Maestro is an American documentary film written, directed, filmed, edited, and produced by Josell Ramos. It details the rise of the house music clubs of the 1970s in New York City, covering how the AIDS epidemic affected both patrons and owners, and was the only full-length documentary film prior to 2016 covering the Paradise Garage.
After premiering at the inaugural , the film toured the European film festival circuit in 2002. In 2003, it screened at North by Northeast as well as being released at cinemas in the United Kingdom. It played in United States cinemas in limited release in 2004.
It was released on DVD on July 26, 2005, together with a CD soundtrack containing twelve tracks in the US and fourteen tracks in Italy.
The New York City AIDS Memorial included Maestro as a topic of discussion in episode three: "Music is Life" in the "A Time to Listen" segment of "Hear Me: Voices of the Epidemic" in December 2020. The film was also used by Ira Sachs as one of the materials of study for the cast of The Man I Love.
Synopsis Maestro begins with text cards that explain the era for the film. Several venues are named – Malcolm's, Andre's, Uncle Charlie's, Buttermilk Bottoms, The Gilded Grape, The Firehouse, and The Continental Baths – as locales where dance music culture began. A voice over begins as the text cards fade describing the feeling of the clubs and the sentiment of their patrons.
It moves to the Paradise Garage, showing clips of dancers inside, the empty crystal room, then the lines outside. Various people speak regarding patronage at the garage, specifically with respect to Larry Levan as a DJ. Nicky Siano talks about meeting Levan through Frankie Knuckles. Patricia Field speaks about the construction parties at the Garage. David Lasada and Shamako Blackmon talk about how the Garage began. Patrons of both The Loft and the Garage talk about how the Black and Latino gays would patronize the clubs following the Stonewall riots. Mel Cheren mentions how the Garage helped teens deal with their stress.
A text card explains that Loft membership required a recommendation. David Mancuso says the Loft was private. Freddie Taylor, noted as the first female DJ at the Loft, states that the Loft created the sound structure but that the Garage gets the credit because Mancuso didn't care about the commercialization. Mancuso explains that he believes in social progress that comes from mixing economic groups. Steve D'Acquisto comes on with a voice over to say how Mancuso went to court regarding New York's insistence on a cabaret license.
Another text card appears, stating that Francis Grasso entered the club scene in the 1960s. Grasso and D'Acquisto mention that they didn't have headphones in those days, so they would read the grooves on an LP record. D'Acquisto states that The Sanctuary's patrons were "the show" while the Loft's location was "the party." He also mentions the light system employed to detail the location of police officers with respect to the clubs. Louis Kee calls the Loft a house party, and a text card on screen notes that the Loft was a haven for dancers before breakdancing.
A narrator comments that the Garage was the only place playing Chicago house music. Taylor explains that the mix wasn't the main point, but rather the storytelling and matching emotions. She goes on to say that Mancuso originally created the garage house sound, and that Siano and Levan created their own style of it. Field talks about Levan's style. Bob Blank talks about Levan's skills as well as working with Salsoul Records, who brought in Walter Gibbons. A text card states that Gibbons pioneered the extended mix as well as influencing twelve-inch single progression. Blank goes on to talk about Tee Scott and how he was one of the few Black remix artists in the 1970s. He says that Scott influenced Levan, and that the two of them brought a unique perspective.
Boyd Jarvis says Levan was one of the most creative DJs he has known when it came to selecting the music, and that the twelve-inch grew in popularity because of the Garage and how Levan would play a record over several weeks as he mixed it with others. John Jellybean Benitez states that the twelve-inch could make a record a hit, and mentions that their sound was superior to a 45 record. Gregory Gray indicates that CDs are inferior. Tom Moulton describes technicalities of the difference in the effect of CDs versus the twelve inch. Little Louie Vega, Danny Tenaglia, and Robert Clivillés each comment on how the twelve inch changed how music was presented. Vega mentions how it allowed for more audio equalization and effects.
A Garage patron mentions that he initially had difficulty accepting the atmosphere at the club because of his own homophobia. Another patron comments that there was tension between heterosexuals and homosexuals at some of the parties, to the point that club management would have to separate them. Billie says that Levan brought people together regardless of their cultural background, sexual orientation, or gender. Knuckles says that the clubs provided a place for people to share their passion, which he notes is easier "now" due to wider acceptance, but at the height of the club era it was much more difficult.
A text card appears noting the next segment will be about Stonewall, 1969. D'Acquisto notes that two men were not allowed to dance together in New York City. Grasso states that the police would find an excuse to come into the clubs when DJs changed over, with D'Acquisto adding that the cops would "beat you up" to get it. Grasso adds that the cops would enter the clubs "so that they could break heads." D'Acquisto notes that Stonewall changed some things, that the Sandtrap, the Haven, the Tamburlaine, Limelight, Le Jardin, Hollywood, the Gallery, the Loft, the Garage, all came into being after Stonewall.
François K talks about his memory of a time that someone on the stage at one of the clubs warned patrons that the illicit drugs and unprotected sex were a guarantee for contracting the then-unnamed HIV. He goes on to say that it saddened him, seeing how little attention the crowd paid to the warning, and that the disease claimed lives quickly. He notes that AIDS decimated an entire generation of its creative talent. Footage of Keith Haring dancing at the Garage is played. A photo of Michael Brody the founder of Paradise Garage, is shown. David Depino mentions how Brody looked fine when he would appear at the Garage, but one day he called everyone who worked there into the office and announced that they were closing. Depino states he doesn't believe Brody thought he was dying, simply that he was fatigued. He adds that Brody closed down the Garage because he didn't want to leave it to an unknown future in someone else's hands.
Knuckles mentions that Levan would come to The Sound Factory in the last two years of his life, recalling that Levan once said that he would have appreciated getting his big break better at that time than he did when it happened a decade earlier. The scene shifts to Blackmon saying that Levan came to his house for money to support his drug habit and Blackmon realized something was wrong. He goes on to say that people assumed for a time that Levan had taken his own life with an overdose. Lasada comments that Levan once told him he wanted to stop taking drugs, but Levan ended the conversation by announcing he was going to get high. Billie comes back on to say that she was surprised to see Levan with "regular people," that it seemed Levan didn't want people to see him at the end.
Knuckles comes on to say that Levan is one of the two biggest influences on why he chose his career, even crediting Levan with making deejaying into a career. Footage of Levan dancing both on the floor and in the DJ booth as he's mixing records plays over an instrumental piece. The scene shifts to the streets of New York, outside the Houston Street station, before shifting to footage of Levan at the turntables on the Garage's closing night. It then shows several DJs of the late 90s.
A final text card notes Levan's, Grasso's and D'Acquisto's deaths.
Cast In alphabetical order, all as self:
Production The film grew out of a half hour television piece Ramos had been writing on the underground music scene in 1997, and took more than four years to make. Ramos stated that they garnered trust among the house music scene by conveying the truth of its history. The footage of Keith Haring, for example, came from Michael Sampson, a former roommate of Levan's, and it took Ramos two years to gain his trust to be able to include it.
Maestro had three different subtitles: "The Origins of Dance Music Culture," "Larry Levan and early DJ culture," and "Larry Levan and the Paradise Garage." Lawrence Kennibrew narrated the opening sequence, with Ramos narrating the blue scene after François K's appearance. Scott Sterling provided the soprano.
Artrution Productions and Door A served as production companies for the film. Editors for the film were Ramos, Eric Moorman, and Sara Kraushaar. Much of Maestros footage consists of Super 8 film, 16 mm film, and digital camcorder sequences. The film is presented with some segments in color and others in black and white.
Antonio Ocasio served as the music director for the film, along with composing original pieces to complement the vintage tracks used. Jephté Guillaume and Michael Cole also created original music pieces for the documentary, along with Raw Habits.
In addition to editing and narration, Ramos also wrote, directed, and produced the film, as well as handling the cinematography. With respect to the camera, Ramos said that the lighting and camera choices in the film were made in an effort to keep interviewees from feeling self-conscious. He also stated that he intentionally edited it so that the audience received the information non-linearly.
Themes While there had been documentaries on dance music made in the 1990s, Maestro was the first to center on the movement in New York City in the 1960s and 1970s. It was the only full-length documentary film covering the Paradise Garage through 2016. Maestro focused on the culture inside the clubs as well as surrounding Levan himself, and Ira Sachs used the film to help prepare his cast in his 2026 film The Man I Love due to its coverage of the New York club scene.
The film also spends time covering the AIDS epidemic and its effect on the underground club scene, both patrons and owners. The New York City AIDS Memorial included Maestro as a topic of discussion in the third episode, "Music is Life" in their 2020 "A Time to Listen" segment of "Hear Me: Voices of the Epidemic."
Ramos focused on telling the story of the origin of the house music genre from a Black, Latino and gay perspective. Maestro was criticized for not including The Saint or Fire Island clubs, and for concentrating on the Garage and the Loft, which had a largely minority clientele.
Release In September 2001, when announcing a preview screening for the film in Toronto where Ocasio deejayed complementary songs, it was understood that Maestro would follow traditional distribution for films and be expected to release in North American theaters in the spring of 2002. Ramos decided against using a traditional film distribution company in most markets because he believed that type of commercialization would ruin the message and aesthetic of the film. Instead, the film screened at various European film festivals, promoting Maestro through clubs and European dance communities.