Maestro

Suggesting that today's dance music culture can be traced solely to three '70s New York clubs and a few DJs with a talent for mixing music, Josell Ramos' Maestro is rife with blurry snapshots, fuzzy video footage, and inarticulate memories from club denizens and former DJs regarding the rise of Paradise Garage, The Gallery, and The Loft. These clubs were considered underground because they attracted a mostly working class black and Latino client base, as well as a large number of gay patrons, marking an historic milestone as gay and straight clubbers sought entertainment from the same venue. Experiments with music and dance born in this trio of clubs were eventually borrowed and replanted in places catering to a more elite and overwhelming white audience (most notably, the infamous Studio 54). Unfortunately, the film never bothers to actually share any of the music from this bygone era, and since we do not hear any of the breakthroughs that occurred on the turntables, all of the talk about how clever the DJs were becomes somewhat meaningless (instead, the soundtrack comes across as a spicy version of elevator music). Shot on shaky video (often in badly cropped and poorly lit screen compositions), most of the interviews run along the lines of "Yo, man, it was a great scene." Maybe so, but we're not offered much in the way of proof here. DVD extras on this double-disc set include outtakes, shorts, a “making-of” featurette, and bonus interviews. Not a necessary purchase. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)