Happy Pride

Happy Pride weekend! Here is an old school mix using two turntables and a mixer. I remember playing with a lot with different acapellas and experimenting throwing things together. I'm surprised how well this mix holds up to this day and I'm loving the analog quality of the sound. Enjoy!

Glamjack Vinyl Mix 002 by Dj Glamjack on Mixcloud

Haiji Baba 2013

Here is a very eclectic mix with an international world vibe I did back in 2007 and re-vamped it in recently with a couple of newbies towards the end. Enjoy!

Haiji Baba 2013 by Jack Rivas on Mixcloud

Get It Up For Love by Tata Vega

Here is a very nice late '70s Disco "Get It Up For Love" by Tata Vega.  This was the single from here 1978 LP Try My Love.  Ms Vega was born Carmen Rosa Vega in Queens, New York, here career spans theater, film and a variety of musical genres.  She began her singing career in 1969 with the Los Angeles production of Hair, then she joined the group Pollution and then became a member of the group Earthquire, which released an album in 1973 on Motown.  Following her stint with the group she released four solo albums: Full Speed Ahead, Totally Tata, Try My Love and Givin' All My Love.  These albums feature a diverse range of genres, including classic motown soul, country or southern soul, disco, jazz, funk, country, Latin, doo-woop, and gospel.  She has had an active career as a back up singer, working with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Andrae Crouch, Lou Rawls, Chaka Kahn, Patti LaBelle, Michael Jackson, and Madonna.  She also worked in film, performing the voice of Shug Avery in the Color Purple and she is featured on four songs on the 1986 soundtrack album, one of which,  the sow stopper "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" was nominated for an Academy Award in Best Song category. The lady sure does know how to sing also knows how to work the dance floor with this gem of a song.  Enjoy

Get It Up For Love - Tata Vega

Love Talk

Thirteen minutes of pure disco bliss!  "Love Talk" by American session musician James Gilstrap.  Mr. Gilstrap is known for his 1975 solo hit single "Swing Your Daddy" as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series Good Times.  Earlier in his career he was one of the backing vocalists for some of Stevie Wonder's most endearing albums.  He actually sang the opening two lines of "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" with Lani Groves singing the next two lines.  Gilstrap went on to release two solo LP's during the '70s, Swing Your Daddy and Love Talk.  Here is "Love Talk" in its full glory. This song is pure epic disco magic! Enjoy

Love Talk - James Gilstrap

Me Voy Ahora, Think Twice and Body and Soul MLK Celebration 2012

It has been almost a week since the last posting and as I promised here is the recap of Body & Soul: MLK Celebration Party.  I arrived later than usual this time and to my benefit since I was planning on staying all the way to the end this time.   The party was in full force upon arrival and thanks to the Webster Hall and Body and Soul staff for the unexpected VIP treatment I received.  It was a very easy and quick entrance.   The music was in full swing with the magic of Joe Claussell, Francois K and Danny Krivit.  Highlights from the evening included the beautiful "Bambara" by Joe Claussell, the festive call and response "Happy Birthday" by Stevie Wonders,  house classic "Shake Your Body" by Jeanette "J.T." Thomas.  Other highlights included the amazing " Pride (In The Name Of Love)" by U2. It was cathartic to be dancing to this song in 2012 on a big dance space with a mostly African American crowd.  The evening ended with a slew of dance classics too many to mention with Joe Claussell joining the dance floor at the end when all the balloons came down.  To sum up here are two songs that I don't think were even played but I feel sums up the quality and spectrum of songs played during the whole evening.  First, here is "Me Voy Ahora" by  Ismael Miranda which is beautifully remixed by Joe Claussell from his must have record Hammock House: Africa Caribe.  Also, here is The Detroit Experiment's "Think Twice" (Henrick Schwarz Remix) Thank you B&S for keeping the real tradition of dancing and becoming one on the dance floor alive in NYC! Enjoy

Me Voy Ahora - Joe "Joaquin" Claussell and Ismael Miranda

Think Twice (Henrick Schwarz Remix) - The Detroit Experiment

Dance Your Ass Off

 
Here is a song by one of the most sophisticated disco sound I've ever heard.   The Atlanta native, Hamilton Bohannon is one of my favorite and leading figures of Disco music during the '70s.   He was pretty much discovered by Stevie Wonder when he hired him to be the percussionist for his tour band.  He moved to Detroit and became part of the Motown family.  He was then signed with Dakar/Brunswick Records and released a series of albums on which he perfected his formula of heavy, thudding bass accents and aggressive rhythms creating pretty much the footprint for the next wave of disco. This song comes from the 1976 album Dance Your Ass Off which became his last release from Brunswick Records.  "Dance Your Ass Off"  is the title cut that opens up side one on this fantastic record for nearly eight minutes with it's bold, sweeping use of strings which adds a new texture to his usual formula making it more stylish.  In 1976, Bohannon left his old record company and signed to Mercury Records and two years later had his biggest success with "Lets Start The Dance". Bohannon is a devout Christian and dedicated this album to "God and His Song Jesus Christ".  This album also included a disclaimer that "The word 'ass' is not used here in the sense of profanity".  His music has been sampled to death and I can safely say that Prince looks up to him for inspiration.  Enjoy and dance your ass off with this one!

Dance Your Ass Off - Bohannon - Brunswick Records