Salvatore Principato

photo by Shawn Brackbill

Salvatore Principato (Sal P.) is best known as the vocalist and percussionist
of seminal NYC minimalist-funk band Liquid Liquid,
but his nearly three-decade career actually spans a wide variety of genres.

Liquid Liquid recorded and released four EPs for 99 Records:
Liquid Liquid, Successive Reflexes (both 1981), and Optimo (1983).
The group’s successes included club hits such as “Cavern,” “Bellhead,” and “Optimo,”
in addition to sold-out concerts worldwide.
“Cavern” became the basis of Grandmaster Flash’s rap classic, “White Lines (Don’t Do It).”
The band released one final EP Dig We Must in 1984

Immediately following, Principato along with Ken “Man” Caldeira
formed the industrial-dub outfit Fist of Facts,
they toured Europe and released a 12-inch EP Fugitive Vesco in 1988
(recently another limited edition Fist Of Facts record has been released by Claremont 56 London).

In the early 1990’s, Principato began producing words-and-music shows in downtown New York clubs and galleries, as well as an annual series of free outdoor shows on the piers on the Hudson River
and a cable TV program based on these productions.
He played drums with a rock band Liki Outhaus,
collaborated with the late Zen Guitar author Phil Toshio Sudo
in the experimental music project Avant Garbage,
and runs a downtown rehearsal studio.
Since 1998, under the “Univer-SAL” banner,
he has produced many African and Caribbean music concerts
and is currently promoting Universal Sundays, a monthly event in New York City.

Sal P.’s DJ efforts are as varied as his other musical projects
and he has championed the turntables at venues in the U.S., Europe, and South Africa
and is known for his blend of Afro-Latin, Rare Groove, and deep disco tracks.
Remixes have been released most notably for the Rong Music label
in collaboration with musicians and producers such as Dennis Young, Brennan Green & Citizen Kane.
He has also worked with Kaos, the Berlin-based DJ and producer & with Ectomorph’s BMG from Detroit .
Recent releases & collaborations have come out on the Claremont 56 & Disques Sinthomme imprint,
and there’s more to come.

On May 19, 2008, Domino Records released a reissue of Liquid Liquid’s first three records along with previously unreleased bonus tracks in a newly designed package.

Liquid Liquid occasionally gets together to play a series of shows.

Principato’s cultural concerns don’t end with music.
He is an avid vegan cook, photographer & graphic designer
and lover of all topics political in perspective