Groove Line

Northalsted's Street Music -
Thanks to those of you who stopped by KAFKA wine co. at the intersection of Halsted and Buckingham during Market Days to check out the music we had pumping out onto the street. DJ John Murges of Milwaukee and I had a blast spinning a wide variety of tunes from our DJ booth tent, and when about 50 folks spontaneously started doing the Club LaRay Shuffle - also known as the electric slide for you kids out there - on Sunday evening for about an half-hour the smile on my face was wide and bright. Yes, that part of Halsted was a bit chaotic from a musical standpoint throughout the weekend with several booths kicking out dance beats from their boom boxes and the Chicago Room having live stage acts in front of Gentry, but all in all it was "ALL GOOD!"

(pictured: DJ Plez at Market Days, photo by Dave Ouano)

No cacophony at the corner of Halsted and Cornelia where the Hydrate Stage was pumping out MASSIVE sound. On Saturday afternoon DJ Laura B was throwing down while Ralphi Rosario was exciting the masses dancing before him during the night. And was that really Chris Cox on Sunday night taking it to another level? Again, "ALL GOOD!"

(pictured: Hydrate's Market Days dance floor, photo by Dave Ouano)

Labor Day Travel Destination?
For the past couple of years, certain anecdotal evidence has pointed to the fact that the popularity of circuit parties in the U.S. has been waning. The fact that Chicago’s once signature event - Fireball - no longer exists is a testament to this sentiment. So imagine my surprise and bewilderment when I found out that there is a new circuit party on the calendar over Labor Day weekend. And in Dayton, Ohio of all places. It’s a three night affair called The Flight Party (www.flightparty.com) featuring DJs Monty Q, Eddie X, and Kio Kio (pictured) with a performance by Vernessa Mitchell at the Saturday night main event. Chicago is usually a pretty dull place to be over Labor Day weekend, so maybe a quick trip to Ohio is in order.

Who’s Your Favorite?
It’s that time of year again when Britain-based DJ Mag conducts voting for its 2006 Top 100 DJ Poll. Last year they received votes from fans representing 147 different countries and tapped Paul van Dyk as #1 in 2005, besting Tiesto who had been at the top of the poll the previous three years. The best American showing in 2005 was Deep Dish at #8, with Danny Tenaglia and Victor Calderone charting at #34 and #55, respectively. The 2006 voting in going on now (until September 25), with the results to be announced a month later.

[Note: Deep Dish and Tiesto will be in Chicago at the Pure Nation all-day Dance Music Festival on Northerly Island, on Saturday, September, 2, 2006. For more info go to
www.purenationlive.com ]

At the moment I’m really groovin’ on:

Bargrooves Citrus (Seamless Records) – This is an exceptional two-disc set of smooth and groovy house music that is deep, sultry, and sexy. It features 26 tracks from the likes of Roy Ayers, Timmy Vegas & Barbara Tucker, Scott Wozniak, Jon Cutler & Matthias Heilbronn, Ross Couch, Kerri Chandler, Quentin Harris & Carla Prather, Afromento, and Jihad Muhammad. This is a worthy addition to anyone’s music collection.

S.P.F. 2006 (Masterbeat) – This is a two-disc energetic dance mix by Masterbeat head honcho Brett Henrichsen and it will surely keep you dancin’ and prancin’ from beginning to end. It contains some of the biggest club hits in recent months, including "Music" be Leela James, "Nice Day" by Persephone'e Bees, "Ooh La La" by Goldfrapp, and "Rhythm Intoxication" by Rosabel.

"Deja Vu" by Beyoncé featuring Jay-Z (Columbia) – This first single from Beyonce's new album B'Day (to be released in September) is the bomb diggity! The song features a rap performance by her boyfriend Jay-Z and has a thumping bass beat so funky it causes rhythmic hip twitching in even the most uptight of bodies. Dance remixes by Freemasons and Junior Vasquez have been commissioned, but as far as I’m concerned the original version is all I need.