One of the great things about the Winter Music Conference (WMC) is the variety of artists that perform in the conference building. Among so many great DJs were Daniel Granados and DJ Savoy.
A special treat was a combo group, Equanimous Minds and We Versus, with DJ Adam Sikora, Gray Devio on violin and Bopa King Carré on percussion. Live drums and an achingly beautiful violin accompanying the DJ’s track made their sound transcendental.
That evening, I went to Afro Takes Miami at Skyline, a bar with an airplane theme. The DJ booth is the nose of a plane with the DJ in the cockpit. The dance and lounge areas resembled a plane’s cabin, and staff were dressed as crew.
Afro Takes Miami had DJs from the USA and SA (South Africa, featuring DJ Fresca). I was there when Mark Francis played a deep house remix of Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that kicked my ass. I’m still looking for it on YouTube.
KOD V
One of my favorite WMC events is Keep on Dancin, a Garage party and AIDS fundraiser with top-notch DJs who volunteer their talents for the cause. This year’s lineup was Danny Krivit, David Morales, Richard Vasquez and Manny Ward.
Inaya Day, Ultra Naté and Jonathan B. Knox were in the house to rejoice with a goodly portion of industry heavies and celebrate Ultra’s birthday. Sitting behind them was Brent Nicholson Earle with a tamboreen. Dancing in fierce ecstasy beside them was DJ Quentin Harris. Above us all was David Morales in the DJ booth, serving classics reserved for the select.
“May I dance next to you?” I asked Inaya. “I want bragging points.” This cracked her up. As we danced, she sang to me the song David was playing. A couple of minutes later, Ultra did the same thing. WMC does have its moments.
Keep On Dancin is in memory of the Godfather of Disco, Mel Cheren. “The man deserved a party,” said event coordinator Christina Visca.
Next up: International Dance Music Awards