“All I knew for sure is that he was a hell of a singer – one of the best, certainly in House Music, likely of his era, probably in the world…”
5 Magazine’s Terry Matthew on Kevin Irving. His six octave voice appeared on a staggering number of Chicago House classics – became, in a way, the template of what vocal House Music should sound like. He effortlessly made the transition from Chicago House pioneer to pop star to super producer and the man behind the scenes, developing talent from a studio in Burbank, California where the lights burned into the night.
Two and a half decades after his debut, Kevin Irving – “Kirv” to his friends – was mounting a comeback when he died. Backed with recollections from friends and colleagues including Bad Boy Bill, Parris Mitchell, Derrick Carter, Jay King, Walter Phillips and more, this is our search for – and our contribution to – the Legend of Kevin Irving.
Also this month, 5 Magazine’s Czarina Mirani gets to know Sean McCabe, the Soulful House wunderkind who produced just a massive number of remixes on King Street, Defected and such and just scored an album with Joey Negro’s Z Records called It’s Time.
DEL’s Foundations column returns with a look back at the year 1990 – twenty five years ago, believe that.
Plus photos from the Chicago House Music scene, news from Chicago, new gear previews from NAMM, our event calendar and social club, music reviews from Will Sumsuch, Dustin Kinney, DJ Shiva and Terry Matthew of new records and reissues and more.
[…] that I connect with. Rob Muzerik played an incredible trumpet on “Brighter Day”, with Kevin Irving on vocals, and I wanted to do another House track with Rob playing on it. So, a good friend of […]