She looked as cute as ever. Imagine an African porcelain doll graced with mocha skin soft to the touch, carrying around the vigor of her neck a pair of white tech-savvy earphones and draped in a panoply Mache dress of royal purples that played cat and mouse with black contrasts. Having the mien of a mother with baby faced features of two rounded chubby cheeks, her two doe-eyes hid behind black wire frames told stories. Certain stories of knowledge. Certain stories of experience. Certain stories marked by heavy bouts of lows and soaring highs. She had the sinews of her mother, her grandmother and her great-grandmother all passed down in ancestral heritage. It would be this message that would play through her song and dance. For the humble spirit stood mensch, on the outer bank of the DJ stage, eyed the action and patiently waited to take her turn to minister on the musical equipment.
Tambor broke another record! This time for having the smallest crowd ever before 2pm. More empty pockets of spaces danced around than actual bodies. The minute crowd lacked the energy normally associated with Tambor’s fervor. However, what energy the crowd lacked, the made up for with enthusiasm. As evidenced by the hand-full of cheering females present at the altar of the DJ stage. It was a night of HER-oism as only two females have graced the decks of a Tambor party. Even this latest booking had occurred at the last minute due to another DJ bowing out for family matters. Of course, several female vocalists have performed live but actual female DJs cutting up the decks numbered in the non-existence territory at Tambor. So the crowd was in for a treat.
NYC’s DJ Sabine started off her lively set tinged with afro-beats and afro house; thumping right from the heart of the motherland; Africa. Somewhere along the journey-as a-matter-of-fact right after the first song-the ride hit turbulence and crashed into the diamond mines of Sierra Leone. The disaster had nothing to do with song selections but rather the song’s transitions. The soundscape conjured an African mosh pit with one song slamming into the next. The rough transitions proved all too nauseating; too bumpy, too choppy with little to no fluidity. This proved polemic. Was this mixing at all? Normally train wrecks occur when two trains (songs) traveling on the same railroad tracks at two different speeds (BPM Beats Per Minute) collide into one another. However, this seemed to be more of two trains (songs) traveling at different speeds on two separate railroad tracks speeding by one another. Had Sabine received the memo? This was Tambor. The world famous drum beat heard around the globe that has set precedents and raised standards in the deep house music scene. Certainly, there are DJs that master the art of seemingly blending songs down to a precise science and then there are those DJs whose mixing skills are hit and miss and then there are the DJs that don’t give a damn in regards to their mixing skills. Somewhere along this spectrum fell the night’s jagged edge.
Like a diamond in the rough, what started as one of the toughest night’s to swallow, transformed into a cut, polished and flawless gem. As the party’s hours grew so did the party’s attendance. The people smiled. The people reviled in joviality. The people experienced a one of the kind treat set aside for the esoteric. Dance circles cropped mid-floor provided the landscape for bodies to writhe in contortionist poses. Dance-offs and fancy footers squared off during a brief Donna Summer tribute. All against the backdrop as Tambor’s daddy DJ Stan Zeff and NYC’s DJ Sabine Blazin exchanged a most amiable hug.
Photography by AJ Dance
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Tags: Atlanta Georgia, deep house music, DJ BE, DJ Sabine Blazin, DJ Stanzeff, house music, Tambor