Superstar Marathon set DJ, Producer and Remixer, Danny Tenaglia steps up to the plate for this the third in Azuli's 'Collection' series and uses this compilation to gently educate and inform, explaining from a personal, personable and professional perspective the how, why and where of his music.
His liner notes clearly document the laborious process of compiling this album with such enthusiasm that you'd think that his had been an easy task.
Wrong. This was no easy task at all - merely a labour of love, which has resulted in the delivery of a deliciously different set that trawls his 25,000 unit record collection for the choicest 23 pearls.
Individual liner notes are provided for each track and this time there's the added bonus of his reediting the older tracks on Pro-Tools 'so that they can now be better understood' (his words).
It's all about education here, and the idea that 'without the old, there could not be the new' is the glue that holds this collection so firmly together.
With a track selection spanning disco and house delights from 1976 to the present including the so large it's vertiginous Two Tons Of Fun's 'Just Us'; the specially written segue Por Favor's 'Uno Mas', early Chicago Trax material and the pop/folk collectable Cat Steven's' 'Was Dog A Doughnut' it's easy to build the picture of a music lover who became an avid clubber who became a devastatingly good DJ who became a producer who became a superstar who still loves music.
Unfair as it is to single any track out above the others, we must all thank Danny, David and Azuli for taking the time to clear Cat Steven's 'Was Dog A Doughnut' in remembrance of the early days of electro, lino and taping tracks like this off the radio.
Also for Hugh Masekela's priceless 'Don't Go Lose It Baby' (tracks like this make me dance like a dervish and have undoubtedly influenced and continue to inspire today's afro-house sounds and DJs).
I can still remember losing it on the dance floor, the first time I heard Ron Trent play Blaze's 'Elevation' and Outta Limits 'Mission Control' still graces my box today.
Anyone with a love of real music will need the double CD and the vinyl versions for their collections and not just because the vinyl version does not contain Two Tons Of Fun's 'Just Us' (one of my perennial karaoke specials).
Okay, nothing's perfect and some will gripe about the jingles that flag which DJ we've been listening to for the last two hours. But damn, even the Taj Mahal leaks.
So listen and learn. You now have access to some raw materials of the highest order.
by Ben Osborne