Carnaval events in New York

New York City is cold at this time of year, with snow on the ground as I write, and with temperatures in the mid-20s.  The real New York City Carnaval, as everyone who lives here knows, takes place in October at the West Village Halloween Parade, where there is a better-than-fair representation of Brazilian samba musicians, dancers, and capoeiristas.  Pre-Lenten Carnaval here is an indoor, much more low-key affair that happens in a variety of Brazil-themed parties across the city.  Some of them are small and relatively quiet, others happen at loud, large nightclubs with hefty cover charges and hordes of percussionists, musicians, Carnaval dancers, and burlesque performers. Not all events fall strictly within the Carnaval period of February 8-12 -- some occur before Shrove Tuesday, and others well after Ash Wednesday.

The problem with these events is that, even though they're spread out over a period of over two weeks, a few of them still occur on the same night, and it just isn't possible to attend them all.  To get things started, this Thursday Feb. 7th, DJ True and Miller Cruz will take over the Sullivan Room to present the last in their series of very successful "Alma" parties, which they describe as "Neo-Brazilian fusion".  Then Friday Feb. 8th there's Ciranda: Carnaval Edition at Monika's Cafe Bar in Astoria.  Lilliana Araujo and Johnson do Cavaco will be doing forró, the dance music from Northeastern Brazil that is currently in the midst of a small but very active and vibrant wave in New York.  There are also two events on Saturday, February 9:  PhillyBloco and Mais Um at DROM, and Matuto at SOB's.  PhillyBloco is a Philadelphia-based batucada band that does Rio-style Carnaval samba.  They'll be joined by their friends Mais Um, a fine group of young percussionists from Brazil and around the world that plays and sings a variety of styles from Rio and other parts of Brazil.  Matuto is a project with Rob Curto and Zé Mauricio that combines Northeastern Brazilian music -- specifically forró -- with Appalachian bluegrass.  I don't know their music well, but I've looked at some of their videos, and the odd combination of infectious baião rhythm, English lyrics, and steel-stringed country twang seems to work.

The Regional de New York will be hosting roda de choro at Beco Bar on Sunday the 10th

Rob Curto will also be a special guest at Beco Bar on Sunday the 10th from 5:00 - 9:00 for Regional de New York's twice-monthly roda de choro.  Though this is a regularly scheduled event that has nothing to do with Carnaval, it's a great way to see Rob in a more intimate setting.  There is no cover charge -- the tip jar goes around at the end of every set.  Please support these fabulous musicians.

Another great-sounding event next week, though it's being billed as a Mardi Gras and not a Carnaval event, is Batala New York's appearance at Element Nightclub on Tuesday of next week.  Batala NYC is a wonderful all-women's samba-reggae project that is quickly picking up steam.  When I interviewed their director last year, she talked about expanding the band's presence to go beyond strictly Brazilian events and music.  They are making good on that promise with an appearance at a party with DJs spinning music of all different kinds, from reggae and soca, to salsa and samba.

Justin Justin will be turning his regular party at Cielo nightclub into a combined Carnaval / Valentine's Day celebration with Red Carnaval on Friday, Feb. 15.  These shows feature a combination of live drumming with his "Ale Ale" percussion ensemble, tech house music, samba dancers, facepainting, and burlesque.  Wear an outrageous red costume, and bring a date.

Festivities will continue all the way through to Sunday February 17 at SOB's, with capoeirista Kiki da Bahia presenting a Salvador-themed President's Day Carnaval show.  Four days after Ash Wednesday is pretty late to be presenting Carnaval, but it still looks like a lot of fun.  I don't know who the musicians are -- the web site doesn't say -- but the venue is an established one that typically chooses the best local Brazilian musicians around.

Tragedy in Santa Maria

Many of us in the United States were saddened to read about the nightclub fire in Santa Maria that took the lives of, at this writing, 237 Brazilians, mostly young people.  Many of the horrific details, including the barricades set up to prevent people from entering without paying, reminded me a lot of the fire -- many years ago by now -- in the Happy Land social club that claimed the lives of 87 people in the Bronx.  Brazil's tragedy was on a much larger scale, however, and coming as it does so close to Carnaval, triggered a three-day national period of mourning.  Facebook was also immediately filled with exhortations, such as this one, to respect the victims by not posting pictures of the dead or injured.

There will be many calls to honor the memory of those killed by enacting better nightclub regulations, to limit overcrowding, to have lit exit signs, etc.  Those are good things to have in place and worth fighting for.  Celebrating life is another good means of doing so.  The victims were nighttime revelers out celebrating, to move their bodies, to enjoy each other's company, and share the pure joy of being alive.  Let this tragedy heighten our appreciation for the preciousness and fragility of life and love!