Masters At Work: The Soul Truth.

Masters At Work play Vibes On A Summers Day at the Riverstage on Sunday.

'Little Louie' Vega is a man of very few words. After unsuccessfully trying to chase him around the world for a chat, we finally track 'Little Louie' down in Africa and send a couple of questions through via email. A couple of days later an email turns up on my computer, and in typical fashion the answers don't reveal too much about the man that many regard as one half of one of the finest house outfits in the world. There is a common theme to many of the answers - "Yes" or "No" he replies to most of my questions. Or if Vega was in a bit of a talkative mood: "No, never."

Born in the Bronx in the 60s, Vega grew up on a diet of Latin beats and hip hop grooves, an upbringing that is aurally evident in most of the music he produces both by himself and as part of the Masters At Work. Given Vega comes from the same area that has given birth to many artists, including J-Lo who feels the need to constantly remind us that "she's real", I asked 'Little Louie' whether he was ever going to feel the need to do a J-Lo and release a "I'm just Louie from the Block" themed track. "You funny," I got back in reply, which I assume was accompanied by a smile on the face of the man who has smiled behind many turntable over the years, from New York to Norway and Austria to Australia.

Originally cutting his production teeth through remixes, Vega began experimenting in the studio, creating some of the finest house music to come out of America in the nineties - work such as India's Love and Happiness, that has stood the test of time and stands as a shining example of house music produced to the highest quality. Teaming up with Kenny 'Dope' Gonzales in one of the most inspired partnerships in dance music history saw the creation of the Masters At Work, an apt title given the momentous amount and quality of material they have released under this moniker. I asked Vega whether, after the ten years of working with Kenny, he ever got sick of him, even if just for the slightest moment. "NEVER," came the response, typed angrily in upper case. It explains a lot about one of the most revered partnerships in house music. "We collaborate," writes Vega a couple of questions later. "No competition ever between him and I. That's what many others can't do."

The late nineties saw Kenny and Louie release Nuyorican Soul, an album lauded by the critics that featured collaborators as diverse as Roy Ayres, George Bensen, Jazzy Jeff and India again. Masters At Work paved the way for bringing together diverse amounts of talent to work on a single album and proved, more importantly, that it could all still work on the dance floor.

Just like the need to see Massive Attack live, Masters At Work live is one the true pleasures of dance music that should be compulsory viewing and listening for every dance music lover at least once in their lifetime. Although Louie has been out here several times as part of a solo DJ tour, it is the first time that Masters At Work have played live in Australia. In typical fashion, Louie is brief about what we can expect when we do see them playing live.

"Great music, mixing, 3 artists," he says. "One a new artist Raul Midon featured on my new Elements Of Life album coming in April, Billie who is featured on the Our Time Is Coming Album (Masters At Work) and Shaun Escoffery (Days Like This, Spacerider). A musical journey all intertwined within my set."

At the very end of the email, there is one comment that did shine through stronger than most of the other single word responses.

"I'm very good with my hands," writes Louie in anticipation of his set at Vibes before adding a qualification that was frankly unnecessary - "As you would already know or will know when I get there."

Most of us do already know Louie, and the rest of us can't wait for you to prove it to us all over again.