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*** SESSIONS VOL. 3

SESSIONS VOL. 3

(AfterHours)

The 25 tracks on this two-CD package have been segued but not mixed. Which means they lack the kind of intensely personal statement that exalts the best house-music DJ sessions. But don’t let that discourage you from buying a compilation that almost always gets the house-music experience right. Garage, deep house, diva style, tribal — it’s all here, uncompromised, the inner and outward glamor, raucous rhythms, and salacious beats that house music represents and idealizes. Chicago house veteran Ralphi Rosario has four entries (the best, “Wanna Give It Up,” is sung cattishly by disco veteran Linda Clifford). Rick Garcia appears three times. New diva Donna Blakely — her harsh alto a dead ringer for that of disco immortal Jocelyn Brown — sings four cuts, two with Rosario, one with DJ Mazi, and one on her own. The featured performers, as well as those less abundantly included, all come from AfterHours’ artist roster. And the best deep-beat buzz of all belongs to 8 Fat Fat 8’s “Let It Shine,” the vocals growled by Charlette Wortham.

— Michael Freedberg