normally one of the staff pens these things, but i'm going to personally chime in.  kenny summit here, and i'd like to take a moment to send some love to the godfather of disco, my friend mel cheren. In preparation of the highly anticipated, long awaited release of the 'PARADISE GARAGE : INSPIRATIONS' compilation, we thought now would be a great time to reflect on the man who started it all... the late, great Mel Cheren.  Mel and i met downtown one extremely cold winter's night, outside of club vinyl; I was hand distributing a pocket sized nightlife magazine that I was self publishing and mel took a copy.  I did not know who he was at the time, all I knew was this guy loved my magazine so much that he stood with me for over an hour, enduring the icy wind that blew off of hudson river, so cold you could feel it in your bones, but mel stood with me as he read each page aloud and even helped me give the magazine out to the people who were leaving the club.  as years passed I had the honor of sitting with Mel on countless occasions at various diners and cafe's around manhattan... sipping tea or enjoying motza ball soup, Mel regaled me with colorful accounts of disco days past.  I dont know how much of it was ad-libbed, but 100% of his stories were entertaining.  We'd sit and talk for hours; me the wide-eyed student getting juicy details about a time in NYC's past when nightlife was literally insane, unbelievable stories about everyone from grace jones to warhol and larry and all in so much detail, a no-holds-barred debaucherous drug fueled blur, but somehow Mel retained just enough of those memories to spin the best yarns.  He'd tell the same stories over and over again, each time something was added or left out, but the excitement in his eyes never changed, as if he was reliving those memories right then and there.  mel was so passionate about nightlife, about music, about life in general...  It was an honor for me to learn about the history of new york city's rich dance music culture from a living legend, and i didn't take one moment for granted.  the last time i spoke with mel, he was obviously on his way out; depressing to see a friend who is about to pass, but such is life and all i could think to do at the time was make him a promise: i told him i would make sure to one day honor his memory, and that is essentially what this compilation is all about...  
paradise garage : inspirations is nothing like any of the previous Paradise Garage comps, in that the music on this release is not from the Garage era.  As the title suggests, Paradise Garage INSPIRATIONS is a collection of music made by producers who had some kind of life changing experience on the hollowed ground at the Garage, or, they had some kind of relationship with Larry Levan which inspired them to follow their passion for music.  The Inspirations compilation will feature the last ever Frankie Knuckles production, a project Frankie and I worked on with Eric Kupper, a remix of 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine' by Lou Rawls.  the comp will also contain unreleased remixes of iconic club tracks like Loves Last Episode's remix of Deee-Lite's 'Power Of Love', and seminole club classics like the Masters At Work remix of Todd Terry's anthem 'Sume Sigh Say'...  The Paradise Garage ushered in a new era of dance music, and this compilation pays tribute to those who've helped carry the torch started by Mel Cheren, Larry Levan and all those affiliated with the Garage.  We hope you enjoy the music as much as we enjoyed putting this project together...  for now, enjoy this documentary about our dear friend Mel.  

paradise garage : inspirations will be released in september on good for you records with 100% of the proceeds going to gmhc, a non profit founded by mel cheren...  

Gramo gives us his top 5 cuts of all time, or more like top 5 jams he can't live without.  ;-)  enjoy

If you haven't already done so, click the "house heads" portion of the gfy website and sign up for our newsletter so you can get your hands on all sorts of unreleased edits, remixes and even originals by kenny summit and the rest of the gang.  the latest free download is a monster of a remix kenny put together some years ago that only frankie knuckles & david morales had copies of until now!  sign up for that newsletter folks!  

big thanks to Mark for taking the time to curate these jams for GFY!  click on the image below to check out some hot jams from mdcl:

big big big hugs to Janice for giving us her top 5 vocal jams!  you can check out janice's latest project with David Morales titled "father" available below...

beloved American actor, stunt performer, and comedian best known for playing Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series, verne troyer passed away on april 21st in los angeles, california.  the video below contains actual footage of his death.  please be aware; the footage is graphic...

WHAT MAKES A DJ go mad?  DOES TURNING DOWN A RECENT "BREAK THROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR" NOMINATION MAKE KENNY SUMMIT A MAD MAN?  HOW ABOUT GIVING AWAY HIS PRIVATE REMIXES OF HOUSE AND DISCO ANTHEMS, DOES THAT MAKE KENNY SUMMIT A MAD MAN?  WHAT ABOUT NOT TAKING ANY GIGS UNLESS THE PROMOTER PROMISES NOT TO CHARGE ADMISSION?  NEVER ONE TO HIDE FROM THE PRESS, KENNY MADE INTERNATIONAL HEADLINES A FEW YEARS BACK AFTER EXPRESSING HIS VIEWS ON LAZY DJS USING LAPTOPS AS A CRUTCH, NOW HE'S TURNING DOWN GLOBAL PRESS, GIVING AWAY MUSIC FOR FREE AND WE'D LIKE TO KNOW EXACTLY WHY...  NO TIME TO GIVE US A SIT DOWN INTERVIEW, WE HAD A TEXT exchange WHILE KENNY'S RECENT FLIGHT BACK TO LOS ANGELES TAXIED TO THE TERMINAL AT LAX (IF ANYONE HAS FLOWN INTO LAX, YOU KNOW THAT PROCESS CAN TAKE UP TO 45 MINUTES), AND THIS IS WHAT TRANSPIRED:
gfy: you turned down a nomination for 'break through artists of the year' this year.  why the fuck would you do SOMETHING like that?
kENNY: the short answer? lol, i'm tired of the games the press play.
GFY: WHAT'S THE LONG ANSWER?
KENNY: LOL, SERIOUSLY, WHEN I OPEN A DJ MAGAZINE OR GO ONLINE AND SEE EDITORIAL IN ONE OF THESE ZINES, 9X OUT OF 10 IT'S COMPLETE BULLSHIT.  CONTENT IS EITHER PROPAGANDA PLANTED BY PR FIRMS to get you talking about some manufactured artist who is powerd by money instead of talent, or SOMETIMES IT'S NEPOTISM BASED EDITORIAL (FRIENDS WHO WORK AT A MAGAZINE HOOKING THEIR BUDDY UP WITH AN INTERVIEW OR WHATEVER), or it's AD BASED EDITORIAL TO KEEP THEIR ADVERTISERS HAPPY, OR IT'S JUST STRAIGHT UP PITH WRITTEN BY 20-SOMETHING YEAR OLDS WITH LITTLE TO NO EXPERIENCE IN THE DANCE MUSIC WORLD.  10/20 YEARS AGO WE RELIED ON DJ MAGAZINES TO GIVE US THE LOW DOWN ON WHAT going on AROUND THE WORLD.  TODAY, WITH ALL THE BLATANT GARBAGE THESE ZINES ARE SPEWING, THEY'RE BECOMING OBSOLETE.  however, they are A NECESSARY EVIL IF YOU'D LIKE TO BROADEN YOUR FAN BASE.
GFY: SO THAT IS WHY YOU TURNED DOWN THE BREAK THROUGH ARTIST OF THE YEAR NOMINATION?
KENNY: NO.  I'VE HAD OVER 2 DOZEN NUMBER 1 RECORDS, COLLABS WITH GRAMMY WINNERS, HITS ON BILLBOARD, MY FIRST #1 WAS WITH FRANKIE KNUCKLES, HOW THE HELL AM I A 'BREAK THROUGH ARTIST' AT THIS POINT?  IS IT BECAUSE THEY JUST TOOK NOTICE OF ME?  LOL!  JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU HOW LITTLE THESE PUBLICATIONS KNOW OR HOW MUCH THEY GIVE A FUCK ABOUT WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON IN THIS INDUSTRY.  they're bullies of the scene imo.  THEY'VE REACHED A POINT WHERE THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE GLOBAL SCENE CAN LITERALLY TURN SOMEONE INTO A SUPERSTAR DJ SIMPLY BY PUTTING THEM ON THE COVER.  IN MY OPINION, THAT KIND OF POWER, THAT KIND OF INFLUENCE SHOULD COME WITH GREAT RESPONSIBILITY; BUT SADLY IT'S BEING WASTED, ABUSED AND MILKED FOR EVERY DOLLAR THEY CAN SQUEEZE OUT OF THEIR POSITION OF INFLUENCE AND I DONT SEE HOW THAT BETTER'S THE SCENE.  I MEAN, WHERE IS THE EDITORIAL RESPONSIBILITy?  FORGIVE ME FOR HAVING MORALS AND INTEGRITY, BUT I HOLD THE PRESS TO A HIGHER STANDARD.  WHAT'S THE POINT OF SAYING "LOOK AT MY AWARD FROM THIS PUBLICATION" WHEN THAT SAME PUBLICATION IS BEING PAID TO GIVE OUT AWARDS TO wanna-be artists who have ghost writers and financial backers?  KINDA LOSES IT'S SIGNIFICANCE WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND THE CURTAIN.  
GFY: WOW, TELL US HOW YOU REALLY FEEL?  LOL.
kenny: you can always count on me for that!  not looking to hurt anyones feelings, but i dont see the point of holding back.  these publications have never supported my career and i don't see that changing any time soon.  they dont have a grip on the reality of what's going on in the underground, they never will.  they're about dollars, about their bottom line and that makes for shitty content.  i find it disturbing that the focus or aim of the publications have gone from "LETS HIRE TOP NOTCH WRITERS AND work furiously to find out about hot new artists" to the way it is today "artists and pr people working furiously to convince mags that their product is hot".  I MEAN, I KNOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT (TO GET PRESS), BUT AT LEAST IN THE PAST THERE WERE PEOPLE IN THE KNOW IN THE POSITION OF EDITOR WHO KNEW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BANTHA FODDER AND A LEGIT PRODUCER / DJ / ARTIST.
gfy: well, AS YOU SAID, They are a business, and like any other business they have to do what is needed to stay afloat.  on to the next question: why are you giving away your music for free?
kenny: i'm giving away mostly unreleased remixes; these are edits, remixes anD some originals i made purely for personal use when i dj; things i've made to make my dj sets a bit more special.  most of them have been featured on mixes of mine; be it live recordings from one of my gigs or on mixes i've made for traxsource or date transmission or pioneer dj radio over the years and i'm a bit tired of people hitting me up asking for copies.  so i'm giving them away now.  ;-)  
gfy: AND HOW DOES THE PUBLIC GET THEIR FIX?  HOW DO WE GET OUR HANDS ON YOUR FREE DOWNLOADS?  
KENNY: SIMPLE, YOU CAN GO TO MY WEBSITE WWW.KENNYSUMMIT.COM AND SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER, OR I BELIEVE IF PEOPLE SIGN UP FOR THE GFY NEWSLETTER THEY'LL START RECEIVING MY FREE DOWNLOADS THERE AS WELL.
GFY: OH, GOOD TO KNOW!  LOL.  I WOULD PROBABLY KNOW THIS IF I CAME IN FOR STAFF MEETINGS.  
KENNY: WE'RE AT THE TERMINAL, GOTTA GO.  ANYTHING ELSE?
GFY: LAST QUESTION, WHAT ARE you WORKING ON RIGHT NOW?
kenny: jesus, how about a question with a short answer? lol.  i'm mad busy.  aside from my present projects for gfy and my productions as kenny summit, i have a bunch of things i'm working on: eric kupper and i are changing our duo name (we were ging with 'proper' but that is conflicting with another brand) and have signed with ultra to release jams under our new moniker (which we have not yet announced), i'm launching a new group that i'm focusing on for my disco shit that will INCORPORATE singing and add a live element to my gigs, i got a major motion picture i'm involved with (been living in LA for 5+ years now and i'm must getting around to exploring the acting field), and i may be opening another venue soon (la or bk, not sure yet).  there are other things oing on as well, i'm mad busy, but i like being in hustle mode all the time.  i gotta go...  peace.  

here are some links to kenny's most recent giveaways :
sagat - fuck dat - ks remix
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/huh6o092frfpf7k/AAArGi8QiO6lETVcqh337u_ja?dl=0
submission - women beat their mean - ks remix
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dzbhgk95qqeoi07/AAB1OOnxiQe7A4crXlR5eLDEa?dl=0
eddie amador - house music - ks remix
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gkuo0phtz2rub1i/AAB9ocsZuidp923w3_oZWgWZa?dl=0
praise cats - shined on me - ks remix
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7iwl21x8108y6io/AAAhobt4zE6LC_R_TrnRvXEta?dl=0