Jr. Star Shows Thed the Light

When's the last time you had an epiphany?  I had  one this past Tuesday night.  I went to Sharrif Simmon's taping of his TV show @ Mathew's Bar & Grill/[Birmingham, AL] and I walked over to politic with Junior Star for a minute.  I'm standing there looking at his set up.  I notice two CD Turntables and two Technic Turntables.  My initial thought was that the Technics' were for "show".  I thought they were mere urban musical ornaments, (i.e. decoration).  Then I noticed the crate of albums behind him and I realized that the Technics were there to be used and not just for show.

I've always looked at record players as just a way to play music.  Like an 8-track or a cassette tape.  I figured that if you're not scratching and doing multiple DJ tricks all the time, there's no need to have a REAL Turntable set up.  I have seen DJ's set up real turntables recently but most of the time they are linked to a laptop and the DJ is actually spinning mp3's or .wav files, and not multiple records.  Junior Star was spinning records & CDs.  It didn't really hit me until I started talking to him and I noticed that Sharrif had brought a live band to perform with.  I'm looking at a saxophonist, trumpeter, bass player, guitar player and a drummer.  Even Sharrif had a guitar around his neck for most of his set.  This is when I asked myself, "when do musical instruments go out of style?"  The answer is obvious...they don't.

For the first time I realized that knowing how to play music for others to enjoy with a record player is an art or at worst a skill.  Knowing how to purchase and replace a needle is analogous to knowing how to purchase and replace strings on a guitar.  Knowing how to find the song you want by reading the grooves on a black wax disc is analogous to knowing which combination of valves to press on a trumpet and how you should blow to make the desirable sound.  If hip hop is music, then Technic Turntables are instruments...are they not?

So the next time you see a DJ bring out two REAL Turntables, know that you're watching a skilled performer whether he's scratching or just finding the right songs between wax grooves* on a black disc.  He's displaying a knowledge base just as a pianist plays simple chords to harmonize with a singer.   Thanks Junior Star.  Keep spinning.

*[I just realized that the "grooves" on a record/album are probably the origin of us calling songs "grooves". ]