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The musical archivists at Soul Jazz Records chart the migration of New York’s gay ballroom culture from Harlem’s underground to downtown nightclubs and beyond with this compilation of disco classics and “bitch tracks”: house music created specifically to summon ball queens to the dance floor.
Though voguing – a style inspired by models’ poses in fashion mags – has been widely documented in film and print, this three-disc collection (including a Junior Vasquez mix of all the tracks) retells the story from a less-heard point of view: the DJ’s. Notably absent is Madonna’s early 90s hit, Vogue, which brought ballroom moves to the masses, though the pop icon makes a few cameos in disco historian Tim Lawrence’s insightful liner notes.
Since the track list isn’t chronological, Voguing is best experienced after reading Lawrence’s essay and interviews with DJs Vasquez and David DePino to better grasp how heady cuts by Diana Ross and Philly soul group MFSB gave way to dark, abrasive ones like Armand Van Helden’s The Witch Doktor and Rageous Projecting Kevin Aviance’s Cunty.
Top track: The Ha Dance (Ken Lou Mix)
