Steel Lounge Underground

It happens only once a year so don’t miss it! The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is pleased to present its much anticipated music event Steel Lounge Underground, Friday, July 13, 8PM-midnight. Popular with a wide array of diverse audiences, it is CAMH’s not-to-be-missed event! Presented with Derek Jones and Josh Zulu, this music extravaganza showcases Houston’s diversity and talent by bringing together musical artists representing a variety of genres. During the event, the audience is invited to explore the stimulating exhibitions on view while enjoying the music. The talented lineup features Suraj K., Esteban Torres, and DJ Baby Jae and a live performance by Omari Tau. There is no charge for admission; cash bar and food trucks.

For this year's Steel Lounge Underground event, CAMH partners with Fresh Arts to host artist Pablo Gimenez-Zapiola and his live projection performances. Gimenez-Zapiola's multiple projections will visually fill the space and accompany the music, including some of his latest video and animation pieces comprised of photos and footage from Houston, London, Paris, Italy, and Buenos Aires. This multimedia performance paired with Steel Lounge's characteristic beats will deliver a dynamic and powerful visual experience through motion, color, text, and form.

Guests will also enjoy a specially-designed beer inspired by the event created by sponsor Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co., who will also be serving their Hibiscus Wit beer.

ABOUT THE MUSICAL ARTISTS
As the founder of Gritsy, Suraj K. (aka SDF3 ) has exposed Houston to some of the best dubstep/bass music in the world. As a DJ, his reputation for all vinyl performances on the turntables has made him a rarity in the land of laptops and CDs. Forever on a quest for chest rattling rhythms, Suraj is going to shake you with him wherever he goes. Gritsy is featured on the cover story about dubstep in the latest issue of the Houston Press!

Esteban Torres is a resident DJ, co-creator and co-founder of Praia Urbana, the city's legendary all day electronic music festival. In addition, he helped create Soul Awakening, an eclectic house music event where the DJs are accompanied by live saxophone and trombone players. As a result of his hard work and constant focus on exposing house music to new people and creating new and entertaining house music events, he has been one of the most instrumental DJs in Houston's house music scene in the past seven years. The music he plays can best be described as house music that has elements of soul, funk, jazz, Latin, and tech all together, yet his sound is still suitable for big room shows. Torres got his start in music at the young age of 12, when he was taught to play the saxophone, and you can always hear the influence of jazz, funk, and soul in his sets. He was originally introduced to electronic music in the Tokyo club scene when he lived in Japan during high school, and he started to DJ when he moved to Germany in the mid ’90s. Torres has opened up or played alongside some of house music's greats, including Kaskade, Mark Farina, Julius Papp, DJ Spen, Olivier Desmet, Miguel Migs, Collette, Mr. V, Alix Alvarez and Chuck Love. He is also a radio show DJ and host on the Soular Grooves show on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston.

As an award-winning radio personality, turntablist, producer, and performer DJ Baby Jae has been influencing dance floors across the U.S. His strong foundation as a battle DJ/Turntablist establishes his signature style, which has helped him win numerous accolades including the title of Houston's "Party Rockin' DJ" by Red Bull Thre3styles. In addition, DJ Baby Jae is known for creating his own sound using dance/house, reggae, funk, soul, hip hop, and rock as he samples, loops, scratches, and beat juggles while mixing and remixing live. Behind the turntables since the age of 11, he has certainly earned the veteran title and has been on the bill with performers such as De La Soul, Common, Jam Master Jay, DJ J-Rocc, DJ Q-bert, Talib Kweli, The Black Eyed Peas, Slum Village, and Biz Markie. As Djing evolves, Jae believes in keeping the art form true to its foundation. With the industry releasing many tools for DJs/producers, he is driven to teach and  express the importance of form and function for future DJs. As a native of Houston, you can hear him with The World Famous KrackerNuttz on Houston's KKHH Hot 95.7.

Omari Tau is a singer with opera, jazz, avant-garde classical, musical theater, and R&B music in his blood furthered by study in composition and contemporary vocal interpretation.  As a result, his approach to song selection and interpretation are truly unique. His songs may include 19th century German lieder, jazz standards, contemporary music theater, or even 1980s dancehall. All are spun together to create an exciting soulful musical collage: at times somber, sometimes dark, and even saccharinely sweet. After attending Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas, Texas, Tau pursued his Bachelor's degree in Music Education at Michigan State University where he studied voice with baritone Harlan Jennings and was also encouraged to study choral conducting and composition.  He then received his Master of Music in Vocal Performance at the University of Houston - Moores School of Music studying opera with director Buck Ross and voice with mezzo-soprano Katherine Ciesinski. While In Houston, Omari led Houston Grand Opera's Opera To Go! He also worked with Theatre Under The Stars, the Tony Award winning Alley Theatre, Houston Ebony Opera, Main Street Theater, and many other local theater organizations while simultaneously transitioning into more jazz and soul styles.