This month’s Bumpshop pays homage to a legendary NYC club night, Soul Kitchen, by welcoming as our very special guest the selector whose impeccable taste and touch made that party such an institution during the late ’80s and early ’90s, DJ Frankie Inglese. Downtown’s original vintage soul & funk soiree, Frank’s weekly Monday night get-down represented a perfect storm of sorts – a rediscovery and celebration of ’60s and ’70s dusty grooves as great club music (augmented by servings of chicken wings, quarts of Colt 45 and an afro-heavy slide show) set against hip-hop’s sample-driven creative explosion of the day. It was the first place most of us heard rare groove and deep funk standards like Ramp’s “Daylight,” Third Guitar’s “Baby Don’t Cry” or Milton Wright’s “Keep It Up.” It was the only place all thirteen minutes and fifty-one glorious seconds of James Brown’s “Papa Don’t Take No Mess” could dependably rock a capacity crowd at peak hour. (Or where Frank could slyly slide in kitschy spins like Quincy Jones’ “Theme from Sanford & Son” without missing a beat.)

You can read more about Soul Kitchen’s legacy from a notable someone who was there, here:

Or you can simply join us on October 4th as classic and contemporary soul nights converge!