In 2016, several music icons passed and it seemed like the deaths would not end until the very end of the year. Icons like Prince and David Bowie who commanded the pop landscape for 40 years were gone suddenly and unexpectedly. Sharon Jones was just beginning to gain more recognition before passing of Cancer after a two-year fight. Many music fans are just happy for 2016 to be over after experiencing so much loss. The sadness from the passing of so many important voices is only assuaged by the fact that each artist has an immortal influence through their work.

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David Mancuso, who founded The Loft dance parties in New York City passed yesterday at the age of 72. Mancuso started DJing the invite-only parties in 1970 with a hippie aesthetic, high-end sound equipment and an insistence on playing music in its entirety without a mixer. Those parties influenced many of the key dance music  DJs  including Nicky Siano, Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Tony Humphries and David Morales. His Loft parties helped shape  legendary night clubs The Paradise Garage, Studio 54 and The Gallery. In 1999, David Mancuso Presents The Loft Volume One and Two was released on Nuphonic. Watch Mancuso talk about audio equipment below in clips from The Maestro documentary.

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