DJ orchestrates in the City of Groove

By Debra R. Messick, Special to Dorchester Banner
Posted 2/8/23

Ask WHCP's "Smooth Operator" Kirk Major when his knack for being a DJ began, and he can't tell you the exact day, time or year. The overwhelming urge to “groove” has always been with …

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DJ orchestrates in the City of Groove

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Ask WHCP's "Smooth Operator" Kirk Major when his knack for being a DJ began, and he can't tell you the exact day, time or year. The overwhelming urge to “groove” has always been with him.

"I believe I came out loving music and droppin' the needle," he jokes.

Looking back, Major still remembers being a very little boy, sitting on his grandma's bed, a yellow labeled 45 on her portable record player, and suddenly reaching over. "I just started turning it with my finger," he said, his voice tinged with sweet surprise.

Born in 1965, the soundtrack of his life was steeped in some of that era's most legendary music makers, among them some of his mother's favorites, Gladys Knight and the Pips and the Temptations.

His first 45 rpm single, The Jackson 5's “ABC,” arrived courtesy of his mom.

Through his elementary and middle school years, his older brother, who had moved to Baltimore to work, would bring albums back with him whenever he came to Cambridge, including Major's memorable first ever LP, Earth, Wind and Fire's “Spirit.”

"The whole neighborhood headed over to hear them, our place was known as the ‘house of music,’" Major recalled with a laugh.

At his grandma's picnics and barbecues, he got a taste of serving up tunes from The Isley Brothers (who still rank among Major's all-time favorite groups) and other future old-school genre giants.

Around the time he started picking up on local DJs like Eddy Jackson and Mike Bryan, his mother was becoming a fan of the era's iconic cassette mixtape blends.

After graduating from Cambridge-South Dorchester High, Major joined the Marine Corps. In 1986, while stationed in Japan, Major became an NCO club DJ, acquiring his first professional equipment setup and going by the name "DJ Finesse."

Back stateside, he did the same in Jacksonville, North Carolina, home of Camp LeJeune. While there, his unique style of presenting tunes caught the attention of a comrade from the Bronx, a chain bedecked “b boy” with a tough demeanor, who wanted Major to work his parties, with a new name, Kirk Kut.

The name stuck, even after returning to his hometown in 1990-91, or as he says, “getting back in the Groove."

Fast forward to the fall 2021, when Major happened to attend a networking event hosted at Art Bar 2.0 by Adrian Holmes, then on the board of WHCP, to welcome newly arrived station head Judy Diaz.

Describing his DJ days in Japan, Diaz was struck by his love of and passion for music, then even more impressed when he "just got up and spontaneously started DJ'ing!" she recalled.

When the two met for coffee a few days later, Diaz was impressed that Major signed on for not one but three hourlong shows, each devoted to a different vibe.

After working with Operations and Production Director Doug Schuetz for several weeks, Major was ready to launch his Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 6 to 7 p.m. time slots on 101.5 (Mondays, smooth jazz; Wednesdays, neo soul; Fridays, old-school R&B and hip hop).

The shows are available streamed live online and for up to two weeks after airing on WHCP's website, whcp.org.

Continuing his legacy as DJ Kirk Kut, he carefully crafts an hourlong oasis of sounds, lovingly mined from his own long-playing memories across genres.

For each segment, Major arrives at the station at 516 Race Street up to three hours early, carefully preparing the final playlist, which he likens to putting together a puzzle and painting a masterpiece. On air, his 21-year-old son regularly offers hands-on assistance at the turntable and doing record intros.

Asked to name his favorite artists, Major managed to whittle down the list to 10, including Earth, Wind, and Fire; Maze featuring Frankie Beverly; Marvin Gaye; Curtis Mayfield; The Isley Brothers; Jill Scott; Erykah Badu; Maysa Leak of Incognito; and Anthony Hamilton. But he remains wide open to a lot of genres, appreciating good music "all across the board," he said.

Noting the city's recent troubles, Major especially hopes to help "bring back Groove the way Groove used to be, to make it happen through the music," he added.

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