Chosen Few DJs to Throw South Side's Biggest 'House' Partyin Jackson Park

WOODLAWN -- Call it "invasion of the house heads."

Tens of thousands of fans of Chicago's own house music genre are expected to descend on JacksonPark Saturday for their annual "Woodstock," better known as The Chosen Few DJs Old SchoolReunion Picnic.

The three-day fest that kicked off the Fourth of July is entering its 23rd year, and its growth, like theseminal track of house music originator Jesse Saunders, just goes "on and on."

What started off as "a picnic behind the museum," with "a few grills and barbecues" as Saundersdescribed it, has turned into a premier South Side music event.

"After about three, four years, we had about 500, 600 people coming," Saunders said. "And then by2000, we had over a thousand people coming. And by 2004, 2005, there were tens of thousands ofpeople coming."

Saunders, credited with putting the first house beat to vinyl in 1984, got together with his ChosenFew brethren in 1977 when he was still a student at Kenwood Academy, and the bilevel parties atMendel Catholic high school were all the rage. Back in the day, teens danced away both in the gymand basement of what is now Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep.

But while dance crews such as The Doctors and Ebony Gents battled and dazzled party crowds withtheir footwork, The Chosen Few were all about moving the crowd through music.

"When I came in, that's when we became a real working DJ crew," said Saunders, who grew up inthe Park Manor neighborhood and attended nearby St. Columbanus grammar school. "We really gotout and started making things happen."

Wayne Williams, also known as R. Kelly's DJ and now senior VP of AR for RCA records, founded thecrew, but two of the founding members dropped out, Saunders said.

"Tony Hatchett, I think joined us in '78 or '79, and Alan [King] joined in '79, '80, and Andre[Hatchett] joined in, I think it was '81," said Saunders.

"Terry [Hunter] joined the crew six or seven years ago, and Mike Dunn was brought in last year,"Saunders said, rounding out the current Chosen lineup.

These days, Saunders said, about half of the crew have day jobs and only DJ occasionally, while he,Hunter and Dunn travel worldwide, spreading the gospel of house.

And while the picnic started as a reunion of the Chosen, who live in cities across the country (fornow, Saunders is based in Las Vegas), it's clear from crowds that now the picnic is everybody'sreunion.

Frats and sororities, Chicago high school alumni, house heads from the old after-hours Warehouseclub (known as the birthplace of house) and lovers of the music from around the city mark theircalendars in anticipation of its biggest house party.

But with the party's growth have come complaints, specifically a $20 admission for what used to be afree event.

What many of those partygoing complainers don't know, Saunders said, was that what was "free" tothem back when the reunion started, "We paid for out of our own pockets."

"We actually almost didn't do it about four or five years ago because the city decided it wanted tocharge us ridiculous amounts of money for permits," Saunders said. "When they hit us with a billthat was like 10 times more than what we were accustomed to paying, we were like, 'How are wegonna do that?' "

Of the admission fee, Saunders said: "If you have an inkling of what it takes to put something of thismagnitude on, $20 is nothing."

Judging from the "sold-out" status of the ticket packages that top out at $1,000-plus, many house

music fans agree.

But for all the work involved, it's clear the picnic is a labor of love for Saunders that he isn'tabandoning anytime soon.

Asked what keeps him coming back every Fourth of July weekend, he replied simply: "It's somethingthat we created."

It's obvious from talking to Saunders, an innovator who helped spark a musical genre by putting atwist on disco, that consistency is just as important as the ability to shake things up.

He gives props to artists who come up with something new. Justin Bieber and Rihanna he said "areout there taking chances" whereas a lot of artists and producers "are trying to be safe." But hedismisses those one-hit wonders who don't innovate consistently.

It's that consistency, he said, that the house music picnic celebrates.

"There are very few styles of music that are constant, and house is one of them. When you hearhouse you know it's house. No matter what twists you put on it, or where you take it, it's still house,"he said.

"Traditional house as we know it, not disco, as a lot of people in Chicago want to think of it as, Imean real traditional house music, has always been the foundation for everything else," includingthe current electronic dance music explosion, Saunders said.

He calls the Jackson Park house party "a celebration of the origins, and the fact that 30-somethin-

-odd years later, we're still doing it."

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