Yearly Archives: 2012

Double Header & 4/20 Weekend

During an intense basketball game with Ticklah, The Forthrights and The Frighteners last weekend I somehow managed to fracture my finger. Despite this and because I am a bad bad man, tonight I will be spinning records at Motor City Bar once again for Roots Rock Reggae with Hahn Solo and President Carter. After that wraps up, I’m heading up to Otto’s Shrunken Head for Move Your Mule with the Crazy Baldhead crew. I will have nuff 45s in my box to murder any sound.

On 4/20 itself (Friday) I’ll be engineering some sound for Top Shotta at Sunny’s in Red Hook. This is out of the way for most folks but well worth it… it’s the best bar in Brooklyn, in my humble opinion.

Saturday will feature Dub Is A Weapon playing heavy sets at Zebulon in Williamsburg with me DJing between sets. I feel fortunate to be able to do nothing but Brooklyn and LES gigs all weekend. Big up each and every one of you in New York playing (and supporting) local gigs. You make me proud to reside here and eager to participate, every time.

Thursday, April 19 – Motor City Bar - 127 Ludlow Street, New York - No Cover

Thursday, April 19 – Otto’s Shrunken Head – 538 East 14th Street, New York - No Cover

Friday, April 20 – Sunny’s – 253 Conover Street, Brooklyn, New York – No Cover

Saturday, April 21 – Zebulon - 258 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, New York - No Cover

Roots Rock Reggae at Motor City Bar

Thursday night is reggae night in NYC. Between Dave and Carter’s night at Motor City Bar, Deadly Dragon’s party at Happy Ending, and Crazy Baldhead’s weekly takeover of Otto’s Shrunken Head, there are plenty of places to hear Jamaican tunes from the evening til the early morning. This week I’ll be joining Hahn Solo and trying my best to fill President Carter’s shoes at Roots Rock Reggae. Strictly vinyl and nice vibes every time.

Thursday, February 23 – Motor City Bar - 127 Ludlow Street, New York – No Cover

The Full Watts Band

This Saturday, I’ll be doing some ragtag sound engineering for The Full Watts Band, Eddie Ocampo’s latest foray into reggae classics from times past. Hearing this group play is a real treat. I’ve been fortunate enough to take some drum lessons with Eddie, who learned a lot from the late (great) Lloyd Knibb, of Skatalites fame. His wisdom lives on and shines through every time this guy sits at the kit. Come to Two Boots Brooklyn this weekend to experience it for yourself over some red beans and rice:

The Full Watts Band at Two Boots Brooklyn

Saturday, February 4 – Two Boots - 514 2nd Street, Brooklyn, NY - No Cover

Deep Brooklyn: Bensonhurst

This is the first post I’m making in a category called Deep Brooklyn – a highlight of places in my favorite borough that most people don’t encounter. If it’s easy to get there from Manhattan, chances are it will never be on this list.

I don’t find myself in Bensonhurst often, though it’s not too far away from me. On this particular day, I was not in the best of moods because I had somehow managed to get an eye infection over Christmas weekend while everyone else was getting gifts. The only doctor that could see me the following Monday happened to be on 86th Street near Bay Parkway, so I hopped the N train for my appointment.

When you pass 59th Street on the N, the train suddenly surfaces and southern Brooklyn opens up before you. It’s a different world when you’re used to riding underground. I got off at New Utrecht and switched to the D until Bay Parkway. The doctor was thorough, diagnosed my problem right away and instructed me to boil an egg and put it on my eye to increase blood flow to the area. Great, I guess I’ll eat some eggs later. After picking up some prescription eye drops, I realized I wasn’t too far from a great place to grab some more appetizing food: L & B Spumoni Gardens, at the border of Gravesend. So I walked east on 86th underneath the tracks.

Bensonhurst is a mix of mostly old-school Italians, former Soviet immigrants and newer Asian immigrants. I saw a lot of places on my walk that I wanted to stop into but I was on a mission. Next time I’m around I’ll check some of these other places out.

Most people don’t think about getting Italian ice on December 26th, but Spumoni Gardens is busy til closing time without fail. I’m not known for my proclivity for cold weather, but I grabbed a Sicilian slice (the best in Brooklyn by far) and a cup of spumoni and sat outside to eat.

For those of you who don’t know what spumoni is, the best way to describe it is a pistachio flavored cream ice. It’s the perfect dessert to follow up a piping hot square slice of pizza on a cold day. My hands were freezing cold but I didn’t give a shit. I walked to the train station finishing my cup, feeling fortunate that a mishap led me back to this neighborhood.