Even Andy Warhol showed up to party.
The room was dark. But far from silent. Afro-house music played background soundtrack as hazy oxidations danced in a faint orange spotlight. The special guest DJ with tattooed sleeves stood before a folding table. In his hands were five exclusive playing cards. Would he fold? Or would he continue to play to win?
“He doesn’t look comfortable,” suspected Tambor’s graphic designer with drink in hand.
DJing can be a bit like playing poker. You don’t know what type of hand you hold. Or more precisely you don’t know what type of music you hold. It takes a whole lot of betting that you’ve got a winning hand and you’re going to play the proper music that will win the audience over. Precious time, calculation and thought groom a party’s playlist. A guest DJ must know if or when to follow the prescribe pattern set by the predecessor DJ, when to stand ground with his/her musical manifesto and mixing style or when to be agile and limber. Like a professional poker player a professional DJ knows how to strategize a winning formula. A whim of spontaneous flexibility has to be assumed.
For two straight hours that spontaneous flexibility was muscled by the night’s guest headliner via Chi-town. DJ Terry Hunter played five rounds of five cards-Chicago style. From South Side disco, Chicago house, afro-house, deep house to classic soul. After a switch killed the music, a vibrant soprano resurrected from the dead sung, “You Better Believe It.” Terry silenced his opponents by dropping the queen of hearts; the late great Whitney Houston’s, “Love Will Save The Day.” The heart pounding four-count floor- thumper made feet stomp, hips gyrate and soul claps. The tribe went belligerent dancing in chaotic bursting bubbles greeted with agape smiles. After another brief moment of silence the Chicagoan withdrew from the deck a 10 of spades and threw it into the mix. The T’s Box latest release, “Inspiration To Me” (2012 Classic Club Mix) with love vocals by Eric King kept feet leaping in the air and ears open for what was to come. Matthew 18:20 came next riding over snappy percussions driven by afro-tinged subterranean. BAM!!! Terry dropped a jack of diamonds. After all where would Chicago be without Jack? Certainly it would be void of Chicago’s legendary Farley Jackmaster Funk’s, “I’m A House Head” with Billy Monroe bringing the vocal funk. The producer/remixer kept his catalog up front and personal with Chicago’s soul sister Terisa Griffin’s, “Yes” (Bang’s Sunday Club Mix). With the launch of the deep sexy sounds the critically acclaimed, “legendary” dropped a black Queen of Hearts to the delight of sexual auras. YES!!! The tribe of Tambor was in sensual hands. To follow suit the in demand producer adroitly dropped two kings of house. The first, Ruffneck’s, “Everybody Be Somebody” screamed for attention and that it received as the crowd chanted in return even after the song’s end. The classic king of spades played over a choppy walloping two-count that brought out hip-hoppers popping and locking on the baby powdered dusted floor. After another four-count floor-thumper driving dancing bodies mad with joy, the second king arrived. Staccato jabs of synths syringed the air. Screams penetrated the heavens, bodies leapt into the atmosphere as arms crushed through sound waves. The king of clubs; Lil Louis’, “Club Lonely” with house mainstay Joi Caldwell showing vocal support caused the uprising. The fierce dub sped through the speakers to answer the call, “Miss Thang/There Is No Guestlist/Tonight,” with a finger snap. Somewhere in the loft space floated the flesh of DJ Roland Clark as his recorded spoken words wondered on Agev Munsens, “The Thing About Deep (Can Drum).” Unbeknownst to the crowd wrapped up in divine interpretation a red king of hearts would close out the night. Chicago’s Lil Louis’, “Fable“with its uplifting strings and keyboard swirls served a questionable end.
Hands down, DJ Terry Hunter won the game with a full house; a “Three Full of Pair.” There sat on the folding table a red king of hearts, a black king of clubs, a black king of spades, a red queen of hearts and a black queen of clubs. This a champion knows best; how to work the crowd and win over the crowd with various music statements. It was apparent from the start that the man with a plan was out to rule with an iron hand. At one point the second generation Chicago DJ went deep, so deep dancing bodies writhed in diabolical bondage. The seasoned sensation worked the crowd dropping the bass and scorching the highs with such intensity the entire room fell prey to Hunter’s hunt. From where the track with the blaring sirens, vocoder demonic filter and the dramatic build-ups and devastating drops came from was anyone’s guess? Then there was the disco. The disco that caused even the most obdurate DJ’s to dance. Then there was disco house and on and on and on…..need anymore be said on the topic? By the party’s final hour when DJ Stan Zeff assumed musical lead to close out the night the loft space resembled a government declared, “Disaster Zone.”
Photography by AJ Dance
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Tags: Atlanta Georgia, deep house music, DJ BE, DJ Stanzeff, house music, Tambor, Terry Hunter