Sole Unlimited Tapes, 1999
Was Dave ‘3D’ Sewell the hardest working junglist in the Midwest? It sure as hell seemed that way back in the mid - late ‘90s, running Forte Records with fellow Chi-town alum Mike ‘Snuggles’ Shum and playing up to 4 parties a week when things were at their peak around ’98/’99, many of them parties he helped to organize; however, while other jungle DJs of that time (like Dara, Dieselboy, AK1200, et al… most of whom were younger than Dave) were releasing major-label CD mixes and going on world tours, the Windy City All-Stars remained firmly entrenched in Chi. I’ve heard guys from the East coast say that when given the opportunity to partake of the growing success, Dave & others scoffed at the notion of leaving Chicago behind---well, as much as coming from a town like Chi or Detroit does engender a certain level of cocksure attitude in its DJs, it’s more likely that their fierce localism led to a dearth of offers rather than merely them shunning the mainstream. Whatever the truth is, I think it’s a fucking shame that Dave 3D won’t be remembered by most when thinking of the best American junglists, as he surely deserves mention in the same breath as the big-wigs listed above. These Jungle Book boxsets (vols. 1 -3) were the epitome of the Midwest’s jungle scene, and not surprisingly, he appeared on each volume; Dave is content living the quiet life these days, amidst the lakes of northern Illinois.
Sole Unlimited Tapes, 1999
