i disagree with this statement entirely - i think it is essential for hip
hop, house and disco DJs and probably the new genre of soul jazz funk which
has been tagged acid jazz - but you never saw Gilles Peterson beatmixing
Selim, and even Norman Jay doesn't beat mix when he plays rare soul or funk
sets. For jazz and funk DJs the ability to beat mix is totally unnecessary
if you are playing records cut before beat mixing was invented, they
weren't designed for mixing, the beats aren't clicked - and often the drum
patterns clash teribly even if mixed in time - how many times have you
heard a DJ ruin a classic funk track because of the serious pitch change
necessary to get it in time with the previous track? In fact i would
suggest that beat mixing these genres is a handicap because so few old funk
jazz or funk records go together there is always the temptation to go for
the smooth mix that you always play and not drop a new tune. i also think
massive tempo changes go down well with these sorts of sets - again
something that is easy to ignore if you are heavily into beat mixing.
i think the problem lies with DJs such as Gilles P who made their names as
jazz DJs and now want to play jungle/drum'n'bass - alot of these guys are
great DJs but drum'n'bass and hip hop were made by and for the mixing
generation - and so the old school jazz/brasilian/funk DJs like he and
Patrick Forge don't make great jungle DJs - but are big names so get away
with it.
rich - (too lazy to practice beat mixing and trying to rationalise not
bothering to).