t Know Yet” and “Hard To Stay Away”, two of the most commercial cuts that we have seen Ezel produce, which earned him an extensive new audience and propelled him to tour again through the United States and Mexico respectively, managing to solidify himself for the launch of his LP album “Take Me Home” which goes on the market this year 2024 with fantastic reviews and the support of the main figures of the world scene. There is no doubt that Ezel has been able to transcend from his tender beginnings, showing the consistency and hard work necessary that today gives him his flowers, and this is just the beginning for this outstanding and acclaimed musical entity, producer, and DJ that with his authentic style, faith and conviction that he imprints on everything he does, he now opens towards everything that life wants to send him, always seeking to grow and evolve more, all for the benefit of making the best music he can make, always from the soul.