AJ Dance Legacy

Photography by John Crooms

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

LOUIE VEGA & ANANE

It had been five whole years since Louie Vega played at the mega niteclub Compound. This moment had taken too long to come and this moment would not to be missed for anything in the world.

The room, quickly surveyed, revealed a pathetic abandoned emptiness. It reeked of a lonely silence except for the music played by Louie Vega.… Continue

CLUB DRAMA

The problem started in the line to get in the club but we’ll save that for a later time. Since Marques Wyatt exudes a spirit of positivity we shall focus on the positive attributes of the night at CLUB DRAMA.

The affable, Marques Wyatt, Los Angeles’ pioneer of the long running club night Deep, presence was not marked with pretentiousness but by grace and humility.… 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

Photography by 4Deep Archives

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