François K

Essential Mix, François Kevorkian's two-disc meditation on the New York City dance scene over the preceding quarter-century, is appropriately expansive and all-embracing. The evident pan-global vibes and emphasis on funk and fusion will strike a chord for those who've been exposed to his sets at Body & Soul, the seminal NYC clubnight organized by himself, Joe Claussell, and Danny Krivit. As such, we hear tribal-funk tracks from Kyoto Jazz Massive ("Nacer do Sol"), Bob Holroyd ("African Drug"), Jephte Guillaume ("La-Kou-A"), Jazzanova ("Caravelle"), Billy Cobham ("Storm"), and Akwaaba ("Just Pillau"), as well as the funk side of the breakbeat spectrum with James Brown ("There Was a Time"), Tower of Power ("Squib Cakes"), Earth, Wind & Fire ("In the Stone"), D Train ("Keep On"), and George Benson ("Song for My Brother"). Sprinkled among these are more eclectic dancefloor favorites -- left field dance tracks ("Home Computer" by Kraftwerk, "Throw" by Carl Craig's Paperclip People project), two tracks by NYC hip-hop legends (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul), and a trio of Chicago house nuggets (Adonis' "No Way Back," Lil Louis' "Jazzmen," Virgo's "Free Yourself"). These aren't necessarily the best dance tracks to make it big in New York between the mid-'70s and the end of the century, but Kevorkian's steady hand and supreme knowledge makes it one of the best dance compendiums ever assembled. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide