I've written about the marvelous DJ Kris Graham in these pages before, and some of the venues and New York City nightlife hotspots where I've had the wonderful experience of hearing and dancing to his music. I met him a number of years ago when he was DJ'ing at an opening night event at a new club that I'd been invited to because of my blog and my instagram posts about people and places and lifestyle and nightlife and events and other wonderful things I am blessed to know and meet and see, and at the time when I met him, though I'd thought he was terrific, he told me that it wasn't the usual kind of party he did and he began inviting me to some of the other parties that he is really known for. Often in those days I wasn't able to go because they either began later in the evening or he started his set later, and though I'd once been a night owl my life has changed so much and I try to get my rest to wake up with energy for very busy days. On a few occasions I was able to go see him, and every time I was always impressed not only with how great his DJ'ing is, but also with the venues and with the feeling and experience of being there.
Years ago when I first moved to New York and even before that when I would visit friends, going out to clubs and hearing live music and DJ's was always a part of what made life so fun and enjoyable. Dancing was the best, and if there was even a fairly good DJ I'd be out on the floor. With Kris Graham, the music and his production and style are so wonderful that everyone just feels like dancing immediately when they walk into any space where he is. He is able to do that indescribable thing that really excellent DJ's do which is to read the room over the course of an afternoon and evening and know what people need and want to hear just when they need and want to hear it.
Before Memorial Day he sent me a message with an invitation to a rooftop party where he was DJ'ing on Sunday evening, and though I'd planned to have a quiet weekend and spend time at YES Gallery, the thought of seeing Kris and hearing his music in what he described as a rooftop space near 12th Avenue in the 50's in Manhattan seemed too wonderful an invitation to say no to. Traveling from New Jersey can be difficult on weekends sometimes and especially on holidays, but I decided to leave early to give myself enough time to get there, thinking that I'd leave the party early as well in order to get home on the earlier side. I was able to get there before many people had arrived and they were still setting up, but from the moment I walked in I was having such a good time that as more people began to arrive and things got very busy, it had gotten very late before I knew it. I felt like Cinderella at the palace, looking at my phone and realizing that I needed to leave but wishing I could stay. This party was that kind of wonderful fun that I hadn't had in a while.
In addition to the wonderful music Kris was playing, the other thing that made the evening such a beautiful and joyful and memorable one was the Host and Promoter, Jason Chaos, who is one of the leaders of the Alternative Nightlife Promoters and Curators in New York City. I"d never met him before and he was so charming and gracious that it was not only an honor to meet him, but it was pure pleasure. It's not often that someone who has that kind of fame and recognition is also so kind and such a wonderful host, and having the opportunity to meet him and to talk with him throughout the evening made what was already such a wonderful event an even more enjoyable and memorable one.
In one of my posts in Instagram, I reposted a photograph that Kris Graham had posted of a group of us talking, and I made the comment about the photograph that it showed so much of what we all felt that night. We were having fun, we were laughing, we were dancing, we were joyful, and we were also talking and listening and enjoying each other's company, sharing our stories and history and having meaningful moments in the laughter. That's what makes New York City so special, and that evening brought back so many memories of beautiful times in the past while creating new ones.
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