The dance scene in Baltimore has been more vibrant than ever as of late, and without question one of the major players in the city has been the ForQuarters Collective.  Besides their monthly residency at Red Maple and appearances up and down the East Coast, they are also responsible for the irregularly scheduled party branded as "The Gumball".  Since May of last year, the event has been thrown every few months and features some of the best talents in the industry, and we're always excited when we hear that another one is coming up.

Never ones to disappoint, this next installment features the one and only Gene Farris, a DJ that needs no introduction as his 100+ productions and worldwide touring has cemented him as a dance music legend.  We've been able to catch Gene a few times over the years, and his sets always manage to surprise us with their originality and consistent ability to keep the dance floor packed to capacity.  If you can make it to Baltimore this is definitely not one to miss.

By Tyler Schmith | December 20th, 2011

Look up "Dance Music Divas" and you will undoubtedly come across the name Ultra Naté.  The Baltimore native has been a powerhouse in the EDM genre for over twenty years, releasing five albums between 1991 and 2007 and an impressive catalogue of singles, 7 of which have hit the number one spot on the U.S. Dance Charts.  Now she’s working on her sixth album, the second single of which was released last week as a collaboration with Michelle Williams (formerly of Destiny’s Child).  The single, “Waiting on You” is a big-room dance floor stormer; a duet between two commanding female voices that just begs to be played during the peak-hour.  “We were brainstorming on who to bring in on it” Ultra says.  “Our managers are good friends and thought it would be great to get us together.  We thought it would be a good girly song so we sent it over, she liked it, and the rest is history”.

Her previous single "Turn it Up" (released earlier this year) topped the charts at number 4 and “Waiting On You” seems primed to perform even better.  Both are from her forthcoming album “Hero Worship”.  I asked Ultra when we could expect the full album to be released, but she was hesitant to give a firm date.  “I hate giving a projection.  If something happens or things go weird, the die-hard fans say YOU SAID IT WAS GONNA BE OUT THIS SUMMER!”  As Ultra concedes, a lot of things happen behind the scenes in an album release.  There are plenty of unexpected twists and turns that can delay things.  “Early 2012, between this Winter and Spring” was as specific as she would get.  “I’m keeping my fingers crossed”.  Ultra did confirm however that the next single “Save Me”, a collaboration with prolific house music producer Robbie Rivera, is already in the cue for a February release.

Over her lengthy career, Ultra has had the chance to experiment with a lot of different styles.  From Deep House to R&B to Drum and Bass, she’s done it all, but she says this album definitely takes it straight to big room hands-in-the-air pop dance territory.  Contributions come from some of the genre’s biggest names including Todd Terry, David Morales and the previously mentioned Robbie Rivera.  Of course, the underground is still strongly represented as well.  “The track with Morales leans more towards the traditional house sound.  He goes between the underground and commercial worlds really easily.”  Indeed the album is anything but one-note.  “The track after the ‘Save Me’ single is ‘Radio’.  It’s one of my faves and has more of an Electro feel, and is really kind of in a different place.  When I’m putting albums together its more about the feel and the story of the whole record.”

Besides putting in work on her latest albums and singles, Ultra also manages to organize, promote, and DJ at one of the mid-Atlantic’s best and longest-running house music events.  Her Sugar events in Baltimore were my first introduction to what soulful house was all about.  As a young and music-hungry DJ from New Mexico in the early 2000s, Sugar opened my eyes to a side of dance music that I had never really understood.  Sure I had listened to the soulful releases coming out from labels like Kingstreet and MAW, but the experience of seeing performances from names like Louie Vega, Barbara Tucker, Quentin Harris and Byron Stingily made an indelible mark on everything musical I’ve done since.  Sugar (now re-dubbed Deep Sugar) currently holds residency at the Paradox Nightclub, a legendary east coast venue, and continues to host some of the biggest names in House Music.

Among the many events that Deep Sugar throws throughout the year, the January marathon party generates a palpable excitement within the city’s house music community.  Doors open at 11:00PM and don’t close until 9:00AM the next morning.  This year’s marathon set on January 15th will feature acclaimed Miami duo MURK.  Made up of Ralph Falcón and Oscar Gaetan, MURK (also known as Funky Green Dogs) has a vast catalog of music stretching back to the early 1990’s, including 7 consecutive number one singles between 2002 and 2004.  They will be celebrating 20 years of making music in 2012, and Deep Sugar will be the launch pad for their upcoming world tour.  Ultra says she puts a lot of thought into who to book for these marathon parties.  “I was looking for a package.  A story or a DJ team or a concept for a party that would make sense for a marathon situation.  [MURK are] a house music staple.  With Liberty City and Funky Green Dogs, I don’t know if people are aware of what they have done.  They are one of the few that you can say perfected dance music globally.  I think people will really enjoy them.”

With Deep Sugar going strong and an emergence of other house music events featuring top-billed talent, it seems that the underground Baltimore dance scene may be enjoying an upswing.  I asked Ultra if she thought that might be true.  “I hope so.  A lot more kids are starting to dance to cool music again.  I’m not slagging anyone off, all music is relevant in some way, shape or form.  The problem is when people close their minds to varying styles.  With Baltimore it starts to become a difficult place to grow because it’s still so segregated, but people are starting to break through and not be so encumbered by difference.  It’s not like NYC were you grow up with different kinds of people.  If you wanted to, in Baltimore you could just stay in your lane and only be in an environment with like-kind of individuals, and then the creative energy gets lost and things get stagnant.  The new generation is starting to mix and mingle.  Hip Hop is now dance music, everyone out there is doing dance beats and Electro beats, and it’s trickling down to the kids who are getting out of the box of thinking that they can only be into Hip-Hop or only be into House.  Once people get past that, that’s when things really start to pop.  I’ve always tried to foster that at Sugar.  We have always catered to black, white, gay, straight, old and young... everyone in a unifying experience.  It’s what it should be about, that spiritual feeling and that emotion.”

Upswing or not, one thing seems certain.  Ultra Naté does not appear to be stopping anytime soon.  We’re excited to see what 2012 brings from this talent as her sphere of influence continues to grow.  Besides booking accomplished artists, Deep Sugar has also served to nurture many of Baltimore’s best up and coming DJs.  Ultra has helped to turn a lot of people on to that “spiritual feeling”, and there’s no doubt it will continue to be passed along far into the future.

Posh Cavern has been the place in Baltimore to hear a steady flow of fresh sounds for a while now, and tonight they are bringing back Joe Nice along with Isaac G (of NYCs Remote Signal Radio) and Ted Dancin for what is sure to be a night of wall-ratteling Bass and Beats.  Protect your china and hold tight to your wine glasses!

Also, in case you missed it, Joe Nice was recently mentioned in December's MixMag article "United Bass of America"!

DJ Heather, another name on the long list of legendary DJs brought up by the great city of Chicago.  

At the end of this year's Winter Music Conference in Miami the conversation with friends tended to revolve around what we liked best from the experience.  We talked about the crazy times we had running up and down Collins Ave, how glad we were that we spent that day at the beach, how awesome it was to run into old friends, and inevitably how Heather changed everyone's life.  A common theme: Bouncing off walls.  "People were bouncing off the walls in there!" ... "She turned it out!  It was a mad-house!  I was bouncing off the wall!" ... "I couldn't even move in there and I didn't care.  I just stuck to the wall... and bounced off it."

Well now our good friends over at ForQuarters are bringing this bounce-inducing DJ heroine to Charm City, this Saturday no less!  If you were not one of the lucky ones to pile into Love+Hate in Miami in March, or if you were and you just want to relive the experience, you can't miss this night.  DJ Heather plays this Saturday, December 17th at Red Maple in Baltimore.

Our good friend Nutritious of SpinSpinNYC and Apt Entertainment has released his third mix in the "Body Out Of Control" series (below) in anticipation of his upcoming San Francisco tour dates!  Since this is the third in the series, we listened to this mix three times, and it had us moving with each go-round.  Nutritious manages to touch on a wide range of house sounds, from jacking to jazzy to soulful to afro to electro, all while keeping a consistent groove, proving once again why we like this guy so much!  If your in the SF area we recommend that you get yourself to one of these appearances this weekend:

Nutritious // Body Out Of Control, Three by Nutritious

Track List:
01. Chemars - The Caddyshack Club (Discouraged Ones Remix) - Ginkgo Music
02. Senor Stereo - Unintentional ft. Danny Daze (Craze's Quiet Storm Remix) - Slow Roast Records
03. Shur-i-kan - One Night In Tokyo - Freerange Records
04. Nate Laurence - No Crapalous From Minneapolis (Emil Lanne Remix) - Flapjack Records
05. Soydan - Katana - Illuminati Records
06. 2 Billion Beats - The Moodymann - Paperecordings
07. Funk Mediterraneo - In Silence - Uma Recordings
08. Abu Maxim & The Praetorian Steppah - Sweet Love - KAT Records
09. Jeff Dougler & Balu - Sample Hits - Kinjo Music
10. Cajmere - Funktified - Cajual Records
11. Locussolus - I Want It (Lindstrom And Prins Thomas Remix) - International Feel
12. MuSol vs Bongoloverz vs Jackson 5 vs Doug Lazy - Dancin Machine - MuSol Recordings
13. DJN Project ft. Eman - Open Your Eyes - Newav Media
14. Captain Planet - Ningane - Bastard Jazz
15. Los Charly's Orchestra - Nuevo Disco (Funkanova (Nu Disco Version) - Imagenes Recordings
16. Kraak Smaak - Call Up to Heaven ft. Lex Empress (SmooveRemix) - Jalapeno Records
17. Musaria ft. Saturna - Moment (Dave Barker Remix) - Headset Records

Joe makes a hometown appearance this Thursday in Baltimore for Posh Cavern @ Red Maple - 930 N. Charles St. 

It's also the birthday of our good friend Michael Owen.  Michael is the man behind the Baltimore Love Project, and has always been a big supporter of Gourmetbeats, even appearing on Gourmetbeats Radio back in 2005!  Definitely not a night to be missed!

Tyler Schmith - Hotflash 2 Sunrise Set (House)
Recorded: August 6th, 2011 - Direct Download (MP3)

It seems like music has gotten so serious lately. I love the deep stuff. I love the dark stuff. I've got a mean bass-face, but sometimes musics gotta make you smile!

I was asked to play a sunrise set in Baltimore recently at Soul-Mob Production's Hotflash 2 event at the legendary Paradox nightclub. I played out in the courtyard as the sun was rising, and took it as an opportunity to dig into my back catalog a bit and pull some straight smile-evoking feel good house music from yesterday and today. This is a later recording of the set, modified a bit to include some additional tracks that I didn't get a chance to play. Enjoy!

TRACKLISTING:

Axwell: I Found U (Classic Mix)
NoTenshun: Amarante (Phil Asher's Restless Soul Mix)
Salif Keita: Madan (Martin Solveig Exotic Disco Dub)
Gregor Salto ft. Florian T: Mundocaso (Original Mix) EDIT
Bongo Maffin: Mari Ye Phepha (DJ's Jo'Burg Dub Mix)
Danism ft. Heidi Vogel: LaLa
Remendaos: 69 in the Night (Jay-J's Shifted Up Mix)
Outkast: Spottieottiedopalicious (Nacey Remix)
Aly-Us: Follow Me (Club Mix)
Cajmere ft. Dajae: Brighter Days (DJ Spen Muthafunkin Anthem Mix)
Jafrosax ft. Victor Duplaix: In the Morning (Jazztronik Remix) EDIT
Kings of Tomorrow: Finally (Rivera & Castel Deeper Mix)
Agape ft. Nadia Harris: I And I (Kaje Trackheadz Remix)
SUMO ft. Aaron Phiri: The Danceband
South of Roosevelt: The Road
Fifth Dimension: Let The Sunshine (Solly Bmore Edit)

Nice interview with Joe (also Nice) on bassfaced.com.  He'll be up in Brooklyn this Saturday bringing the business once again to the 718.  Check the details at reconstrvct.com!

Entering it's second year, Soul Mob Production's Hotflash party holds special significance for us here at Gourmetbeats.  Last year's event seemed to cement our relationships with some really special people, and served to kick off an unforgettable summer, fall, and winter of 2010/2011.  Now one year later, we're happy to return to make even more friends!

Check out the write-up from last year at http://whatweekly.com/2010/08/04/hotflash-at-paradox/ and get ready to dance until the sun comes up on July 30th!

Once again, Baltimore's legendary Artscape festival is upon us.  The largest free arts festival in the country, some things that we have seen at past festivals include Biz Markie controlling a crossfader with only his belly, a group of 6-year-old breakdancers, a car with a built-in stage driven by a Gwar-like heavy metal band, a man on a flaming skateboard, and any number of other things to keep your attention-deficit ridden selves busy for at least a day.

This year our own Joe Nice will be gracing the decks on Saturday the 16th, bringing the hurricane straight to the streets of B-More.  In addition, our good friend Neil Kurland will be performing on Friday the 15th.  It's all free, and details can be found on the artscape website at http://www.artscape.org!

Nutritious and Wilder, the minds behind SpinSpinNYC, bring us a great month of music this July at their weekly Wednesday Brooklyn Shakedown party! This Wednesday the 13th check out Pete Dafeet & Sunshine Jones, two of house music's best, representing the UK and San Fran respectively. We've always been a big fan of Pete Dafeet's Lost My Dog label, and Sunshine's Treehouse Muzique has released some gems (not to mention his time with legendary Dubtribe Sound System) so expect this to be a tremendous night. As a bonus to you in the DC/Baltimore area, Sunshine travels down to Charm City the following day to party with some of Baltimore's best at Club Orpheus!