Mark Farina, Tomas C

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Mark Farina

Mark Farina

Before the experimental beat scene was born, when lo-fi heads were twisting knobs in the name of boom-bap purity, Chicago/San Francisco house DJ Mark Farina was championing, filtering, remixing, and disseminating downtempo instrumental hip-hop through his Mushroom Jazz compilation series. When “acid jazz” was born, it gave him the perfect opportunity to infuse some of the jazz-and-soul-influenced beats he endorsed with his first love, house music. Now, as the owner of the Great Lakes Audio Recordings record label, Farina is again propelling house to the forefront, starting with a deep house jackin’ trip from house visionary JT Donaldson on Farina’s new Faces EP. It gets deep, yes, but it’s only one facet of Farina’s dance arsenal, which shifts from soulful to techno, Latin to bare-bones Chicago house. Physical participation in Motorco’s dance parties sometimes seems optional, but do this house music legend a favor and keep your groove in high gear. A warmup from Magic City Disco’s Tomas C should get you were you need to be. —Eric Tullis