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defining freethinking James Poole

The Police: a perfect fit for freethinking

I was born in 1975. This puts me at 11 years old when just about the most exciting news came my way. When the music video for a track that I didn’t know was incoming burst onto my TV set, I was jumping for joy, and reaching for the [record] button on my VCR. Looking […]

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defining freethinking freethinking nyc James Poole reflection

James Brown: there was (is) none better

Wow. Seriously. James Brown is an artist at the very heart of the freethinking movement. On any given freethinking nyc night, you’ll be guaranteed to hear him, and there’s a fighting chance that you’ll also hear Fred Wesley, Bobby Byrd and Maceo Parker. James Brown changed music. I never saw James Brown play live. The […]

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DJ Prestige freethinking nyc James Poole

Switching it up at freethinking

the freethinking movement is about innovation. It’s about doing things differently – and not just catering to the lowest common denominator. It’s about pushing forward, and celebrating the good stuff. And so, as we enter 2011, we will also be doing things differently… First of all, DJ Prestige now lives in Brooklyn, baby. He’s showing […]

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defining freethinking James Poole recommendations

Spiritualized blowing up Radio City

Radio City Music Hall. A balmy Friday night. The promise of something special. Sprititualized delivered. It’s been a good week for concerts. The Black Keys knocked the crap out of Central Park Summerstage on Tuesday. Last night, however, belonged to Spiritualized. To put into context, Radio City Music Hall is big. In every way, it’s […]

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freethinking nyc James Poole recommendations

Closing the night

The freethinking ethos was loud and clear during volume 3. Genuinely, I don’t know where else you would hear Run DMC, Heaven 17, Sade, Dizzy Gillespie, Friendly Fires and Delphic all in one night. Throw in a Nat Cole tune to close the evening, and I think you’ve got something special. Nat Cole’s ‘Sweet Lorraine’ […]

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defining freethinking freethinking nyc James Poole

Interesting music

‘What kind of music do you play?’ A common, and completely understandable question from people hearing about freethinking nyc – our Thursday club nights at Kush. It’s actually a really tough question to answer. Saying ‘good music’ really doesn’t capture it. Likewise, a straightforward genre response only scratches the surface. We’ll play 80s electronica up […]

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defining freethinking James Poole

Broadening horizons

1993. I scarcely believe that it was that long ago that I was dropped off by my parents at university. A naïve, fresher-faced, significantly slimmer (a ‘lanky streak of piss’ is one way of putting it) version of me. And I had bad jeans. I envy this streak of piss on a regular basis. Yes, […]

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defining freethinking DJ Prestige freethinking nyc James Poole

freethinking NYC Thursdays and Live at the Social

I just wanted to further “big up” James previous post about our last installment of freethinking NYC. Top night all around. To go a bit farther on this thought, I wanted to talk about a DJ mix I heard that sort of pushed me to the freethinking attitude even more. My DJ attitude from the […]

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DJ Prestige freethinking nyc James Poole

Thursday DJ nights in NYC: freethinking nyc

Volume 2 of freethinking nyc took place at Kush last night. The idea is simple: 2 DJs playing a genre-spanning set of music that you would not normally hear in a club setting. It’s not just about the same thumping hip hop, or chart pop. There’s some great music out there, that if given the […]

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defining freethinking DJ Prestige

More First freethoughts

The Original Funky Drummer Art Blakey Over the last few weeks I have been listening to a great big pile of music. First and foremost, I have been listening to an awful lot of Jazz, specifically Hard Bop. I’ve been revisiting artists like Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers Ugetsu, At the Jazz Corner of […]