Europe Salsa Dance DJ: Sławek 'Mala Suerte' Leszczyński of Poland

Sławek 'Mala Suerte' Leszczyński (Poland)

Sławek was introduced to salsa in late 2002 and that's when he started to collect songs that he felt were the most enjoyable for salsa dancers. Over the years his collection grew but he only used it for personal purposes. It all changed in 2006 when he was asked to DJ at a new salsa party and reluctantly agreed. From that moment he started to spend more and more time searching for new music and sifting through his collection for the best songs. This time-consuming task was partially eased by his exceptional memory for catchy tunes and for the names of salsa artists.

At the beginning of his career as a DJ, Sławek spinned in small clubs with poor DJ equipment and bad audio systems. Undaunted by his initial difficulties, he adopted the humorous nickname Mala Suerte (Spanish for "bad luck").

Guided by his musical taste as a dancer, he tries to deliver tunes that are highly danceable but not too familiar. He specialises in heavy Puerto Rican and New York salsa, especially from the golden age of salsa music in the 1960s and 1970s, but he doesn't ignore salsa bands that have emerged over the last couple of years.

His taste in salsa music, as well as his knowledge, have evolved over time. Initially collecting albums of well-known salsa artists such as Ray Barretto, Willie Rosario, Tito Puente, Ismael Rivera, Bobby Valentin, Cheo Feliciano, he then broadened his horizons to less-known artists, such as Impacto Crea, Johnny Zamot, Chivirico Davila, Federico and Alfredo Linares. Today, Slawek own albums of hundreds of bands known only to a handful of salsa vieja collectors in the world.

You will definitely enjoy the nostalgic guajiras, rhythmic guaguancos and fast-paced, energetic, percussion heavy descargas he carefully selected.