Happy Birthday Mr. K!

First off, heads up that I posted the Jackson Sisters re-edit of "Miracles" on the previous post "Disco Monster #3". I did some research and cannot definitively say that the re-edit was by today's featured artist/DJ, Danny Krivit. I ripped my 12" as part of this post, but I don't want to give credit where credit is not due, but either way, you should check out the re-edit as it improves on an already awesome song.

But we do have some excellent re-edits from Mr. K today in honor of his birthday, which I helped celebrate last Sunday at 718 Sessions. As my good friend Brigham astutely pointed out, the phenomenon that was Body & Soul (launched in 1996 with three of the seminal architects of dance music: Krivit, Francois K. and Joaquin 'Joe' Claussell. The party was known for its open-minded music policy, incredible vibe and soulful ethos. Having rinsed out New York, the club has since toured Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Japan and the UK) continues with the party's founding DJs, but each has taken that vibe into different directions. Francois K. does more of a world-music/tribal take on house music while Danny favors a more soulful approach to house music. I can't say I know what Claussell's thang is. Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of house music, but of the house music I've heard, Danny does it best. His mixes are seamless, the sound-system is phenomenal (loud, but not too loud) and everything he spins has lots of interesting changes and musical elements and a whole lot of soul.

While he is best known for spinning a variety of tunes that made him famous with Body & Soul, he's consistently turned out excellent re-edits of old-school and old-school-sounding tunes. This approach hints at his history beginning in the late 1970s and DJing at legendary clubs like Paradise Garage and his stint as the resident DJ at the Roxy for four years beginning with its launch. Check out his bio here.



A couple years back Strut Records put out a compilation of some of his re-edits which is a must-have for fans of funky dance music. This site also lists some of his re-edits and mixes that may or may not be available for purchase. Since I already posted the Sisters Love re-edit from the aforementioned CD, I have dug deeper and included a great re-edit of a classic Southern Funk scorcher from Betty Wright.

Betty Wright - Where Is the Love? (Danny Krivit re-edit)
This is such a great track to begin with and Danny nicely extends the intro and plays with the breakdown section. Another improvement over the original.




Orgone - Funky Nassau (Danny Krivit re-edit)
I included this one because it shows that Danny keeps very current with the music scene and went a re-edited this newish cover by the L.A. based Orgone. I also included this because during his Sunday night set he let the music completely go silent, which never happens, and then dropped a re-edit of the original Funky Nassau by Beginning of the End. My mind was nearly blown as were my knees and ankles as I danced harder than I remembered I could. Hearing an old-school track like that on a top-notch sound system is like hearing it for the first time and the re-edit he played really brought out the way that that classic tune is built on an amazing groove, a killer hook and some phenomenal playing. This is one of those songs that everyone at least recognizes, but is still underground enough that heads won't scoff when it moves the dance floor.