Groove Line

Winter Blast
I ventured out into the horrible weather a few Saturdays nights ago to dance to the musical stylings of DJ Junior Vasquez at the inaugural of Nitro, the new monthly party at Circuit Nightclub. The crowd was large, way cute, and energetic; the performance by Cyon Flare was short and sweet and on point; and Junior delivered one of the best performances he's ever had in Chicago. It was a really fun night - complete with hot go-go dancers and periodic nitrogen blasts to cool the dance floor - and a great start to the Nitro party. With Hydrate already providing high-quality weekly dance experiences with headline DJs, one can only hope that Nitro (superstar DJ Peter Rauhofer is on tap for the March edition) will be successful in order to provide additional options for those of us who take our dance music seriously.

Black Party: The Movie?
Interestingly, the guys in NYC at The Saint-At-Large who annually present the infamous Black Party have produced a new DVD called SCHWARZWALD: Rites XXVII . The 55-minute film presents the fetish extravaganza as an allegorical fairy tale and stars trangendered porn star Buck Angel along with a cast of thousands. The DVD is being billed as "a movie you can dance to" and features the music for which that the Black Party is famous: a blend of current day tribal and club fare and the timeless disco and dance music classics from years gone by. While this condensed Black Party experience is sure to show up on nightclub video monitors near you, it can also be bought for home viewing at www.saintatlarge.com.

Evolution
In my eyes NYC's Victor Calderone is a DJ god. Some of the best live DJ sets I've ever experienced are courtesy of him – the 2005 Black & Blue Recovery Party at Club Stereo was a tour de force - and his 1999 mixed compilation, E=VC2 is among my all-time favorites. As is typical of most DJs, Calderone's sound and style has changed and evolved over the years and this evolution hasn't necessarily been subtle with him. Where he once spun before peak-hours crowds thirsting for his remixes of Madonna, Sting, and Destiny's Child, Calderone is now the master of the after-hours DJ booth, delighting legions of fans with a tribal-infused progressive house music sound that's blended with futuristic techy beats.

The epicenter for this sound is Calderone's monthly Evolve parties in NYC at Studio Mezmor (formerly known as Crobar). He periodically takes the show on the road to clubs around the world, but now aims to bring it to stereos and iPods everywhere with a new mixed compilation CD which not surprisingly is called EVOLVE (Ultra Records). The sophisticated 13-track mix is devoid of any soaring diva anthems as it basically simmers from beginning to end with lots of interesting aural elements set against pulsating rhythms and beats. Highlight tracks include, "Da Music" by Calderone & DJ Vibe, "Mind Control" by Peter Bailey & Richie Santana, and "Lucky Heather" by Nic Fanciulli. This is a supremely good CD that in my opinion ably shows why Calderone is worthy of the praise heaped on him by me and by so many others. Get more info at www.victorcalderone.com

Winter Party Redux
By all accounts The Task Force once again presented a very successful Winter Party earlier this month down in South Florida, complete with sports competitions, cultural events, a variety of entertainment options, and of course the main event party on South Beach under the sun with DJs Brett Henrichsen and Tony Moran. You can now recapture some of the musical flavorings of the weekend with WINTER PARTY 2007 , the latest offering from Masterbeat. It's a fun upbeat CD expertly mixed by Henrichsen and features songs such as "Free My Love" by Suzanne Palmer, "U Spin Me" by Inaya Day, "For Your Love" by Offer Nissim, and "Alright" by Red Carpet. This is another top-notch Masterbeat release worth adding to your collection.