Maestro - The Movie

[PeanutVendor]

Does anybody know anything about this movie. Is it out?
It sounds like a winner??? :o

Maestro - The Movie

Cuban director Josell Ramos has spent the last four years putting together this documentary about the history of the New York club scene at the end of the seventies and the eighties - a movement that set the blueprint for what was to become the global DJ culture. If you've ever thrown your hands the air, blown a whistle, hugged a stranger, reached for the lasers, burnt a hole in the dance floor or had a bash at DJing then you will want to see this film.

This documentary does nothing to set the focal point, the Paradise Garage and its contemporary clubs, in any cultural context. If you don't know much about this then Maestro will be esoteric and a maybe even a little confusing. As the soundtrack to the emancipation of black, gay, inner city America, disco and its homosexuality were persecuted by the establishment. As a result, the people and the music were swept in to places like the Garage, The Loft and The Warehouse.

On the upside, if you have even a passing interest in the history of DJ culture and clubbing then there is some great stuff here, principally the story of Larry Levan, the Garage's legendary resident DJ. Contributions from the likes of Frankie Knuckles, Little Louis Vega, Francois K and Loft supremo David Mancuso to name but a few, reveal the story of one of the world's greatest DJs. Moreover, it is the interviews with the club regulars that make this film special. Ramos succeeds in capturing the sense of community and, more importantly, the unfaltering devotion the members had for the club. For many The Garage was a refuge, a playground and a church.

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Francois K's account of the club's demise is equally emotive. As a haven for drug use and (unprotected) sexual activity many of the Garage's clientele contracted what was to become known as the HIV virus. With no treatment available, the community watched its loved ones suffer and pass away at a terrifying rate. How many of us can know what it feels like to lose fifty of our friends over the space of three years?

In How To DJ (Properly) Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton cite Francis Grasso as one of the founders of what we now know as DJing. He was the first guy to beat match two records together and play them simultaneously. Ramos has managed to include the only motion footage of the man who, alas, passed away in March 2001 at the age of 52. Unfortunately, much of the story of his rise to greatness as the Sanctuary's resident is left largely untouched.

In production terms Maestro feels very underground. The subjects are lit poorly, the (exclusive) archive footage from the clubs is shaky, grainy and very limited plus there are very few stills used. However, the soundtrack goes some way to make up for the depleted visuals as we are treated to a first rate selection of early house, disco and funk.

As someone who wasn't in their prime during the late 1970s and early 1980s I often think how lucky I was to not be embroiled in a culture whose motifs included flecked suits, thin ties, soft focus camera work and hexagonal, electronic drums. However, watching Maestro a part of me felt slightly green that I wasn't in New York to witness disco give birth to house and Larry rocking it every weekend for eleven years. Still, at least we have Good Times, eh?

Taken from The BBC Website-Review by Andy Puleston

[tehuti]

I had the good fortune of being a Paradise Garage member in 1981, and I have to tell you that to this day I have never been to a club that has even come close to the Garage as the ultimate party place. Keep in mind that at that time (late 70's to mid 80s) there were tons of clubs in NYC. Although my clubgoing days are long over and I have not lived in New York in 20 years I still listen to the tunes that Larry used to spin and reflect upon the Garage experience. Whenever and where ever I can I try to pick up Garage Classics, many of which are thankfully easy to find on CD nowadays. Skinny ties aside, that was a great time to be a young club hopping kid. I can't imagine it being anywhere near as good today. 8)