It was a tremendous honor to have Chicago house legend Jesse Saunders play a headline set at U Street Music Hall this year. Saunders, whose “On and On” is widely considered by many to be the first major “house music” record, is a legendary DJ from the birthplace of one of the most influential musical styles of the last 50 years. Tonight at U Street Music Hall, Paul Johnson is in town, as the feeling is just as exemplary. Johnson was a break dancer back in the early Chicago house days, hanging at the clubs and raves, and was spurred to become a DJ by the grooves of another Chicago house legend, Farley “Jackmaster” Funk, and ultimately teaching himself how to spin in the midst of this titanic era of music. Johnson was rendered without the use of his legs after a freak accident with a gun in 1987, but his work and renown as a house producer had only just begun. His major track is 1999’s “Get Get Down,” an international hit multiples times over that is a house music staple with the quintessential Chicago jacking beat, and one of the hotest basslines and vocal samples in recent house memory. A producer and DJ, he’s worked with all of the legendary labels, namely powerhouse Trax Records, Cajmere’s Cajual, and a plethora of other key imprints.
Tonight, he has as an opener friend to the site DJ vAnniety Kills, alongside Juan Zapata from DC”s ELM group, and Midnight Conspiracy from Chicago. This is a destination point event on your social calendar.
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