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“MAESTRO" DVD - A FILM BY JOSELL RAMOS (SANCTUARY) |
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“Maestro” is an interestingn documentary look at dance music culture, but it’s not what you might expect. This DVD doesn’t carry you on any journey’s into the dance floors jamming to the tunage of DJ Tiesto or George Acosta or DJ Micro or DJ Irene or … Rather, this gives an insightful and enlightening look into the roots of the dance culture enjoyed today by fans of trance, drum & bass, breaks and so forth. Particularly in focus in this documentary are The Loft, the Paradise Garage and such early purveyors of what was then an underground dance culture and one, as noted by an interviewee, heavily African Americans and gay oriented. The soulful, root house music – often called garage music due to the Garage’s popularization of the sound (though one person in the film claims it’s more The Loft’s sound but The Loft was more private and made less impact in the outside world) – brewed in these clubs and large scale private parties that served as the petrie dish from which sprang the musical movements that would result in the dance culture we know today. I don’t think we often ponder just how far back some of this music goes or how underground it used to be. Granted, this music (not counting the pop dance of Britney Spears and the like) is not entirely mainstream now, but it’s commonly enough heard-of in the everyday music world. Back in the day, this was UNDERGROUND. The Loft wasn’t even a public club. It was a large invitation only private party spot. (The Garage might have been the same; I don’t recall.) It’s interesting to hear DJs from the time talk about the development of this once-small culture, to learn about the equipment that was innovated, to hear them talk about the “change” (we now call it mixing), etc. It’s equally enlightening to listen to people that were there at the time remember the unique lifestyle they enjoyed during the birth of this scene. You kind of feel this is the missing link between the disco and funk of the early days and the techno, etc., of now. But it’s not all fond recollection. The movie touches on the ravaging the culture suffered at the onset of HIV/AIDS that, in a culture with so many gay members, was a real devastator. With this DVD, those who want to learn more about the roots of the culture they now enjoy can get an entertaining education and those wishing to remember a place they once were but can no longer visit can now revisit such a beloved place and time. (The second DVD includes outtakes, shorts and bonuses and features Tee Scott, Ron Hardy, The Making of “Maestro”, Paradise Garage footage, a look at the dancer, a peek at the era’s sound systems and Frankie Knuckles.) -- review by Kristofer Upjohn
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