"Da Buzzboy" Fitzroy

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“DA BUZZBOY” FITZROY Vastly underrated, yet well-respected “Da Buzzboy” has been a turntablist spinning jazz funk soul and the “bad boy boogie” since 1981. Fitzroy’s played music as an extension of how he’s danced, with improvisation & spontaneity….a bit like his trademark fashion attire. He regularly worked the “rare groove” circuit alongside some of his mentors; DJ’s Cleveland Anderson, Paul Anderson, Norman Jay and George Power. His diverse playing style enabled him to merge retro classics with the more contemporary genres of R&B/Hip Hop and US Garage. In the 1990s he held down London residencies at Dingwalls, The Fridge and regular spots at Bobby and Steve’s weekly Friday night jam “Club Zoo”. In 1992 the Mean Fiddler Group recruited Fitzroy for regular work at the Jazz Café. Fitzroy was then fortunate to DJ alongside an endless list of his musical influences including legends such as War, Average White Band, The Crusaders, Crown Heights Affair, Rose Royce, Roy Ayres, Gil Scott Heron, Courtney Pine, Juliet Roberts, Digable Planets, The Pharcyde, Last Poets, Carleen Anderson, Bobby Byrd,The Blackbyrds and Light of the World. In 1994 Radio 1’s Trevor Nelson approached Fitzroy to join him alongside Steve Wren of Choice FM at the legendary "Reminisce" Sunday night roadblock sessions in Ealing W5. When in 1996 “Reminisce” became part of the “Twice as Nice” phenomenon Fitzroy was to become an integral link from its root form to its fruit form. “Twice as Nice” made Fitzroy joint resident of the No 1 Sunday night club, merging UK Garage/R&B/Rap and Retro classics which led him to co mix and compile the very first “Twice as Nice” album on React Records in 1998. Later that year Mean Fiddler opened the "ION BAR”, in Ladbroke Grove W11 and naturally asked Fitzroy to become resident. From the opening night he captivated both the trendy West London crowd, and supplied the winning formula which kept the bar one of London’s most popular pre-club venues up until his departure in May 2003. After seven years of regular marathon slots for “Twice As Nice”, “Cookies & Cream” and clocking up air miles gigging in Aiya Napa, Dubai, Ibiza, Switzerland and South of France, Fitzroy was now recognised for breaking new genres of music and became re-acquainted with a now matured jazz funk boogie audience. He collaborated regularly with other like minded DJ’s and promoters, including the hugely successful “Soul Network” where he’s resided since 2004. In the same year he played his eclectic sets at Soul Weekenders “Soul Village” and “Dirty Stop Out” and in November 2005 on his debut in the Funk Base room in the largest weekender in Europe “Southport “, his set was credited in “Blues and Soul” magazine. In April 2006 he was part of the amazing “Soul in the Algarve” experience, an over 30’s (150 devoted music lovers) club/holiday extravaganza in Portugal. 15 years on he continues to dig deep into his crates to support live acts at Jazz Café and the Forum. Omar, Loose Ends, Raphael Saadiq, Jaguar Wright, Bilal, Rashaan Patterson, Brian McKnight, Floetry, Gerald Levert (R.I.P), Conya Doss, Eric Roberson, Angie Stone, Gwen McCrea, Leela James, Dwele,De la Soul & The London Gospel Community Choir & the mighty Sounds Of Blackness. Many have employed him within other spheres of the entertainment industry.His resume includes the 2000 Mobo Awards After Party and several guest radio shows on Kiss FM, GLR, Solar and Choice FM. The BBC1 tribute to Muhammad Ali in 1998 credited Fitzroy for his musical contribution to this highly successful documentary. He appeared in BBC 2’s “Dance Energy’s” “James Brown Special”, ITV's “Club a Vision” and Kiss TVs “Judge and Jury”.Fitzroy’s skills have lead him to re-mixing and producing various projects including the UK Garage anthem remix of Robbie Craig and Gerardeau’s “Whose The Better Man”, D'bhora's "Honey" as well as, compiling albums including "The Cream Of Rare Goove",the gold selling “Twice as Nice” “Urban Flavas”, (Released in May 2002). Freestyle Records signed Fitzroy’s project Junk Funk and released “Just Like Me” in September 2005. Now in 2007 Fitzroy is working on a track which he wrote both music and lyrics for with Noel McKoy and has a collaboration with Urbanstar featuring Leah McCrea "Your Love" making waves in musicland. Fitzroy’s enjoying his new venture of being co-founder of the bi-monthly magazine “The Soul Survivors”, launched in summer 2006 and distributed around London and the South East.He's currently presenting the "Soul Survivor" show on Solar Radio every 2nd sunday of the month