Brian Hieggelke

For the rest of the world, the story of Chicago house music is the story of the foundation of dance music, a seminal sound developed in a specific place and time, not unlike Mississippi Delta blues to its genre. In Chicago, the history of house music is family history, where the family is the legion of DJs, producers, club owners, record-store and record-label owners and music lovers who contributed their passion to developing this underground sound into a global phenomenon. And like most family histories, the story of house music is largely oral, filtered through the memories of each individual source. Unfortunately, the documented history of house music's early days is rather thin, a loss accentuated by the fact that the pioneers are getting older, and some have already died. Fortunately, one of the pioneers himself, producer Chip Eberhart (Chip E), has made a documentary, entitled "Unusual Suspects: Once Upon a Time in Chicago House Music." In the narratorless film, Chip E tells his stories with interviews of key early figures, both well-known and largely forgotten, ranging from Frankie Knuckles and Larry Heard to Kenny "Jammin" Jason of the HotMix5 and Robert Williams, the owner of both the Warehouse and the Music Box nightclubs and the man who brought Knuckles to Chicago. It's a loving tale that ignores most of the family feuds over credit for house's development--save for a few good-natured references to the propensity to label numerous folks "the godfather of house"--and one in which the filmmaker modestly downplays his own substantial accomplishments. The finished product still has its rough edges, and the footage of early house clubs is sadly spare and grainy, but it functions as an essential and inspirational document--Chicago house's home movie.

"Unusual Suspects: Once Upon a Time in Chicago House Music" will be screened at HotHouse, 31 East Balbo, on January 18 at 7pm, followed by a special DJ set with Chip E and Sadar Bahar.

(2005-01-11)

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