VA - Maestro (Soundtrack) [2CD] (2006)

Most media outlets have reduced the history of disco and the roots of club culture to some footage of Studio 54, a scene from Saturday Night Fever (cue the Bee Gees or Donna Summer), a shot from Disco Demolition Night (cue acceptable rock song), and a wisecrack about the Village People. That's it -- a cultural phenomenon bundled and tied. For the past several years, numerous websites, compilations, books, and documentaries have surfaced to fight against this. Disco and early club culture were not birthed overnight, were often the opposite of elitist, spawned heaps of enduring music, and have never been killed off. Maestro, an independent documentary about underground dance culture that centers around New York's Paradise Garage and the Loft, is one such undertaking that will hopefully do more than confirm the beliefs of those who were there. Its soundtrack, mixed by Kervyn Mark (a veteran DJ who aided Josell Ramos in the making of the documentary), spans four decades, from Booker T. & the MG's' driving R&B instrumental "Melting Pot" to Aaron Carl's misty house production "Oasis." (Note the symbolic titles of both tracks.) Interspersed with a couple brief monologues, the mix moves through several classic club tracks, including Martin Circus' "Disco Circus" (the original, epic mix), Mr. Fingers' "Can You Feel It," Ten City's "My Peace of Heaven," Bang the Party's "Bang Bang You're Mine," and Jimmy Bo Horne's "Spank." It would be impossible to be definitive within 80 minutes, but Mark's selections make for a fine representation. The most remarkable aspect of the disc is how it manages to be representative while rarely overlapping with any of the loving compilations that have been released during recent years. If you're only getting started here and are anxious to dig further underground, check series like Choice: A Collection of Classics (Azuli) and The Perfect Beats (Tommy Boy), as well as Larry Levan's Live at the Paradise Garage (Strut), Nicky Siano's The Gallery (Soul Jazz), and David Mancuso's pair of Loft compilations (Nuphonic).