If there’s such a thing as “classic” dance music, and I believe there is, then New York d.j. / producer Danny Krivit gave the crowd an education during his set at Dragon-i on Saturday night.
[photopress:Dragon_i_Danny_Krivit.jpg,full,pp_image]This was Danny Krivit’s sophomore appearance at Dragon-i and the club was crowded with people dancing from the moment he began.
[photopress:Danny_Krivit_Dragon_i.jpg,full,pp_image]It struck me how different Danny Krivit’s music is from what’s currently in vogue.
Contemporary dance floors, perhaps dumbed down by music trends like Trance, and modern, formulaic Hip Hop R&B, suffer from attention deficit disorder and settle for easy-to-digest hooks and obvious, gratuitous climaxes within a song.
In contrast, the music that Danny Krivit played built slowly and was more complex musically than what’s standard in modern club-play. His set was filled with a rich variety of new and old dance music – encompassing multiple genres from the roots of disco to house and even bossa nova. The vibe was sensual and sophisticated. Though the crowd at Dragon-i was slightly older than the average in Hong Kong clubs, you couldn’t tell by the way the dance floor was responding.
[photopress:Danny_Krivit_Dragon_i_EQ.jpg,full,pp_image]The style of d.j.ing for this type of music is different as well. Instead of a brief set of two hours, d.j.s like Danny Krivit require several hours to take the crowd on a complete journey. To them it’s all about the music, d.j.ing is not a stage show.
It’s because Danny has been a DJ for well over 20 years. He’s seen it all – from the birth of clubs & disco & played alongside and being friends with legends like Larry Levan, David Mancuso, Frankie Knuckles etc. You need to go to the Loft in NYC to see that clubbing is about music & dancing, not looking cool. In fact, this is where I first met Danny.
His sheer grasp and breadth of music is immense – you can’t compare him with the young idiots playing trance or minimal or R’n’B – it’s like comparing a Picasso with a kindergarten drawing.
It was a good night – and the crowd got very loose & lively later on. If only there were more nights like this in HK – I’ve tried unsuccessfully to get a slot playing disco/funk/balearic. Seems all the promoters just want the usual RnB/trance stuff