DJ Quinto Quarto, a former butcher who dissects the viscera of Afro-funky
Preamble – People say that a good butcher is better than a bad surgeon. It might happens that a butcher dreams a different future for his son, and addresses the boy to studies for becoming a surgeon. The cited father has thought that his own notable handling in removing internal organs from viscera might be developed, and utilized in the field of medicine. The cited son has become a surgeon, but without any enthusiasm. The young man has seen that in Italy, his country, surgeons are many, and, on the contrary, professional butchers are a small number, so that there’s a reduction in the consumption of meat. In effect, meat needs to be properly cut, for not losing taste, appropriate consistence, and nutritional properties. Thus, he convinced his father to let him follow the same path in work. Despite, after some years, the new butcher has felt that meat is not the true mission of his lifetime.
Biography – Quinto Quartaroli is born in Quarto Flegreo, Naples, Italy. He is one of the few men that has left surgical science for becoming a butcher. As a butcher, due to the ability in preparing offal of slaughtered animals, he has been nicknamed “maestro del quinto quarto”, literally “master of the fifth quarter”, that means master teacher in dissecting the internal quarter of the weight of a carcass, equal to the total amount of the offal, whose unsold remains in ancient times were gifted to poor people. Well, Italian cuisine includes dozens of exquisite dishes, based on the “fifth quarter”, the internal organs of animals, traditionally typical of proletarians. One day, after an invitation coming from friends, Quinto has attended for the first time an “Afro-funky meeting”, and has fell in love with the eclectic way of proposing strange music, proper of the DJs of the Afro-funky movement. He has realized that carefully cutting music is similar to be a good butcher, like him. Cutting immaterial things, like music, is something that exerts a big attraction on many persons, and has become the favorite goal of Quinto, who has discovered to possess a great musical talent. Thanks to the capacity of applying a strong commitment in everything he does, Quinto has deserved the position of resident DJ at a popular nightclub, devoted to Italian Afro-funky music. Of course, he has chosen the artistic name of DJ Quinto Quarto, something that has two meanings. By one side, Quinto, first name, from Quarto, the birthplace. To the other side, “quinto quarto” is the offal left to proletarians, a memory of his former activity. As a DJ, Quinto Quarto has maintained the mentalities of surgeons and of butchers, consisting of cutting away the discussable praxes of the Afro-funky DJs, and of dissecting from the performances of those DJs only the best pieces of music.
Why heroic – thanks to DJ Quinto Quarto you might find some coherence inside the Italian Afro-funky movement, something more unique than rare.
The mix – comes from dissecting only the best from the performances of 27 of the most prominent DJs of the Italian Afro-funky movement, still alive or not.
File name is “the viscera of the Italian Afro-funky, by DJ Quinto Quarto (end of Sept 2026)”, 1 hour 19’ and 30” of selected dance music tracks, some of the horses of battle of the Italian Afro-funky movement.
Afro-funky for all, the playlist:
Clara Mondshine – Die Drachentrommler (dragon drummers)
Jean-Luc Ponty – mirage
West India Company – thieves of our lovers life
Yellow Magic Orchestra – focus (instrumental)
Hollywood Nites – too many bells
Praxis – electro-shock
Rah Band – Turkey roll
Manu Dibango – super kumba
Pacific Blue – you gotta dance
Sailor – down by the docks
Ziggy Phunk – fabulous boogie
Slack – Slack Attack (dub)
Miami – broken down man
Mass Production – wine-flow disco
Kay Gees – burn me up
Jimmy Castor Bunch – need your lovin’
