I was shocked and saddened to say the least when I opened my email the other day and discovered that DJ Dusk had passed away. Dusk was a beautiful man (and sonically lovely DJ who helped inform my salsa and Latin funk education), and I had had a giant crush on him since at least '98 or '99, going back to the Ritual Events days when the original incarnation of the Rebirth were just starting. I had just seen him at last month's Descarga at Little Temple, less than a month ago. I had also been having a hard time finding out details of what had happened, despite many memorial postings on Fusicology, the Root Down and Descarga pages, Z-Trip's MySpace page and more, but ran into Jun at the Brand New Heavies + N'Dea gig @ the Roxy on Thursday, and he told me that Dusk had been run over by a reckless driver. Another page I've read since has indicated that Dusk was walking a female friend back to her car and ducked in front of the path of her and the oncoming vehicle to save her life and take the hit himself. This is a horrendous loss of a lovely, lovely man, and will affect the L.A. music community – that he largely helped save from the malaise that had swallowed it up for decades via his contributions to the acid jazz scene and the development of such groups as the Rebirth, Build an Ark, Bat Makumba and more – for years to come. The remembrance I'll be going to will be Sunday's Lovely Day @ the Lost Souls Café downtown – with none other than the mighty Bembe Segue and Joy Jones. It's easy to feel guilty enjoying one's self, but by all accounts Dusk would want all of us to celebrate his memory. I'll also be saving to contribute something to the family via their MySpace page, and encourage anyone else to do the same. Rest in peace Dusk. xo, B.
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