DJ Charlotte the Baroness with the Broun Fellinis

Brandi and Kevin's Post-Wedding Party

DJ Charlotte the Baroness

Charlotte Kaufman (aka the Baroness) grew up in the 70’s on the Southside of Chicago, where she learned how to dance and keep a beat before she could even walk. A funk junkie before she hit puberty, buying records and making “mix” tapes (with one turntable, a radio and a Panasonic blue tape deck) by the age of 9, Chicago proved to be an ideal place for the unknowing funkstress to develop her cool blend of house, hip-hop, techno, break beat, funk, & disco. In 1979 she stood witness to George Clinton and his P-Funk Fest and then headed to her first underground disco party. That night, at the sprightly age of 14, Charlotte Kaufman began her evolution into the innovative, adventurous artist we know and love.

In 1982, Charlotte left Chicago in search of sunny beaches, alternative lifestyles and the prime education that put U.C. Santa Cruz on the map. After graduating from UCSC, Charlotte moved up the coastline to San Francisco where she began to spend lots of time in the clubs and met her pal Kevin Carnes (famed drummer of the Beat Nigs and The Broun Fellinis). A few months later, the day after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, it was Carnes who convinced Charlotte to buy her first mixer. She was christened the Baroness a few months later on the opening night of her first weekly dance gig at the Emperor Room in San Francisco. One month later The Baroness took over a popular funk Friday nights and started up a hip-hop Saturday night at the Crystal Pistol. She also teamed up with The Broun Fellinis as their official spinstress, playing in between their legendary jazz sets throughout the Bay Area.

Over the years she has built up a loyal following, spinning with crews like Hardkiss, DIY, Red Nail and jazz/hip-hop crews like Giant Step and San Francisco’ Pirate DJ. She organized her own unique weekly clubs Butterfly and Sprung and was a resident for Your Sister s House and Dig as well. She has played all over the country and the U.K. She has spun at countless Bay Area venues, such as the Sound Factory, Cafe Du Nord, the Elbo Room, 26 Mix, An Sibin, The Kennel Club, DNA, Club Deco, The Top, 1015 Folsom, 111 Minna, Space 550, and many more.

Today, with a solid 12 years of spinning under her belt, Charlotte is one of the Bay Area’s first female DJ/Producers who made a name for her self nationwide: Releases like the hot-selling Electric Manor compilation series and a number of projects and remixes for Zoe Magic have earned her a rep for having a versatile style synonymous with the sound of West Coast house, a joint that grooves with funked-up, haughty flavor: “Charlotte would be my choice if I had to come up with a DJ whom I could count on to accurately put forth the sound of San Francisco… and that’s no cakewalk!” (DJ Mikkel, The Baroness "Electric Manor Vol. 1 and Vol.2 " CD Review, Selekta).

Her current residency at legendary Sunday T-Dance (San Francisco’s longest running party) at the Endup is unique not only for it’s funky vibe and fierce crowd, but also because she is the first female resident to spin at the historic club in its 28 year history. It is impossible to attach a label to this DJ as the lady can and does play it all (from disco house to hard tech beats, progressive breaks, electro, funk and hip hop); the Baroness is famed for her skills at weaving it all together in a classy style that keeps the dance floor moving. At the same time she delivers a set stylized to the venue, as the Baroness is a DJ who plays with her crowd and is sensitive to a variety of vibes. Whether it’s the late shift in a house club, prime time at the rave or an evening dedicated to beats, the Baroness is one of those DJ/Producers that knows no real defining lines between genres of music—the only requirement is that the music has soul. Indeed, she knows no limits: she has none, and therefore she always manages to work up an electric frenzy in a manner that is uniquely her own.

Broun Fellinis

The most important thing about music is the way it makes you feel. Musicians are lucky enough to live a life of pure feeling if they can play their personal visionary music with as much integrity and energy as the spirit grants them.

For the last 25 years, the trio called BROUN FELLINIS have been doing exactly this. The Fellinis innovate and disseminate their "Brounsoun", a sonic expression inspired by the ancient to future traditions of Jazz, Rock, Funk, Hardcore, Afrocentric Hip hop, Dub, film music and African/Indian trance sounds.

Notable performances include a tour with Ben Harper and co-bills with Gil Scott-Heron, Meshell Ndegeocello, the Roots, Erykah Badu, Bad Brains, George Clinton, Rafael Saadiq, Mos Def, The Last Poets, Living Colour, Zakir Hussain, Bernie Worrell, Jimmy Smith, Galactic, Medeski, Martin, Wood, Ravi Coltrane and many more. Downbeat and Spin magazines as well as NPR, KCRW, and Radio Nova in France have profiled the group.      

The trio has performed at the San Sebastian International Jazz Festival in Spain, the opening of the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts and the Stern Grove Festival both in San Francisco. Top venues The Independent, Yoshi's and the House Of Blues have hosted the group and in June of 2016, Broun Fellinis celebrated their 25th anniversary at the Great America Music Hall in San Francisco.

The Fellinis play this NOW music with passion, precision and soul in energetic performances that embrace freedom and structure equally. Out of nowhere, improvised themes and motifs morph into well-crafted songs with evocative melodies, exotic harmonies and infectious rhythms. It is music of the moment reflecting the lives of three exceptional musicians living and creating in the Bay Area, California.