AJ Dance Legacy

FABIO GENITO VERSION II

The Party

This spring night belonged to the dancers.

Much can be said about Italy’s Fabio Genito’s spirited set that delivered robust afro-beat/latin/90’s house/current deep-house/funk/soul and disco flavors of heated beats marinated on a fruit-based laptop connected to a smoking mixing deck. After a rousing opener by Tambor’s founder and resident, Stan Zeff, the packed room of bodies was ripe with anticipation for some Italian delight.

Fabio appeared on stage decked out in a dinner vest, a popular cartoon sketchedduck on a white graphic tee and low-riding blue denim. With the music silenced, the room fell to an uncomfortable hush. Suddenly, an a cappella tenor arose from the DJ stage like a soaring phoenix. The raspy voice from none other than vocalist Michael Watford cried for much needed “PEACE & HARMONY.” Actually, “Michael’s Prayer” blasted from several Peavey speakers and JBLs positioned about the room and not from the DJ stage as earlier thought thanks to the wonderful sound system by Kevin Donovan. Immediately, cued from CD player two, tribal beats fell on the densely populated room that greeted several curious visages. Slowly, dancing feet began to sway left to right. Then as afro-beat gave way to tinged latin percussions the same feet salsaed front to back.

Throughout the night, special tech EFX of flutters, reverbs, fade-ins and fade-outs reigned supreme. The mixer’s “kill” switch dropped bass lines. The mixer’s knobs were tweaked to unbalance EQ levels and enhance the highs and lows of several tracks played. For those with sensitive ears these overstated techniques might have seemed gall. But it was all good. Even the frequent musical build-ups and break-downs during songs kept dancing feet on their p’s and q’s. Sorry, folks there were no miss-steps here.

Afefe Iku’s, “Mirror Dance” raced into action at high speeds after a few EFX shutters of infections afro-beat. Front there afro-beat transformed into straight up Chicago house with Steve “Silk” Hurley’s presents The Voices of Life with, “The Word is Love (Say The Word)” (Silk’s Anthem of Life Mix) that made way for some great disco dance moves.

Dynamic movements sprung to life as a huge dance circle formed in the epicenter of the rectangular dance floor. Dancers showed off various acrobatic poses while fancy footers showcased lightning speed footwork. Several video recorders and numerous cell phone owners ran to the arc to capture the extemporaneous footage. At that moment, the crowd exploded with eager applause as the room’s energy boiled over.

From there, Chi-town house gave way to Motown soul. Stevie Wonder’s classic, “My Love Is On Fire” lit the room with nostalgia as dancers slid and spun in circles across the floor.

Immediately, thereafter, a pumping four-count club thumper leveled the speakers. The beat much too hard for today’s deep house felt more from the likes of Chicago’s golden house music era than the current climate of South Africa’s beating cowbells. Sure enough the classic goodie came from UK soulsters, Simply Red remixed by a native Chicagoan. To keep the blue-eyed soul in effect, George Michael’s, “Careless Whisper”(Abicah Soul Remix) with vocals hovering barely above a faint whisper seemed to fall on deaf ears. Realizing the response or the lack thereof, the song was quickly mixed out during the second hook before the song had time to simmer. Unfortunately, by this point the MeDEEPerraen DJ transitioned in and out of songs so quickly it left little time for engaging listeners to catch the groove. Other snippets included Tambor’s prior guest headliner, Timmy Regisford along with Adam Rios interpretation of “At The Club,” Ultra Nate’s, “Free” the gay anthem that had all the shirtless pumping fists in the air, singing with joy and 1999’s favorite Moloko’s, “Sing It Back” (Boris Musical Mix). Wait a minute was that Bob Marley and Wailer’s, “Exodus?”

While the aforementioned were cut short, other songs were left to play in their entirety. Shaun Ecoffery’s, “Days Like This” (Spinna & Tickla Mix) played as the vocals were “killed” to allow the audience to sing, “I Love Days Like This/Yeah/Here Comes The Sun” at the top of their lungs. The people cheered with praises as the next song, Element’s of Life featuring Lisa Fisher and Cindy Mizelle’s, “Into My Life (You Bought The Sunshine)” showered dancing hearts with love. One Tambor family member even hopped on the DJ Stage and gave a personal performance to Mr. Fabio. The latest hit from Reel People featuring Darien on vocals, “Sure” (Frankie Feliciano Classic Vocal Mix) sounded refreshing with its sing along melody that paved way for what was to come next.

The night’s musical journey cusped with a hair raising live performance by Atlanta’s own Robin Latimore’s cover of Gladys Knight’s & The Pips, “Neither One Of Us” re-titled, “First To Say Goodbye” remixed by South Africa’s DJ Micks. The jazz songstress belted out heavenly vocals over rapturous beating percussions driven under warm pads that sent the audience into the stratosphere. Not to outdo herself, Robin threw in some classic references singing Crystal Water’s, “Gypsy Woman” with the crowd and chanting “It’s Time For The Percolator” by Cajmere. Needless to say, the people ate up the performance like authentic home-cooked pasta.

To jumpstart the mix again, the disco break of Michael Jackson’s, “Get On The Floor” punched through the JBL’s to reveal an exclusive re-edit of the icon’s disco dance floor anthem. Other dance floor killers came courtesy from Germany’s dance musician George Kranz, “Trommeltanz” or “Din Daa Daa” that shut the party down (with that same Tambor family member back on stage waving her arm and swinging that derriere in the air) and the night’s final house number from the fabulous Sweet Pu$$y Pauline’s, “Work This Pu$$y with the XXX male emasculating material too explicit to explain on this page.

Once the venue’s house lights besieged the darkness there were still thirty or so dancers spinning in circles and two-stepping to Michael Jackson’s, “Rock With You.” Back on stage, Fabio appeared hesitant to give up the limelight as the clock unfortunately signaled 3 am. There, seemingly nervous Stan Zeff stood by Fabio’s side bidding adieu to the night’s guest at the request of the venue’s owner. However, there was no need for concern as the dancers had a wonderful time of Italian delight at Tambor’s expense and would soon take the dance outside underneath the starry March sky and that rare, beautiful supermoon. Once again, thanks Tambor and Fabio for the dance.

Photography by Carlos Bell Photography