The 13th Annual Silver Room Sound System Block Party: Opening Reception Event

In honor of Frankie Knuckles. We take a look into the world of “Disco” and the underground music scene through the lens of author Bill Berstein and his book “Disco.” Panel discussion and Q&A with Chicago’s and NYC’s luminaries of the era.

Organized by Adrian Loving and Ron Trent in conjunction with Rebuild Foundation, The Frankie Knuckles Foundation (FKF) and The Silver Room, the “Disco” discussion panel will be based around the disco era: the music, culture and community, all of which were the precursor to what eventually became modern house music.

The event will be in two parts:

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Artist and Author Bill Bernstein discusses his book ‘Disco’, a compilation of rare photographs taken in New York’s most popular and underground nightclubs in the late 1970’s. The talk will uncover how Bill gained exclusive access to document nightlife and dance music culture and what the images mean in a contemporary context.

Bill Bernstein’s career has spanned the best part of the last 40 years, starting out as a young photographer for the Village Voice. Bill may be best known as Paul McCartney’s photographer, but his talent has taken him to photograph notable musicians such as Carlos Santana, Keith Richards and Max Roach amongst many others.

Copies of ‘Disco’ will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

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In this segment, the panel discussion will be based upon the below topics:

-Disco: the music, culture and community
-Intersections between the New York City and Chicago City underground music, life and culture by way of pioneering DJs Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan and Ron Hardy.
-Club space as refuge
-Documenting Disco – Photography and print media / Flyers
-Oral Histories – Originators / Creators

Panel Moderator:

ADRIAN LOVING
Howard University alumini, Arts Professor, Music Scholar, Author of forthcoming book Fade 2 Grey: Androgyny, Style and Art in 80’s Pop Music. Co-curator of ‘Downtown Scene NY: A Film Series’, 2011 short film festival in Washington, DC on the downtown NY arts scene of the late 70s – 80s.

Panel Guests:

BILL BERNSTEIN
Photographer and author ” Disco”, a compilation of rare photographs taken in the clubs at the height of the disco era during the late 1970s.

RON TRENT
Leading Chicago DJ, producer, music scholar, and tastemaker. Founder of Prescription Records, Futurevision Records, Electric Blue Recordings and Music and Power record label. Co-curator of ‘Move Your Body’, the 2015 photographic and video exhibition on the history of House music at the Chicago Institute of Cultural Affairs. Co-curator with Adrian Loving of ‘Downtown Scene NY: A Film Series’, 2011 short film festival in Washington, DC on the downtown NY arts scene of the late 70s – 80s.

ROBERT WILLIAMS
Founder of seminal Chicago nightclubs: The Warehouse and Music Box during the early 1980’s.

DANNY KRIVIT
DJ and New York City native, founder of record label ‘718’ and co-founder of NYC’s Body and Soul event

LEE COLLINS
Legendary Chicago club DJ and founder of ‘Soul in the Hole’ productions and ‘Sweet Dreams Productions’ radio show on WHPK during the late 1970s, early 1980s and present.

DONALD ST. JAMES
Chicago resident and former director of prominent record pool ‘NADJA’ in the 1970s and early 1980s.

MIKE EZEBUKWU
Legendary 1970s and early 1980s Chicago DJ from ‘Jeffery’s Pub’ in the early 1970s, the ‘Club La Rays’ during the 1980s and the ‘Clubhouse’ in the 1990s.

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Tags: Chicago, Disco Music Culture and Community, South Shore, Stony Island Arts Bank