Claude Challe

Last updated

Claude Challe (born Claude Chalom [1] in 1945 in Tunisia) is a French DJ and club owner, the co-creator of the Buddha Bar restaurant/clubs and music compilations. [2] [3]

Challe moved to France at age three. He attended Rabbinical school as a young man. At the age of 19, he opened a hair salon in Paris, and became known as "the man with the golden scissors".

Challe then abandoned the salon and lived as an expatriate on the island of Sardinia, in a hippie commune. He subsequently traveled to India, Nepal and Indonesia. He uses Buddha statues for the interior design of his bar and restaurant.

Challe returned to France and was introduced to new-age music by the likes of Andreas Vollenweider and Ennio Morricone. He became involved in Parisian nightlife. He managed a series of French clubs, including Le Prive (1974), Le Centre Ville in Les Halles (1979), Les Bains-Douches (1984), El Divino in Ibiza (1992), and Buddha Bar (1996). The restaurant/club became a popular destination and led to Challe's Buddha Bar mix compilations.

Challe produced the "Reveillon de Mondes", attended by 50,000 people, and held at Vincennes, in conjunction with Radio Nova.

Challe produces his music and others' on his Chall'o Music label. He has said, "I consider the art of DJing to be the passion of [my] life. When I'm DJing, I give myself to the people. When I play, I'm in the music."

Related Research Articles

François Kevorkian Musical artist

François Kevorkian, also known by the stage name François K, is French-born, of Armenian descent and U.S.-based DJ, producer, remixer and label owner, who started his career DJing in clubs such as the Paradise Garage and Studio 54. Kevorkian has produced and remixed work by a diverse range of musicians including The Smiths, Adam Ant, Kraftwerk, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche Mode, Diana Ross, Gloria Estefan and U2, and is considered one of the forefathers of house music.

Laurent Garnier Musical artist

Laurent Garnier, also known as Choice, is a French electronic music producer and DJ. Garnier began DJing in Manchester during the late 1980s. He became a producer in the early 1990s and recorded several albums.

Philippe de Broca French movie director

Philippe de Broca was a French movie director.

DJ Disciple Musical artist

David Banks, better known by his stage name DJ Disciple, is an American DJ and house music producer from Brooklyn, New York City, New York.

Daniel Rampling is an English house music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene.

Éric Lapointe (singer)

Éric Lapointe is a francophone lead singer and guitarist for his eponymous band. His band is characterized by a heavy metal style containing elements of punk, grunge, pop and hard rock from guitarist Stéphane Dufour's riffs. Lapointe has released eight studio albums, three compilation albums, and two live albums. He is currently the most successful male music artist in French Canadian history in terms of sales, having sold more than one million total discs. He has also made appearances on film.

Justin Boland, also known as J Boogie is a DJ, music producer, radio host, music director and music curator from San Francisco with over 25 years of experience in the music industry.

Algiers putsch of 1961 1961 attempted coup in French Algeria during the Algerian War

The Algiers putsch, also known as the Generals' putsch, was a failed coup d'état intended to force French President Charles de Gaulle not to abandon French Algeria, along with the resident European community and pro-French Muslims. Organised in French Algeria by retired French Army generals Maurice Challe, Edmond Jouhaud, André Zeller and Raoul Salan, it took place from the afternoon of 21 to 26 April 1961 in the midst of the Algerian War (1954–1962).

Eddie Piller Musical artist

Eddie Piller is a British DJ, radio show host, and founder/managing director of Acid Jazz Records.

DJ Champion Musical artist

Maxime Morin, is a multi-instrumentalist, better known for his work in electronic music under the name DJ Champion or simply Champion. Morin is based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Claude VonStroke Musical artist

Barclay Macbride Crenshaw, who is known by the stage name Claude VonStroke, is an American house producer based in Los Angeles. He owns Dirtybird Records based in San Francisco. In July 2006 he released his debut album, Beware of the Bird. He has produced a 'Fabric' mix, which was released in May 2009, and has also appeared on Pete Tong's Essential Mix Radio show in 2007, 2013, and 2020. In 2009, he released his second studio album, Bird Brain. In 2016, he was named America's Best DJ in Pioneer DJ and DJ Times’ annual poll. In 2017, he was nominated at the Electronic Music Awards for both DJ of the Year and Radio Show of the Year for "The Birdhouse".

In music, the terms Afro/cosmic disco, the cosmic sound, free-style sound, and combinations thereof are used somewhat interchangeably to describe various forms of synthesizer-heavy and/or African-influenced dance music and methods of DJing that were originally developed and promoted by a small number of DJs in certain discothèques of Northern Italy from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The terms slow-motion disco and Elettronica Meccanica are also associated with the genre.

Guy Cuevas

Guy Cuevas is a Cuban-born writer, musician, and Paris disc jockey. Born Guillermo Cuevas Carrión, he worked the turntables at Club Sept, and Le Palace before becoming the artistic director, first of Les Bains Douches, then the Barrio Latino.

George Kordas, better known by the stage name DJ Bonez, is a hip hop DJ and producer, originally from Sydney and currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

Consuelo Luz Arostegui is an American singer. She performs and records as "Consuelo Luz" is known for her Ladino and Sephardic music.

Charles-Michel-Ange Challe

Charles-Michel-Ange Challe, born in Paris on February 13, 1718 and died January 8, 1778 is a painter, draftsman and French architect.

Buddha Bar French bar and restaurant franchise

The Buddha-Bar is a bar, restaurant, and hotel franchise created by French-Romanian restaurateur Raymond Vișan and DJ and interior designer Claude Challe, with its original location having opened in Paris, France in 1996. The Buddha Bar "soon became a reference among foreign yuppies and wealthy tourists visiting the city", and "has spawned numerous imitators", becoming popular in part because of the DJ's choice of eclectic, avant-garde music. It became known internationally for issuing the Buddha Bar compilation albums, which are popular compilations of lounge, chill-out music and world music, also under the Buddha Bar brand, released by George V Records. Buddha Bar "has made a name for itself with its Zen lounge music CDs and remains a hit – especially with tourists". Locations have since been opened in a number of other countries, although not without controversy arising from the theme.

LGBT culture in Paris

Paris, the capital of France, has an active LGBT community. In the 1990s, 46% of the country's gay men lived in the city. As of 2004, Paris had 140 LGBT bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, shops, and other commercial businesses. Florence Tamagne, author of "Paris: 'Resting on its Laurels'?", wrote that there is a "Gaité parisienne"; she added that Paris "competes with Berlin for the title of LGBT capital of Europe, and ranks only second behind New York for the title of LGBT capital of the world." It has France's only gayborhoods that are officially organized.

Buddha Bar compilation albums series of compilation albums

The Buddha Bar compilation albums are a widely acclaimed series of compilation albums issued by the Buddha Bar bar, restaurant, and hotel franchise created by restaurateur Raymond Visan and DJ and interior designer Claude Challe in Paris, France. Following its establishment, the Buddha Bar "became a reference among foreign yuppies and wealthy tourists visiting the city", and "has spawned numerous imitators", becoming popular in part because of the DJ's choice of eclectic, avant-garde music. It became known internationally for issuing popular compilations of lounge, chill-out music and world music, also under the Buddha Bar brand, released by George V Records. Buddha Bar began issuing compilations in 1999, and has since "made a name for itself with its Zen lounge music CDs and remains a hit – especially with tourists".

Ali Payami is a Swedish record producer, songwriter, and DJ.

References

  1. "Qui est Claude Challe? (official site: news)". Archived from the original on 2012-05-07. Retrieved 2012-05-12.
  2. "The Tuesday profile: Claude Challe". RFI Musique. Radio France Internationale. 3 October 2001. Archived from the original on 21 June 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  3. "Hippy Days". Khaleej Times . 14 February 2010. Retrieved 21 December 2010.