As we all know, the dance music community (and DJ culture in general) lost a legend with the passing of Frankie Knuckles at 59 years of age. We put together some words on Frankie's impact yesterday, but over the last few days we've been seeing more and more outpouring of emotion over Frankie's legacy and relevance to the scene, both then and now. We imagine there will be many tributes and memories of Frankie and his work over the festival season and throughout 2014, but right now, we wanted to highlight the words, thoughts, and sounds that have been emerging over the last few days in tribute to Frankie Knuckles.
First, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel had these thoughts:
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Dimitri From Paris put together a special mix in tribute to Frankie, and had this to say: "I discovered Frankie Knuckles through his music, one that was, gentle, lush with a subdued, understated power that rocked many a dancefloor. I had the privilege to hear him once in the heyday of his legendary residency at Sound Factory Bar in New York. I was submerged, sonically and emotionally by the beauty of the music I heard that night. I remember very clearly saying to myself that this would be impossible to ever equal. That was 20 years ago, and I never got to hear this magic combination again."
John Digweed shared his thoughts and feelings via Facebook:
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As did Carl Cox:
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Billie Ray Martin gave away the five mixes of Electribe 101's "Heading For The Night" that Frankie did, with these words: "In honour of the beautiful work Frankie did for us, and for me, this set shows his soulfulness so well. To me the basslines are killer. I was never keen on my vocal performance but hey...you learn as you go along. I don't think these were ever released, so hopefully you'll enjoy these. Thanks Frankie Knuckles."
TEKLIFE representer Boylan posted a track, "Need Your Love," which is a juke/footwork flip of Frankie's classic "Your Love":
RBMA posted a wonderful piece from Todd Burns, and included Frankie's RBMA Lecture from their 2011 Madrid session:
There's also this awesome 50-track YouTube playlist that RBMA put together with Bill Brewster that essentially mimics a Frankie Knuckles set from back in his Chicago heyday. This is proper education right here, and one you can listen through while checking out Michaelangelo Matos' piece on Frankie for Rolling Stone:
We will be updating this post as more awesome tributes come to our attention.
