July 20, 2011, 9PM-1AM
Segafredo L’Originale
1040 Lincoln Road
Miami Beach, FL 33139
www.sze-originale.com

Disco was influenced by (but not only) funk, Latin and soul music. The disco sound has soaring, often reverberated vocals over a steady “four-on-the-floor” beat, an hi-hat pattern with an open hi-hat on the off-beat, and a prominent, syncopated electric bass line sometimes consisting of octaves. The Fender Jazz Bass is often associated with disco bass lines, because the instrument itself has a very prominent ‘voice’ in the musical mix. In most disco tracks, strings, horns, electric pianos, and electric guitars create a lush background sound. Orchestral instruments such as the flute are often used for solo melodies, and unlike in rock, lead guitar is rarely used. Well-known late 1970s disco performers included Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, The Bee Gees, A Taste of Honey, Candi Station, KC and the Sunshine Band, Chic, and The Jacksons. Donna Summer would become the first well-known and most popular disco artist, giving her the title ‘The Queen of Disco’, and also played a part in pioneering the electronic sound that later became a part of disco.

Last but not least, Disco fashion was very trendy in the late 1970s. Discothèque-goers often wore expensive and extravagant fashions for nights out at their local disco, such as sheer, flowing Halston dresses for women and shiny polyester Qiana shirts for men with pointy collars, preferably open at the chest, often worn withdouble-knit polyester shirt jackets with matching trousers known as the leisure suit. Necklaces and medallions were a common fashion accessory.