#6 Vick Lavender | "A Job in the Business"

“A Job in the Business” Vick Lavender has never taken the easy road. Born in Louisiana, and raised on Chicago's west side, he came up on dub tapes, Italo, and New Wave records before deep house had a name. DJ, producer, label owner & co-owner of Bridgeport Records, every step has been deliberate and every move a natural progression. He has never been in a rush. He has never been satisfied either. Deep house is not easily understood. Neither is an artist who has spent thirty years crafting music that draws from jazz fusion, world music and R&B, music that calls to ancestral spirit and permeates the soul. A prolific producer with releases on West End Records, Sacred Rhythm Music, Local Talk, Ocha and his own Sophisticado Recordings, championed by the likes of Glenn Underground, Anthony Nicholson, Boo Williams and Ron Trent, while remaining largely unbothered by the spotlight. Today he’s still putting out some of the most beautiful, unhurried music in the game. All of it on vinyl. In this conversation with host Lori Branch, recorded inside Bridgeport Records, Vick talks about the city, people and records that shaped him, the culture of Chicago's segregated club scene, what it means to always have a job inside the business and where he's going next.