Artist: Kerri Chandler
Title: The Essentials (Nite Grooves)
Label: NiteGrooves US
Genre: Funky/Club House
Format: Digital
Buy From: Juno Download

Whether it’s deep, afro, or tech house it always sounds soulful when it comes to Mr. “Kaos 6:23”. The New Jersey native is responsible for producing countless classics such as “Atmosphere”, “Inspiration” with Arnold Jarvis, “Escravos de Jo” with Joe Claussell and “Get it Off” just to name a few. More recently with “Bar A Thym” and “Pong” he’s definitely attracted new ears to his broad spectrum of sound. Looking at the bulk and wide range of this gentleman’s work, it is safe to say that if you are a Kerri Chandler fan or just started listening to him, this is definitely for you.

The Essentials serves up a good handful of releases from legendary US Garage labels Nite Grooves and King Street Sounds. Other than ‘Bar A Thym”, there are other great deep Kerri tracks: “Harder Gets Harder” and “It’s You”. More uplifting, vocal tracks balance the pallette out with: “I Never Knew Her”, “The Sun’s Coming Up”, the gospel number “Hallelujah”, and then ending with the classic “Just Wanna Be With U (King Street Mentality Club)”

For me, Kerri Chandler was one of those names back then that really stuck out, flipping through stacks of vinyl in record stores back in college. He always had this warm soulful sound that was easily accessible. This release will be nostalgic to others, but will also provide a good intro to his work to newcomers. These days, other than his DJ sets around the globe,  he’s still churning out so much dance music, evolving his sound all the time. Pretty impressive. Looks like this man won’t be slowing down one bit.

Review: Shingo Shimizu