AJ Dance Legacy

THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Late night, the temperature reads a chilly 43-degrees, up in these streets, at the intersection of Ivan Allen Junior Blvd and Marietta. The soul awakens. From muffled thumps of bass heard in the distance. The hypnotic groove guides the body ever so closer to the pulsating nucleus. A black building. Covered windows. Littered with paper flyers. Destination affirmed. The pearly whites appear on the doorman’s smile. ID? Check. Ticket? Scanned. Proof of vax? Test? Or mask? Yeah. This is going to be one of those nights. Sweaty. Dirty. Nasty. Just #discoandhousemusicexcellence to purview. (more…)

DANNY KRIVIT

A “WHOMP, WHOMP, BOOM!!!” shattered the peaceful summer night air and exploded like bombs over Baghdad onto the neighborhood streets in vicinity of the venue. At the establishment’s framed wooden front door the sub-terrain voice of bass greeted civilians. Once indoors the subwoofers sounded off clear and crisp, “THUMPS” marching off to war. Seismic waves of decibels sliced through the heart. The soundscape had leveled the battlefield with an apocalyptic “BOOM!”

“YEAH, it’s the NEW mixer sponsored by Bozak!” yelled Tambor’s third in rank with enough joviality to fuel an Army Abrams M1A1 battle tank. “I can’t wait for Danny to hear it!”

Except for being in the company of the frequent bass explosions that rocked the venue, the capacious space felt peculiarly lonely. Behind the music artillery, Commander Stanzeff worked a numbered of Tambor’s foot soldiers stationed at various points throughout the base. The Tambor-in-chief, in Re-Edit mode, strategically crafted current cuts of Quentin Harris’/Margaret Grace’s, “My Joy,” 3 Amigo’s/Susu Bobien’s, “You Bring Me Joy”( Guy Robin Mix) and Peven Everett’s, “Stuck” (Phil Asher’s Soul Heaven Version). Tambor’s troops responded with valiant praise. On the contrary, certain imponderability perplexed of certain lacks. Was it the institutional decor? The sleeping disco ball? The missing strobe light theatrics? Or simply, the MIA house heads?

My Love Song

There is something about the color of love when Danny Krivit shows up to play at Tambor. Red seemed to be the coincidental unofficial uniform color of choice. Red tees, red polos, red pants and red minis showed up to party. Two years prior, Danny threw down at Tambor’s Passion Party where the room was besieged with every hue of lust. Although the venue and many faces have since changed, the vibe had not. Many came expecting to experience a night of passion. And some more than others got that.

Provocative females pranced around practically naked provoking passionate eyes to protrude from both sexes. Hands fondled breasts. Two favorite dancers, one male the other female, disappeared before the party’s guest of honour manned the decks. An older gentleman gripped and groped his female companion with moves that should be left at “Swinging Richards.” Yes, something freaky was in the air. After all, they don’t call this the “Summer Party” for nothing. It is the time when the zeitgeber beckons, “It’s Mating Season.”

The Big Apple’s Danny Krivit appeared onstage in his uniformed 718 Sessions black tee. Sergeant Body & Soul stood armed and dangerous gripped with firearms, of the music kind, ready to slay Tambor. With a lovable teddy bear visage easy enough to fool-his demeanor proved all militant. Without warning, the sock it to em’ and knock em’ out DJ played drill sergeant. With a shuffle of his neck from side to side; the bass dropped and the highs were pitched to roughhouse the audience. The in-demand music hero wasted no time discharging jazz vocalist Gregory Porter’s, “1960 What?(Opopolo Bass & Rerub)” onto the brigade. Surprise! The soft-opener spelled T-R-O-U-B-L-E for a few Paradise Garage vets that expected a more disco anthem. Next, DJN Project’s featuring Theo Larson and Quadir, “Afro-Hard” pumped beats like machetes fired off in an African jungle. The third song proved victorious for the Garage heads of old hence, Ten City’s, “Fantasy.” Danny cut the music. The people sung, “I’m Sitting On Top of the World/Whenever You’re Around Me” the famous lyrics from Skyy’s (AKA New York Skyy) “Here’s To You”. The 20^th century jam played with production help from the 21^st century remix masters N-Joy and John Morales. Danny in playful mode continued to have fun with the audience and dropped the music and vocals for additional sing-a-long support from Tambor’s troops. Global beats banged courtesy of Distant People’s featuring Nickson, “My Love Song” (Libation Mix by Ian Friday) one of the smoothest gems discovered that night. There’s just something about the color of love when Danny plays love songs at Tambor. Given song legend Kenny Bobien in the house, standing next to the DJ stage texting, Danny played a moving tribute to the king of gospel house with “The Light.” Later, Kenny’s wife Stephanie Cooke’s tribute arrived, (apropos in the house) “Love Will” (Roots Vocal Mix) the Latin-flavored percussion driven jam that took dancers on a makeshift Navy cruise around the Caribbean Islands. Occasionally, vocal house was abandoned for instrumental driven tracks which displayed variety for a panoply of palettes to enjoy. During one disco house excursion the crowd seemed lost in translation; preoccupied with distractions. Therefore, moving towards the back of the facility to dance the atmosphere reeked of cooked crack. The music faded as the beginnings to a Roland drum loop sounded. Whitney Houston’s voice came into full view from a hazy stir. As Danny dropped the music the crowd sung, “Love Will Save The Day” which sounded more like shouts from the top of their lungs. The 12” inch version made for a great dance among friends on a white powdered dust covered floor. The dance down memory lane continued with Geraldine Hunt’s, “Can’t Fake The Feeling” from 1980. The jam had people wanting to pull out their roller-skates. Back to the present, Danny decided to bless the audience with a reprise of Distant People’s featuring Nickson, “My Love Song” (Libation Mix by Ian Friday). Once again, there is something about the color of love when Danny plays love songs.

There was no major theatrical disco close-out. No final thirty-minute music set devoted to Salsoul. Heck, the late Donna Summer didn’t appear in the mix. Proper house tracks seasoned here and there with vocals, afro-house punched at higher BPM’s and a dash of disco made an oscillating body of work. Danny wasted little effort playing afterthoughts of yesteryear but rather focused much attention on house music’s current climate. The “King of the Re-Edit” seemed more engaged in Body & Soul’s inner-makings than the architectural framework of Paradise Garage. The roller skating jams were left behind at the rink and music requests went ignored, even to the tune of MFSB’s “Love Is The Message.” What a valor undertaking, “My Love Song” was the new “LITM”. That night, house music’s prestigious Medal of Honor went to…… Mr. Danny Krivit. After all, there is something to Danny Krivit when he plays love songs at Tambor.

All Photography by AJ Dance

PASSION PARTY

Party streamers with red metallic hearts attached on ends shimmered in the soft glow of the club’s neon blue, red and white strobe lights. The ceiling, cluttered with every red, pink and white balloon possibly imagined dazzled in the company of several sparkling disco balls. Enter the VIP room, already drenched in blood red, lay ready for any foreplay or other voyeuristic acts that were sure to occur.

In the packed room the momentum steadily culminated like boiling water ready to blow the lid off a steel pot. People stood shoulder to shoulder like atoms in a crystalline solid with barely enough room to move. The level of anticipation exploded as Danny Krivit AKA Mr. Re-edit, appeared in the DJ booth to take control of the culinary delight. Danny was armed and dangerous with a musical dish so spicy it was sure to send the palette to the drinking well. Every mouth in the room salivated with fixation for the bountiful spread. Many stood still, unable to dance waiting for the first note to drop. What would it be? What would it taste like?

Then it happened. The first note dropped like desert rain upon the hungry mass. Danny played the classic disco floor burner, “Movin” by Construction Brass, the primarily instrumental marked with occasional chants of, “Gotta get myself together/Yeah/Gonna Go Higher/I’m Movin On,” with its live funky horns and talking guitars reminders of times when real instruments were recorded in real music studios and not artificially manufactured on computer software in mom and pop’s bedrooms. The year was 1976 when this funk driven disco tune reached the top of the R’n’B charts and number 14 on the Pop charts. Okay, a song of this caliber might be too old to play in current clubscape but the crowd filled with many over the hills went bedlam. Really, these people went crazy. As if they hadn’t heard the song since Saturday morning cartoons were all the rage. Then again, maybe they hadn’t. After all the song was so old dust had to be wiped off the recording. Anyways, that did nothing to stop the loud roar that surged through the air like thunder before a coming storm. Into the air, arms flew up and fists violently pumped as smiling house heads jumped up and down throughout the packed abode. People everywhere lost their freaking minds. Evidently, disco was the dish of the night.

Wait a minute. What was this? A straight up four-count thumping house beat with hissing hi-hats that protruded from the speakers like soft rose pedals of love. The fluttering sounds of xylophone keys culminating with fluffy keyboard chords met the crescendo of a straight up hand clappin’, foot stompin’ church organ leftover from last Sunday morning’s service. This tune was on point, a rather bouncy feel good that made the heart do summersaults in circles around the room. The instrumental jam had a hypnotic melody that stalked the mind for months to come and beckoned this question to be answered. What’s the name of that song? The answer: Peven Everett’s, “Church” (The Sting International Mix)! Fiyah!!!

Later that night, another stellar stand out once again came from Chicago’s soul crooner, Peven Everett. This time delivered in the form of what seemed like a 12 minute plus re-edit of the singer’s unreleased promo, “Burning Hot.” Peven’s signature voice flawlessly fluttered over Timmy Regisford’s and Adam Rios’ remixed interpretation with perfectly executed distinction, style and grace. The song that seemed to never end was of no major complaint as the crowd danced as if this were a soul parade. However, even this catchy tune seemed a first-rate cousin of disco with its four-count drum beat, uplifting orchestra strings and a jabbing rhythmic guitar which made for an easy transition out of the previous disco song played.

By the time the last song played, the room looked mildly disheveled. Gone were the balloons that once hung from the ceiling and the pretty little red hearts lay trampled everywhere on the floor. Sorrow was felt for the individual(s) that had to clean up the mess. The room looked like a lover gone mad.

After the passage of yet another “Tamborific” journey, Danny stayed around for a quick interview and posed for several photos in front of the black banner with light blue letters boldly proclaiming, “TAMBOR.” Soon after others content with music filled bellies gathered in the photo to close out a night filled with passion.

Photography by Carlos J. Bell