DJ/producer Claudio Coccoluto has died, according to reports in the Italian media and on social media. He was 59.
While an official statement on Coccoluto’s passing has not yet been released, it is believed that Coccoluto died in Cassino, Italy this morning, surrounded by family after a lengthy illness.
Coccoluto, who also maintained the Coccodance alias, began DJing in 1980. He went on to form his own label, The Dub, and remixed the likes of Adamski, Joey Negro and Dimitri From Paris. All the while, he continued to DJ all over the world at clubs like Ministry of Sound and helmed shows on BBC1 and Kiss FM.
Of his many productions, Claudio Coccoluto presents The Heartists’ tribal-flavored “Belo Horizonti” released in 1996 on Basement Jaxx‘s Atlantic Jaxx remains a rousing rhythmic masterpiece.