Even though it was raining cats and dogs on Friday afternoon, it was good to get out of the city. Just the ride up to Tarrytown on the Metro-North was relaxing in and of itself. Upon arrival, I was picked up by my man Tom and whisked to the cafe. Tom had invited me to spin alongside him for a few hours and play some chilled out jazzy stuff. Thankfully, our schedules actually allowed for it to happen. I can?t begin to explain how much I needed the change of scenery. Sitting with some tea and a slice of coffee cake, I was able to fully relax for what seemed like the first time in months.

The tag team DJ set kicked off around 7pm. Tom brought with him a lot of Ninja Tune stuff (as is always the case with him, that being his favorite record label), along with some afro-beat and Brazilian flavored uptempo jazz, and some deep house, too. I went with largely old soul, jazz, and funk, with a few fairly new tunes in the disco and house vein. We balanced each other out in terms of selection. It was nice to just spin without stress, to get into a zone and just go with it or feel free to bounce around as the mood strikes. It reminded me of spinning at Halcyon on Sunday evenings with him and Mercy Killah (hopefully they?ll fully reopen in the ?05), just being able to get free with the selection and having the owners and customers be excited about your contribution to the mix and what it brought to the atmosphere.

Beth met up with me at the cafe and hung out. She even got some reading done. She was so happy to get out and stop living the life of a hermit for a few hours. I chatted with a few heads that came in and out about music and gave away a few mix CDs to those in attendance. This marked the first time I had spun out anywhere since March of this year. I?ve been rather on edge lately and this was good for the soul. I hadn?t felt as good as I did on Friday in a while.

a necessary change of scenery ? Friday, October 15, 2004
Coffee Labs Roasters (Tarrytown, NY)
While tag teaming with Tommy Church, I contributed these songs to the mix:

hilton felton*be bop boogie*luv ?n? height
sly & the family stone*you can make it if you try*epic
aretha franklin*rock steady (danny krivit re-edit)*ibadan
yesterday?s new quintet*deja vu*ubiquity

nina simone*see-line woman*verve
stevie wonder*manhattan at six*tamla
jimmy mcgriff*the worm*solid state
curtis mayfield*superfly*curtom

spymusic*cloak*2000 black (uk)
metro area*dance reaction*environ
gil scott-heron and brian jackson*the bottle*rumal-gia/tvt
ronny jordan*on the record*blue note
cloud one*atmosphere strut*p&p

thievery corporation*shadows of ourselves*esl
reuben wilson*inner city blues*harmless (uk)
courtney pine*the in-sense song (raw deal remix)*talkin? loud (uk)
lou donaldson*one cylinder*blue note
jackson sisters*i believe in miracles*tiger lily
sharpshooters*sweet talkin?*conception (uk)
willie hutch*brothers gonna work it out*motown