Derrick May live at Chemistry On 3 (Amsterdam 1996)

Live mix by Derrick May on Dutch radio back in 1996, shared by Joris Voorn. I can relate to the words Joris writes about it, I think we all had/have recordings like these that stick with us and define our music taste for years to come.

Joris Voorn:

Since my early dj days, I consider Derrick May as a huge inspiration, and in particular this dj set. Broadcasted live in 1996 from the legendary Chemistry night at Escape, Amsterdam. It was recorded from midnight radio by my partner in crime Edwin Oosterwal who borrowed me the cassette tape which I never gave back to him, which reminds me I should do that sometime soon.

In this mix, Derrick May shows us that in 1996 dance wasn’t pigeonholed to one style or sound. He mixes Moodymann’s groovy deephouse with Jeff Mills and Surgeon’s raw techno. He goes from Donna Summer’s disco to Tyree Cooper’s jacking electronic funk, from Masters of Work’s new york house to Ian Pooley’s epic chord techno. All of this is mixed in a fast and skillful pace, a style that so clearly carries Derrick’s signature.

There’s some truly magical moments in this mix, how he get’s out of Surgeon’s ‘Syllable’ into Global Communication’s ‘Sensorama’ at 1:09 leaves me speechless..

Even though by now I know most of the record he plays here, there’s still a few I’ve been looking since the very first time I heard this mix. Would be great to get the tracklist completed, any help is greatly appreciated!