In depth: art
José Padilla
The Café del Mar DJ whose sunset sets and compilations gave the world the sound of Ibiza at dusk.
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Every summer evening, crowds gather on the rocks of Sant Antoni’s bay to watch the sun go down to music. That ritual, and the gentle, unhurried music that goes with it, owes more to José Padilla than to anyone. For years the resident DJ at Café del Mar, he compiled the albums that carried the sound of the Ibiza sunset around the world.
From Barcelona to Ibiza
José María Padilla Requena was born in Barcelona on 4 December 1955 and moved to Ibiza in 1975. Café del Mar opened on the rocks of Sant Antoni’s bay on 20 June 1980.
For several years Padilla sold his mixtapes to the bar, and he later recalled going door to door in London looking for a record deal while selling a hundred tapes a day. In 1991 he became Café del Mar’s resident DJ.
The sunset sound
His sets were built for the hour when the sun sinks behind the islands across the bay: ambient, chill-out and Balearic music, slow and warm. In Spain he is remembered as the man who created chill-out at Café del Mar.
Café del Mar, the albums
In 1994 he compiled the first Café del Mar album for the London label React. Café del Mar grew into a long series of volumes and an international music brand. Padilla selected the tracks for its early volumes.
His own music
His first album of his own, Souvenir, came out on Mercury in 1998, with collaborations from chill-out musicians including Lenny Ibizarre and Paco Fernández. Navigator followed in 2001 and was nominated for a Latin Grammy for best instrumental album.
That August he played a two-hour Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1, his first in twenty years.
He composed the soundtrack of the film El sueño de Ibiza in 2002, returned with the compilation Café Solo in 2006, and in 2015 released So Many Colours on the International Feel label. That August he played a two-hour Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1, his first in twenty years.
Farewell
In July 2020 Padilla announced that he had colon cancer. He died in hospital on Ibiza on 18 October 2020, aged 64, and the island and the music world mourned him as the godfather of chill-out.
Our advice: be on the rocks of Sant Antoni’s bay half an hour before sunset, with a drink from Café del Mar and the first Café del Mar album on your headphones, and watch the sky over the islands across the bay turn from gold to red.
Why it's on our list
- Moved to Ibiza in 1975
- Café del Mar resident from 1991
- Compiled the first Café del Mar album
- Navigator: a Latin Grammy nomination
Location
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