AJ Dance Legacy

~ONE~

It all started twelve months earlier at a tiny vegetarian organic soul food restaurant on the city’s east edge on a hot humid late August night.Those twenty-five or so in attenDance were the first to taste Tambor’s delight without speculation as to this would be “IT.”Those in attenDance were small in number that understood Tambor was destined to be just another local party thrown by local DJ’s that happened to be local party promoters.Tambor… Continue

ZEPHERIN SAINT

“BOOOOMMMMMM!!!!” blew the loud speakers that sent several people running to the back of the basement near the bar where the noise was less obnoxious.

This Friday night and all the rest started early, way before the first musical note licked any listener’s eardrum. The invisible time before the party that only a few chosen ever witness due to their expertise in audio management.… Continue

OSUNLADE & DAVID SABAT

At 10:30 pm a line stretched from the door all the way down to the next building. Thankfully the spring night air was warm, a tad too warm for mid-June. Anxious tribesters not accustomed to waiting in lines to enter clubs waited for the party to begin. Finally, the doors swung open and in walked everyone into the cool air conditioned ground level restaurant for drinks and mingling.… Continue

RON TRENT/TRINIDADIAN DEEP/NAPPY G

After several long minutes the doors to the basement’s dance floor/lounge and bar opened. The long dark narrow stairway gave way to a dark overly frozen air conditioned basement which was needed because once the throngs of various tribesters arrived the room would become hot as hell’s kitchen. The soulful driven house grooves traversed through the air that greeted every tribester’s heart with love.… Continue

SUPERMAN

Inside the club, a storefront pizzeria with a dance floor and DJ booth in the basement, located along the city’s Old Fourth Ward district, the music stopped. No one moved. No one breathed. No one dared make a sound.

“BOOM,” thundered an explosive sound of deep bass followed by a few electronic “clicks.” Then a second, “BOOM” followed by a third, “BOOM” blasted from the speaker in repeated cessions until a clear audible rhythm was realized.… Continue

LET LOOSE PARTY

Every eye stared upward towards the DJ booth. No one dared to move a muscle. No one dared to make a sound. A safety pin could be heard crashing on the baby powder dusted floor below throngs of dirty soles. All were consumed, busily frozen in their tracks as if this was judgment day. Obviously, not the latter all were eagerly anticipating Jellybean Benitez to take charge of the musical console.… Continue

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.… Continue

FREEDOM PARTY

The air within the club donned a rich celebratory spirit. A spirit that loudly resonated true freedom had yet to be obtained but immense strides had been gained. In response, several faces entering the club displayed notoriety that announced, “Although I’m not totally free at least I’m freer than what I once was.”

The reminder that freedom not yet a global mandate was quickly reinforced by the vast amounts of medical supplies collected at the club’s front door for recent earthquake victims in a poverty stricken nation.… Continue

HOLIDAY PARTY

Suddenly, it happened. Like a mighty wind the night’s most unforgettable anthem blew through the room like Pentecost. The song so powerful sent chills up the spine to the neck. A song so anointed it caused one to run into the bathroom and jump up down-holy ghost style. No joke, this was chuuuccchhh!

You know the Sunday morning African American churches that sit dead smack in ill-fated communities-the kind that are beacon of hopes to downtrodden neighborhoods.… Continue