Occasionally when time permits we head over to Fresh Salt in South Street Seaport to sample some new tunes in a laid back environment. Usually the place is packed at happy hour but chill enough to spin whatever you want, and Fridays is the day we go if possible. Here are some photos from last weekend. I'll post the rest tomorrow.
Generally this time of year we go on hiatus and don't really do that many gigs. Like most djs we only do this on the side for fun and the winter months especially after the holidays is a good time to focus on other things. We did schedule a few events for the winter and this weekend we'll be at the Benjamin Hotel for a private party. It's 4 hours so like most we dj there will be a whole range of music including funk, soul, roots reggae, country, salsa, and some classic rock thrown in.
We'll be spinning at Katra this week for a private party. It will be a short set, but a whole variety of music, Morrocan, Bhangra, roots reggae, some London pop ala Phoenix and Lily Allen, trip hop along the lines of Federico Aubele, and of course some good old detroit funk and soul.
Our next event is at Gotham Hall which is an awesome space at Broadway and 36th. We'll be up in the balcony which you can see on the back wall. The 2007 holiday season is busier than usual this year, again people are planning earlier because the venues are being booked earlier.
The metropolitan building is a really cool space, unique in many ways. You feel like you are in New York City from 150 years ago when you go in, it'd be the perfect place for a film wrap party with all the funky antique furniture, gargoyles, buddhas and beautiful views of Manhattan. Each floor is about 3000 square feet and parking is a cinch in the area. Basically get off at the 23rd St Ely on the E or V train, take a right on 44th dr and then take a right on 11th St, go to blocks and it's there on your right. I'm going to try to get a bunch of photos when we're there since I couldn't many online.
We're headed to Fort Greene theis weekend to dj an event at Scorpello Restaurant. Fort Greene is where I first got introduced to a lot of the African music like the Golden Afrique compilations and some of the other artists I've mentioned. At this event I anticipate we'll play more latin influenced music, some classic salsa, cha cha cha, latin jazz and possibly some latin soul, in addition to some motown, and good old detroit funk. Here are some potential tracks:
Che Che Cole - Willie Colon
Como Lo Canto Yo - Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Cualquiera - Oscar D'Leon
Descarga 72 - Orquesta Willie Rodriguez
El Cuarto - Eddie Palmieri
El Malo - Willie Colon
Llore - Hector Lavoe
Lluvia - Eddie Santiago
Ran Kan Kan - Tito Puente
Our event next week will be held at the Westside Loft. We've been in that location several times before, for a party at Penthouse 15 and another event at Loft Eleven. It's a great space with amazing views of the Hudson river. When spaces like this are rented it's usually a little different for the vendors because instead of having a staff Maitre'D and restaurant employees there is a separate catering company, flower company, photographers, and djs. There is an upside to this in that they are usually a little less pricey per plate than somewhere like the Bryant Park Grill, the downside is that you have to be responsible for a lot more aspects of your event than you would at a turnkey type of place. It's key to have an event planner if you're having an event at a place like the Westside Loft to oversee everything.
Last night was excellent, we went very late until about 4 am. Alexandra was from Venezuela and Joel was from London so it was an amazing opportunity to play all kinds of music from Manu Chao to Wilfredo Vargas to Ray Barretto to Willie Colon, it helped that they had great taste in music. Below our a few photos of Alex and Joel dancing on the bar at the after party while we were spinning. Will post some more photos tomorrow.
We're gearing up for some big events this weekend at the Carlton Hotel on Madison Ave and the Flute Bar in Grammercy. The client that hired us is a big fan of the BBC radio shows with Gilles Peterson and Norman Page, so we're looking forward to spinning a nice mix of trip hop, electro jazz, afro soul, latin soul, roots funk, etc.
We'll be at the New York hilton at the beginning of November again for the Ad Tech 2007 conference. Last year was excellent, were able to play music from Jamaica, Senegal, Detroit, France, Brazil and Venezuela. This year we'll probably play a similar set with some additional eletrco jazz, trip hop and roots funk thrown in.
We'll be at the Tobacco Warehouse for our next gig and it looks like a sweet place to have an event, particularly for the views, serendipity to the Manhattan Bridge and convenience of accessibility. The trick with a lot of these venues is that often times the locations in Manhattan are easiest for out-of-towners who are not familiar with New York, and sometimes the most stressful for those of us here in terms of parking, cost, security, etc. It looks like our friend Henry has been there as well and has some nice photos.
Here are some additional photos from Friday night. We always try to get photos of us (the last one in this post) during the events unfortunately since neither of us are photographers they usually end up looking like surveillance photos!
Last night was an excellent time. Bruce and Ko created som slide presentations which were by far the best we've ever seen, and chronology from each of their lives from when they were little. When done well they can be so effective and really add another dimension. We played some Korean pop songs, merengue, salsa, funk, soul and of course disco! The security at the Rainbow Room was very tough and I ended up having to wait outside the building for a 1/2 hour to get back in and retrieve all the equipment.
We'll be at the Rainbow Room tonight for an event, heavy security at Rockefeller Plaza understandably so we'll have to get there a little early. It'll be a late night as well, will post some photos and songs we played tomorrow.
We have some great photos from this night, Bella and Peter's wedding. This will be probably part one of two or three. 24 5th Ave is interesting, it feels like it takes you back a little in time with it's history in New York City. It was originally constructed in 1926 to replace the Brevoort mansion. There is a wine bar and restaurant adjoining it which have the original facade on the inside still due to landmark construction laws. If you're sitting at the bar you can see the original concrete which they were not permitted to change when they wanted to extend the bar area further out.
Here are some photos from a talent agency party we dj-ed over the summer at Zanzibar. It was an excellent night, despite New York's fine cabaret laws, where we got to play all kinds of music from electro jazz to soul to funk to roots reggae. You can see a photo of me up in their "booth" and a view of the crowd from the booth as well. The booth was a little precarious especially because there were a lot of people in front of it and next to it walking around, but all in all a decent space for an event.
Here are some more photos from Saturday night. We have some great video clips as well when I have some time to color correct I'll post as well. Sean is looking more like a detective than a dj out in front of the Belvedere. Tomorrow I'm headed to Los Angeles to dj at LLadro in Beverly Hills at a benefit for the Real Medicine Foundation. There will be celebs there, not sure who yet, and also art for sale by Basquiat, Yoko One and Sean Lennon. More info here...
