Marshall Jefferson

A young Chicago headbanger once chased a prospective romantic interest into the famed Muzic Box, lorded over by legendary (and now late) DJ Ron Hardy. Roughly 20 years later, after a slew of groundbreaking productions that helped form the sound of house music as you should know it, that same person has come up with a glowing summary of an illustrious community that made sure that no demolition or amount of mainstream whitewashing would kill disco. In Chicago, along with a few other cities in the States and abroad, disco continued to thrive and evolve in the underground, where it all took root. A crop of Chicagoans, many of them still teenagers, gained access to electronic equipment and made their own music, partially by emulating the manner in which DJs like Hardy would mutate relatively organic disco singles and center in on some hysteria-inducing characteristics. In those hands, tracks would often take on a nearly psychedelic, machine-like form. (Versions of Hardy's re-edits have often become available as sought-after bootlegs, whereas more visible DJs like [the also late] Larry Levan have had their official remix work made commercially available). Few mix sets have tied together the music that inspired the house movement with those early house tracks quite like Marshall Jefferson's Move Your Body, an excellent double-disc mix. It's not just for the fact that Jefferson includes both ESG's "Moody" and the track that cunningly swiped its bassline, Chip E's "Like This." Many of the inspirational picks were either most popular or heavily supported in Chicago, such as Pockets' "Come Go With Me," Inner Life's "Caught Up," and Logg's "You've Got That Something." And before slipping into one of the pre-eminent house tracks, Frankie Knuckles and Jamie Principle's chilling "Your Love," Jefferson fits in Cheryl Lynn's "You Saved My Day" -- a track that Knuckles himself introduced to many at Chicago's Warehouse. A fair portion of Jefferson's own handiwork -- "Move Your Body," Ten City's "Devotion," Phuture's "Acid Tracks," Sleezy D's "I've Lost Control" -- are incorporated, along with tracks from Larry Heard, Adonis, and Ralphi Rosario. Apart from merely acknowledging "Acid Tracks," Jefferson allows each selection to do its damage before moving on. Some of the added-on interjections and radio-show-like explosion effects are a little invasive -- though, in the grand scheme of things, any nitpicking is silly. Excellent liner notes complete the package, with lots of background information and track-by-track commentary from the presenter. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide