George Morel — Garage House DJ & Producer

George Morel is a DJ and producer born in New York in 1967 of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent who began his DJ career in the city's clubs, including Red Zone, Palladium, Traxx and Save the Robots, venues central to New York's late-1980s and early-1990s garage and house scene. His mix series Morel's Grooves, eleven 12-inch records released between 1992 and 1997, showcased his Latin-influenced house sound and became one of the more influential DJ tool series of that era, widely used and sampled by peers on the New York circuit. In 1992 Morel became A&R vice president of Strictly Rhythm Records, one of house music's defining independent labels, a role that placed him at the center of the label's output during its most prolific decade while he continued to produce and DJ under his own name. Now based in Miami, Morel has earned international recognition for spreading his house sound across nightclubs and dance audiences worldwide, carrying the New York garage-house lineage he grew up in into decades of global bookings. His combination of hands-on club residencies, a foundational mix series and label leadership at Strictly Rhythm has kept his name tied to the genre's New York roots even as his career has expanded internationally.