(2007) DJ Benn Jordan - Monday Night Select (Patreon)

In 2006 I was offered to have a DJ residency at a club called Betty's Bluestar Lounge in the west loop area of Chicago. I suspect the owners thought I'd come equipped with the hottest electronic mixes and draw in the hipster crowd from the nearby areas, as the bar was a little bit too far south for most 20-somethings to feel safe riding their fixed gear bicycles at 2am.

The problem, at the time most of what I listened to and collected was library music.

Short history: In the 60's - 80's, library music companies used to make thematic instrumental albums that covered everything from "romantic soundscapes" to "energy industry music". A movie, tv show, or commercial would catalog the records, and if they wanted to use something, they'd negotiate a music license with the library. There were absolutely some library music superheroes, like Brian Bennet or Roland Kovac, that broke out of that very tight world.

Anyway, that's what I DJ'd. And it eventually drew a different crowd and demographic from the southside. At some point during this residency, I made a mix CD that was a limited 300 copies with all proceeds going to a charity project organized by Pastor Tracy Lee near the neighborhood I was from. (more info on Pastor Tracy: https://www.obama.org/hope-amidst-violence/lee/)

So, 14 years later. Here's that mix CD. 😎I hope it opens up the amazing rabbit hole of library music for someone!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1trtRskGCMkJiRMCpg7St2nmB-pI4FQ0W/view?usp=sharing