"...I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like... Books, records, films -- these things matter. Call me shallow, but it's the fuckin' truth."
“Started in 1998, Savath & Savalas was created as a way for left-field producer Scott Herren (best known for his work as Prefuse 73) to explore his more instrumental and acoustic tendencies. His first full-length, Folk Songs for Trains, Trees and Honey, an experimental, glitchy affair, came out in 2000, followed by the EP Rolls and Waves in 2002 and the much folkier Apropa’t — which featured vocals from Catalan singer Eva Puyuelo, who Herren met when spending time in Spain — in 2004. In 2007 Golden Pollen, which included songs on which only the producer/instrumentalist sang, as well as appearances from artists like Mia Doi Todd and Jose Gonzalez, was released. Two years later, a proper follow-up to Apropa’t appeared; La Llama included a new contributing member, Ecuadoran (by way of Florida) Roberto Carlos Lange.”
“Trombonist Phil Ranelin was one of the Detroit jazz scene’s unsung heroes, releasing several excellent, politicized albums that blended post-Coltrane avant-garde jazz, post-Bitches Brew psychedelia, hard bop, funk, and African rhythms. Ranelin was born and raised in Indianapolis, and later moved to New York and then Detroit, where he started out as a session man for Motown artists like Stevie Wonder. In 1971, along with saxophonist Wendell Harrison, Ranelin co-founded a band, magazine, and record label conglomeration known as the Tribe, which used experimental jazz as a vehicle to raise African-American political consciousness. That year, Ranelin also issued his first album as a leader, Message from the Tribe. The Time Is Now! continued Ranelin’s accessible avant leanings in 1974, but 1976’s Vibes from the Tribe pushed more firmly into groovy jazz-funk territory. The Tribe organization folded in 1978, after which Ranelin played with Freddie Hubbard for several years. In 1986, Ranelin led a date for Rebirth titled Love Dream, and ten years later released the self-produced album A Close Encounter of the Very Best Kind — which featured his new Los Angeles-based sextet — on Lifeforce. Though Ranelin’s albums didn’t get much exposure outside of his home base, they found their way onto the acid jazz/rare-groove collector’s market, creating an underground buzz around Ranelin’s music. In 2001, Tortoise drummer John McEntire remixed and remastered The Time Is Now! and Vibes from the Tribe, which were reissued by the Hefty label. The following year, a full-fledged electronic Remixes collection was released.”
“Led by producer/vocalist/songwriter Jazzie B., Soul II Soul were one of the most innovative dance/R&B outfits of the late ’80s, creating a seductive, deep R&B that borrowed from Philly soul, disco, reggae, and ’80s hip-hop. Originally featuring Jazzie B., producer/arranger Nellee Hooper, and instrumentalist Philip “Daddae” Harvey, the musical collective came together in the late ’80s. The group had a residency at the Africa Centre in London’s Covent Garden, which led to a record contract with 10, a subsidiary of Virgin. Two singles, “Fairplay” and “Feel Free,” began to attract attention both in clubs and in the press.Featuring the vocals of Caron Wheeler, Soul II Soul’s third single, “Keep on Movin’,” reached the U.K. Top Ten in March of 1989. Released in the summer of 1989, “Back to Life” also featured Wheeler and became another Top Ten hit. Soul II Soul released their debut album, Club Classics, Vol. 1, shortly afterward. The album was released in America under the title Keep on Movin’; both “Keep on Movin’” and “Get a Life” became substantial hits, propelling the album to double platinum status.”
“Centered around leader Steve Washington and singers Starleana Young and Curtis Jones, Aurra was an outgrowth of the Ohio-based funk band Slave. They recorded a handful of albums during their late-’70s and early-’80s existence, with most of that output released on Salsoul. The group’s membership shifted constantly, with most of the musicians having strong ties to Slave. Aurra helped take Salsoul into the ’80s by recording dancefloor-friendly material with the help of synthesizers and programmed rhythms. While the bulk of Salsoul’s early releases featured elaborate string sections, mostly live instrumentation, and thumping disco foundations, ’80s projects such as Aurra took advantage of studio technology and appealed to club DJs and radio programmers alike by concentrating equally on traditional songcraft and dance rhythms.”
“Growing up in Greenwich Village, New York City, in the 1960s, Danny was surrounded by music. His mother was an accomplished jazz singer and his father was the manager of legendary jazz trumpeter Chet Baker before going on to open up “The Ninth Circle”, a Village hot spot, where Danny worked as a boy. It was here that Danny met some of the most influential people in the music scene; Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Charlie Mingus, John Lennon & Yoko Ono amongst others. His home was also a hotbed of musical inspiration, with The Mothers of Invention living down the hall, and Sid Bernstein (Manager of The Rascals) living upstairs, regularly popping down to the Krivit household to practice their future hits on the piano. At school, a close friend and classmate was the son of Creed Taylor, the production genius behind many artists who recorded on the VERVE, C.T.I. and KUDA labels, and another close friend was the legendary soul guru Nile Rogers.
By 1970 Danny was already a vinyl junkie & an amateur DJ, But DJ’ing as a profession wasn’t realized until 1971, after another neighbor/friend of Danny’s (Vice President of Polydor Records) introduced Danny to one of his artists - none other than the legendary James Brown, who gave Danny white-label promo copies of his “Get on the Good foot” and “Think” by Lynn Collins. Soon after, Danny started Djing at “The Ninth Circle” which by now had been transformed into a disco. In 1975, Danny’s father opened his second club, “Ones”, Danny was their sole DJ through 1977. Danny’s sets were a big success and from this he started promoting and Djing at his own after-hours club down the street. At this stage, Danny was becoming part of the underground scene, club-hopped a lot, meeting some of the greatest DJ names of the time. These included Nicky Siano (of the Gallery), Walter Gibbons (of Galaxy 21), Tee Scott (of Better Days) ,David Rodriguez (of The Limelight), Richie Kaczar (Club Hollywood), and Bobby DJ (of Le Jardin) amongst others. Although all outstanding names, one DJ and club stood out amongst the rest: DJ David Mancuso and The Loft.
The Loft (A musical center and Mecca for DJs) was a unique place and home of the original Record Pool. This is where Danny began his long time friendships with DJs Larry Levan and Francois Kevorkian (Francois K). In 1977 when Danny started Djing at “Trude Hellers”, he also had become an avid roller skater, and with his girlfriend (Daphne Rubin vega) would regularly skate over to the Paradise Garage, where Larry would let them skate around the club while he would check out some of the new records that week on the sound system. The Garage remained Danny’s main stomping ground until it closed in 1987.
Danny’s list of DJ residencies steadily grew throughout the 70s and in 1979, after Djing at the opening of the Roxy, he became their resident DJ for the next 4 years. In the early 80s the Roxy was the home of some of the best Hip hop DJs of the day like “D.S.T”, Grand master Flash, and Africa Bambaata. Since Danny was one of the few white boys who could scratch mix, he became known as Danny Rock. Throughout the 80s his list of clubs he played at exploded to include, Area, Dancateria, The Ice Palace, Laces, The Limelite, Red Zone, Save The Robots, Studio 54(Virgin Islands), Tracks, The Tunnel, The World, and many, many others. Even a guest spot at the legendary Paradise Garage.
Since the late 70s trade magazines such as Billboard, Cash Box, Record World, & Dance Music Report amongst others, have listed Danny’s playlists and Danny’s mix tapes have been getting airplay on radio station WBLS, WKTU, & KISS FM.
The 80s’ saw the beginning of Danny’s studio work. He worked on tracks featuring legends such as, James Brown on “Soul Power”, “The Funky Drummer”, “Give it up and Turn it loose”, Ecstacy, Passion & Pain on “Touch and Go”, Brenda and the Tabulations “Let’s Go All the Way”, and Gloria Gaynor on “Casanova Brown”. Moving into the 90s, Danny commanded legendary status amongst young and old as well as continuing to forge new paths in dance music into the millennium. He inherited the Ninth Circle and continued to DJ at clubs such as Mars, Tracks, The Choice, Palladium, Shelter, Sound Factory Bar, Twilo, The Warehouse, & The Loft. At it’s inseption in 1996, Danny joined the Body and Soul team, Francois K and Joe Claussell, at club Vinyl and has regularly played the party every Sunday since, whilst regularly Djing in various clubs in New York & Japan & everywhere inbetween. In 1999 one of Danny’s highlights as a Body and Soul resident was Djing for a 15,000 strong crowd at one of three special Body and Soul event for “Summer Stage” in Central Park, NY. Danny’s reputation outside New York has grown immensely over this time with Danny playing the world over, from America to Japan to Europe. He has hosted 2 special international Body and Soul events in London for “Angels of Love” and Giorgio Armani. Danny’s talents and reputation has grown and continues to do so like his 50,000-strong record collection. He is also a VJ, with a collection of over 5000 rare soul performances on video from the 60s, 70s, 80’s, & 90’s. As well as having producer/editor/mixer credits included on over 70 records. 2001 sees Danny’s 30th anniversary as a DJ and already this year has seen his name on over 25 records.”
“In 2005, Bret Easton Ellis stated that he was aware of the similarities between Zoolander and the Ellis novel Glamorama, and said that he considered and attempted to take legal action. Ellis was later asked about the similarities in a BBC interview, but said that he is unable to discuss the similarities due to an out-of-court settlement.”
“Note from the author: My production work for and under the Homework guise started somewhere around 2009, but before plunging into house music I had been fiddling around with electronic music since 2001 (age 14). Mostly orienting myself on what was arrogantly dubbed ‘intelligent dance music’ I touched, or at least tried to, on many different genres. One of these genres was ‘ambient’. Listening back to all the music I made between 2001 and 2007 I realized that that what still stands out for me are these experimental ambient pieces. And this is why I now, for the first time in all these years, have decided to present a selection of ten of the fifty tracks I made within this genre. Much of it will seem date, badly mastered or down right amateur, but please keep in mind that these are the first steps of a producer who hasn’t, and funnily enough still hasn’t, found his place/way in the electronic music spectrum.”
“Many have rated Prince Rogers Nelson, the diminutive musician, as the greatest of his generation. Rhodri Huw’s well-structured film looks at the career of the boy from Minneapolis and how he came to revolutionise black music in the 1980s and beyond. Via albums such as 1999 and Purple Rain through to his explicit lyrics and spectacular stage shows, Prince has rarely lacked ambition or imagination. Huw’s film captures the highs and lows of Prince’s career and also his battle for control of his music.”
“David Joseph was a member of Brit funk pioneers Hi Tension . After enjoying UK chart success with hits ’ Hi Tension ’ and ’ British Hustle ’ for Island Records in 1978 Joseph left the band for a solo career.
He had a big hit with the classic ’ You Cant Hide Your Love ’ in 1982 before slipping from view.”
“George Benson is simply one of the greatest guitarists in jazz history, but he is also an amazingly versatile musician, and that frustrates to no end critics who would paint him into a narrow bop box. He can play in just about any style — from swing to bop to R&B to pop — with supreme taste, a beautiful rounded tone, terrific speed, a marvelous sense of logic in building solos, and, always, an unquenchable urge to swing. His inspirations may have been Charlie Christian and Wes Montgomery — and he can do dead-on impressions of both — but his style is completely his own. Not only can he play lead brilliantly, he is also one of the best rhythm guitarists around, supportive to soloists and a dangerous swinger, particularly in a soul-jazz format.”
