Statement of Intent
Music brings us together. Body & SOUL is here because of Music; Music we love, Music we share. Music that can touch us in the most intimate way.
Following on the footsteps
Since the early 70’s, there have always been parties in the city where people got together and danced in a safe and congenial atmosphere. Where friends were made and where our love for Music could be celebrated. Where you felt special for being part of it, yet at home enough to truly relax and let go on the dance floor, together. Some of those parties became legends, others by now long forgotten…… but the need is still here today for the same basic setting.
Our Philosophy
We would like to feel that Body & SOUL is like a house party that got too big for someone’s living room, so we had to find a more appropriate venue for it. It should be a place where everyone feels welcome, regardless of age, sex, color or social attributes. A way for people from different walks of life to find common ground and establish friendships. A place where we can find inspiration, solace and a renewed expression of the unique and joyous nature of The Party. An opportunity to let one’s guard down and truly share and celebrate the most vibrant energy that Music and dancing give us. A breeding ground for new ideas and concepts as well as a proud link to our musical heritage. Hopefully, an environment which will provide all of us with a much needed spiritual and peaceful experience, whether through Music or other forms of artistic expression.
An Open-Minded Music Policy
Any party, over the course of time, develops its own identity. One of the things that make this one different is that we feature a team of DJ’s informally playing music together. Since we believe that dancing is a universal language, we strive to play a wide variety of different sounds and styles, new or old, without bias towards or against any specific format. The accent is on deep, soulful grooves with an uplifting message.
History Body&SOUL was founded in 1996 by François K. and John Davis. The Sunday afternoon party, which took place at Club Vinyl in New York’s Tribeca area, soon became one of New York’s most revered weekly parties. The three DJs, Danny Krivit, Joaquin ‘Joe’ Claussell and François K. delivered a unique soulful mix of very organic and spiritual dance music grooves, and became standard-bearers for New York house. On any given Sunday at Body&SOUL, people from all walks of life, all ages, all races, raised their hands in the air and gave thanks for the unifying force that brought them back week after week: the music. Danny Krivit’s DJ career began at the Loft in NY, a mecca for DJs starting in the 70’s. There, he began a long term collaboration with Larry Levan and François K. DJing for over 40 years. Danny has an impressive knowledge in rare disco, funk, soul and jazz and known as the “King of the Re-edit”, a technique that he pioneered in the early 80’s. He has produced, edited & mixed well over 400 records, along with holding down his NYC award-winning 718 Sessions event, now in its 10th year. 
 Joaquin ‘Joe’ Claussell is one of New York’s highly respected dance figures, for his work as a DJ, producer, and remixer, as well as for his label Spiritual Life Music, all of which reflect his deep love for and his eclectic and multicultural taste in dance music. Much of the global dance movement can be traced back to Claussell’s highly percussive style that incorporates Latin, African, Brazilian and other world rhythms with elements of jazz, rock, disco, and live instrumentation. François K.’s career in dance and electronic music goes back to the late 70’s in the New York clubs and at the disco label Prelude. He mixed loads of records on the European electro/new wave scene in the 80’s and started his Wave Music label in the 90’s. He has worked his mixing magic on about 1000 records to date and as a DJ and a producer is now exploring the dub and techno sides of electronic music.
The Body&SOUL sound led to the release of a successful compilation series by the same name, and the party has experienced some amazing performances, among which Jocelyn Brown, Incognito, Eddie Palmieri, D-train, Kenny Bobien, Julie Mc Knight, Byron Stingily, Lee John of Imagination to name a few. In 2002, after gathering 1000 followers every week for six years, the weekly celebrations came to an end and in 2004, just before club Vinyl’s building was sold to become an apartment complex, and the club space possibly a coffee shop (a legendary space that used to be club Shelter in prior years), the party came together one last time in its original home. Now, the Body&SOUL experience has extended to different territories with three memorable yearly events at NYC’s Summerstage in Central Park where 10,000 people were moving in one heartbeat, with the 10th Year Anniversary parties at PS1 and Pacha, then Studio Mezmor, and in since 2009 about 4 events per year at Webster Hall in NYC, yearly events in Tokyo since 2002, events in Italy (Angels of Love), the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Madrid and Rio, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Madrid, Singapore, Lyon, Cannes, Paris, Croatia, Toronto.
The Body&SOUL movement continues into the future with regular upcoming events in New York and worldwide. The team has also released a Body & SOUL 15 year Anniversary compilation on Ministry of Sound available here.
