Giant Step Club: The Shine Years
2000–2001
By 2000, Giant Step was almost 10 years old, and we wanted to change its sound and musical direction. Chicago soulful house producer Ron Trent was invited to become the resident DJ. He was also tasked with producing and remixing artists on the fledgling independent version of Giant Step Records, which was just getting off the ground. The party also went back to its original day of Monday, and despite the tough night, it grew from strength to strength.
Giant Step’s association with Shine started in the early 1990s when it was called New Music Cafe. The venue reopened later that decade under new management and with a very different design (Giant Step continued doing events there when it became Canal Room in the mid 2000s). Giant Step started to present various shows at Shine as part of the Levi’s “Miles Ahead” series and then, in February 2000, rebooted Giant Step’s weekly club there.
Many of the original musicians stayed involved in the club, but the sound was much deeper. It also became the playground to showcase new releases from Giant Step Records artists such as Carl Hancock Rux, Jody Watley, and Donnie. The Monday party eventually moved back to its Thursday night and enjoyed huge success with Ron, the musicians, and guest DJs like Louie Vega, Francois K, Gilles Peterson, and Pete Heller. The party continued at Shine until the end of 2001, surviving 9/11 and restarting a couple of weeks after the tragedy to attempt to lift spirits.
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