Bklyn Sounds 12/27/2024—1/1/2025

Happy New Year!!! + The Week's Other Shows: Aurora Halal / Stuart Bogie & friends / DJ Marfox / Joey Anderson / Dope Jams x Cosmic Arts / 'Poetry Project New Year’s Day Marathon' / much more

Clockwise from upper left: Joey Anderson, Aurora Halal, Stuart Bogie, DJ Marfox

Happy holidays everybody. Sorry for missing a couple of days there, but it’s one of those weeks, I’m deeply in need of a break, and - truth be told - I am still kind of learning on the job about how to best balance providing you with events through this period, and taking it easy myself. Much love!

This Week’s Events:

After co-founding Boston’s excellent Ethio-centric Debo Band, collab-minded violinist Kaethe Hostetter lived and studied music in Addis Ababa for over a decade, playing with locals and co-founding the “future roots” group Qwanqwa, among other triumphs. In 2023, she moved to NYC and has been performing a variety of sets. The solo, instrumental Impressions of Ethiopia involves Hostetter on violin, loop-pedal and rhythm machine. (Fri 12/27, 8p @ Barbés, Park Slope - $15)

Led by Sal Principato (Liquid Liquid), Gerald Hammill (Other Music) and Elliot Taub (Ulysses), the improvised dance-rhythm collective One Seven Eight Product is one the city’s many great secrets. Its monthly sojourns take place in the back room of Bushwick’s Sleepwalk. Tonight, veteran NYC DJing great Dennis Kane, is a bonus-beats attraction. Also: Walkmanbaby. (Fri 12/27, 8p @ Sleepwalk, Bushwick - FREE)

The union of NYC’s dance-music past, present and future, at its glorious best. Brandon & Craig musclecars Coloring Lessons party returns to its Ridgewood residency for a big holiday extravaganza, featuring the Masters At Work maestro, “Lil” Louie Vega. Highest Recommendation! (Fri 12/27, 10p @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - $10-$25)

The pianist Arturo O’Farrill, among the city’s great connectors of improvised, jazz-related traditions—both intergenerational (from his father Chico to his son Adam), and stylistic (from Cala Bley’s big-band to his own Afro-Cuban Orchestra)—plays a Holiday Concert on Avenue A. (Sat 12/28, 7:30p @ Drom, East Village - $30adv/$40)

An improvised trio show with potential sparks at one of my favorite little live music spaces in Gowanus, featuring free-jazz notables, legendary trombonist Steve Swell, pianist Mara Rosenbloom and Dutch drummer Michael Vatcher. (Sat 12/28, 8p @ Ibeam, Gowanus - $20)

By 2024-25, Aurora Halal is one of Bklyn dance-music’s across-eras all-timers. From having started her Mutual Dreaming events all the way back during the first Obama administration in a now long-gone DIY space, playing music then-deeply out of vogue; to being a cornerstone of an internationally beloved scene and a festival, Sustain-Release, that (from everything I hear—I’ve missed it, being a parent) one of the city dance-music’s flagship events. The best part is, when she DJs, “Surprise!” is still a major part of the menu. Back at her residency all night long. Highest Recommendation! (Sat 12/28, 10p @ Nowadays, Ridgewood - $10-$25)

Considering that 25 years ago, Bklyn-born/NYC-reared DJ-producer Danny Tenaglia was among the world’s superstar DJs (see the Global Underground era), it’s curious that calling Tenaglia under-appreciated in 2024 is not out of line. He may have taken to the whole progressive/big-room house sound a bit too much for my liking, but at his core, Danny was always a fierce sped-up disco-house DJ, whose mixing and remixing were fluid largess in motion. Also prolly the first DJ I heard play for six hours straight without breaking a groove. In other words, rightfully, a legend, playing a decent big room. (Sat 12/28, 10p @ Elsewhere, Bushwick - $40)

Multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie is a cornerstone of numerous NYC musicking communities, applying his skills to indie dance-rock bands and jazz-disco orchestras, Afrofunk ensembles and avant-jam ambient all-stars. He’s one of those players whose name I look for when reading line-ups. So the whole idea of Bogie Nights, while new to me, is wholly understandable: two sets of Stuart playing with a bunch of other great, flexible city musicians? Yes please. joined by, among others, Smoota, Spencer Zahn, Olatunji Ojore, and likely more. (Sat 12/28, 10p @ Nublu, Loisaida - $20)

Though I’ve not been to producer Russell E.L. Butler’s new Sunday evening residency at Earthly Delights (entitled like previous nights, Deep Exposure), I already know it to feature many things required of a space to experience Butler’s broad range of sounds: a low-key day-of-week that could pop-off any time, a great soundsystem for clarity, couches for when the vibe gets ambient, and a cozy dancefloor for when things might heat-up. No time like the present. (Sun 12/29, 9p @ Earthly Delights, Ridgewood - FREE)

If you like your techno bass-heavy and unrelenting in how it transforms the social space and the bodies inside it, the femme line-up of DJs that Juliana Huxtable has gathered to celebrate her birthday is mind-bogglingly perfect. Late Sunday, the DJ/multi-media-artist/futurist queer icon’s SHOCK VALUE party welcomes, among others, TYGAPAW, 8ULENTINA, Shyboi, Renata, and Via App. Definitely the party for strong dance-floor contemplations rather than frivolous socializing. (Sun 12/29, 11p @ H0L0, Ridgewood - $38)

A longtime, integral part of Lisbon's crucial West African dance-music pipeline Principe Discos, DJ Marfox plays streams of drum-machine-heavy tracks that chop-up martial rhythms and club bangers. Imagine a Black Atlantic dance-floor union of Angola, London, Jersey and Port of Spain — Marfox brings it to hips and to life. he’s playing as part of the Errant Forms party, alongside Mayon, baby.Love, sola system and Love Higher. (Mon 12/30, 10p @ Bossa Nova Civic Club, Bushwick - $TBA)

NEW YEAR’S EVE DANCING: There are a few excellent bills of all-night dance parties with a variety of costs, times, open-bars and restrictions—some of which you can find some at Jupiter Disco + Nowadays + Public Records + Silo. But for my money, the most curious is at Ridgewood’s Dada Bar, which has become site to some of the more interesting DJs + electronics + improvised-musicians crossovers in the city. On the big night, Dada Bar hosts Jersey house’s deeply electronic forever-under-appreciated practitioner Joey Anderson on the decks; alongside Vavav, a producer/keyboardist who is also part of the excellent electronic-jazz trio, NUM; all kicking off with a live performance by the in-house Dada Orchestr, which led by Arkestra alum On Ka'a Davis. (There’s a dinner reservation that guarantees entry ahead of time. Give them a shout for music times and post-meal price…) (Tues 12/31, 9p @ Dada Bar, Ridgewood - $TBA)

One of the great annual literary-music events in the city, the Poetry Project New Year’s Day Marathon celebrates its 51st year. The list of poets and musicians who are either scheduled to read and play, or who show up as unannounced guests, include some of the finest artists in the city. Go for culture-watching, stay for the uplift we all know we need at the moment. Highest Recommendation! (Wed 1/1, 1p @ St. Mark’s on the Bowery Church, East Village - $various)

NEW YEAR’S DAY DANCING: For a few years now, I go out dancing less on New Year’s Eve than on New Year’s Day, the idea being to start the new year with clear head, full heart, the improvisations and rhythms affecting the body fresh and unadorned. Some of the above parties will still be going, but if you want a nice low-key but focused vibe, Paul and the Dope Jams crew are throwing a New Year’s Day Ball co-presented with, and hosted by Joe Claussell’s Cosmic Arts crew. Deep, classic dance sounds in one of the city’s great record stores, and a perfect sound system. (Wed 1/1, 3p @ Cosmic Arts, Bushwick - $28.55) NOTE: there is also a Musicland taking place at the usual, undisclosed location. As previously stated (over and over), Musicland is one of the best intimate dance parties in the city. If you’re interested, reach out to them.