As you may have already guessed, Barbès will not be in the Woods this year. Even a Shire-sized gathering like ours is just not safe or responsible right now. The sophomore edition of the fest will be postponed until 2021... but WAIT! HOUSE PARTIES FOR BARBÈS is on the way — a very special Zoom party to keep our spirits high and keep the lights on at the iconic Brooklyn bar through this fragile time.
A convergence of musical and cultural influences, this unstoppable female-fronted group has cultivated a sound as inimitable as its members. Owing their foundations to traditional afrobeat (and named after a Fela Kuti song), the band has gone on to embrace no wave, dance punk, Italo Disco, funk, electronica and House music, creating four-on-the-floor musical convergences between the genres.
Nickodemus is a producer/remixer/DJ as well as the label founder of Wonderwheel Recordings. Twenty years ago he started Turntables on the Hudson, an iconic imprint on NYC’s global dance party scene. In his remix machine, Nickodemus has done mixes for a wide range of artists including: Bob Marley, Billy Holiday, Nina Simone, Thievery Corporation, Quantic, and more.
Born and raised in the deep outskirts of Mexico City, the Gama brothers are keeping alive the rich legacy of marimba music running through their family with their latest project, Son Rompe Pera. While firmly rooted in the tradition of this historic instrument, their fresh take on the folk icon challenges its limits as never before, moving it into the garage/punk world of urban misfits and firmly planting it in the 21st century.
Names You Can Trust is an independent record label based out of Brooklyn with a mix of vintage & modern sounds typical of the New York experience – – spanning Afro-Latin, Reggae, Disco, Dance & Instrumental Music. NYCT has operated on the cutting edge of the intimate connection between New York City’s immigrant population and its global roots, having debuted several new-generational acts from the burgeoning markets of South America.
Barbès is a tiny bar in Park Slope, Brooklyn with an outsized influence on the creative music scene in NYC. (The venue hosts over 700 performances a year!) In 2019, we started a festival-homage for it in Western Massachusetts called BARBÈS IN THE WOODS. But this year COVID came along and made that impossible. And the pandemic is also challenging the bar’s stamina to survive an ongoing crisis in a business with very low profit margins.
WHY ZOOM?
Strange but true — the medium you’ve been using for drowsy meetings and remote learning is actually the best platform for mimicking the live show experience. Inside the Zoom room, the DJs and artists will have a glimpse into your party. Your experience will feed their experience, and that’s what live music is all about. And — you’ll be able to see other people’s parties, whether they’re in Northampton or New York City or Granada. Which is pretty cool, in a funky voyeuristic way, when you stop and think about it.
In other words: this is going to be way funner than you think.
WHAT IF I don't Want to Zoom?
An abridged version of the event (without the DJs) will be streaming for free on Facebook and Youtube.
OH, I DEFINITELY WANT TO PARTY WITH EVERYBODY
That’s right. Buy a ticket (just one per party). Invite your pod-people over. Bling out your living room/backyard/deck/whatever. Hey, $10 disco lights go a LONG WAY. So does a good sound system. Lets do this!
