February 15, 2003

Chase Away Winter at MASS MoCA's Tiki Dance Party

(North Adams, Mass.) Just in time to melt winter snow and ice, MASS MoCA presents a Tiki Dance Party on March 15, at 8:00 P.M. This tropical party blends exotic sounds and Polynesian flavor with colorful cocktails and swaying grass skirts. DJ Brother Cleve spins his unique mix of Beach Blanket Bingo meets '60's go-go. The libations will be drawn from Jennifer Trainer's recently published Great Tiki Drink Book.

Tiki -- which embraces the mystery, beauty, and serenity of the tropical islands in Tahiti and the South Pacific -- started in the 1930s and reached peak popularity in the '50s and '60s. Experiencing a tremendous resurgence now, Tiki recalls a bygone era, when the Hawaiian Islands were considered America's Shangri-La, when bars and restaurants served island drinks in huge coconut bowls laced with miniature paper umbrellas, and when a night out featured island music and thatched hut dŽcor. Today, while we may not need to escape the Depression or prohibition as they did 70 years ago, New England residents certainly need to escape the cold and snow, and Tiki offers the perfect respite. DJ Brother Cleve sets the mood with his finger-snapping hipster mix called "exotica," replete with colorful vibes, bongos and birdcalls.

Rated the best Club DJ in Boston in 2001 by The Improper Bostonian, Brother Cleve is a lounge music enthusiast who likes to mix in everything from Brazilian chart toppers to classic disco. A mainstay of the Boston music scene for almost 30 years, Brother Cleve has achieved his greatest renown since becoming Boston's first lounge DJ in 1996. Brother Cleve's style evolves over the course of the night from a classic cocktail lounge scene to a modern dance mix. With over 6000 records in his collection Cleve combines innumerable types of music to fit the mood of the crowd. Cleve says he makes "music move with the energy of the crowd." Speaking of a typical night he says, "I opens with down-tempo and loungier house grooves. I play lots of samba house, along with Afro/Latino-based house tracks, but I also play a good amount of disco house."

By the age of nine Brother Cleve had already started to play the piano. By high school he was playing electric keyboard and synthesizer for a number of bands. After a short stint at Berklee School of Music, he dropped out to continue playing gigs with a punk/funk band called the Suade Cowboys. His first real break in rock and roll came when he joined the Boston based rock group the Del Fuegos. After the Del Fuegos broke up Cleve joined the lounge act Combustible Edison. He also started his DJ career with a weekly gig at a bar called the Lizard Lounge in Boston. Since this time Cleve's main focus has been his DJ career and his popularity has multiplied. He now is a regular at two clubs in Boston, Mantra and Limbo.

Jennifer Trainer's new book, The Great Tiki Drink Book, has been recently released by Ten Speed Press. The book includes tiki legends, lore, and mystique, plus a full sampling of potent concoctions and spicy, succulent appetizers like Tamarind-Glazed Beef Skewers and Tuna Thai Rolls. The Boston Herald says: "...Thompson's collection of tiki libations may be truly loopy, the stuff of paper umbrellas and swizzle sticks, but it's also alive with vibrant ideas -- take the Hibiscus, aÊ mixture of rum with Lillet and guava puree, or the frothy, pale-green, Midori-laced Seafoam.Ê Even the bonus appetizer chapter is no afterthought, rife with imaginative nibbles like coffee-and-pepper-glazed drumsticks, or sesame-macadamia soba noodles -- sunny stuff by which to defy snow."

Jennifer Trainer is the author of ten books ranging in subject from nuclear power to spicy foods and now to tiki drinks. Thrice nominated for a James Beard award, she's the owner and chef of the Jump Up & Kiss Me brand of food products and hot sauces, as well as an avid sailor, and prolific Ten Speed poster producer. She fell in love with tropical drinks when she was marooned on a remote island in the Bahamas while delivering sailboats from Maine to the Caribbean following college graduation. In conjunction with her books, she's appeared on 200+ television and radio shows including Good Morning America, Live with Regis and Kathie Lee and NPR, and has published articles in The New York Times, Travel & Leisure and others. Trainer is also MASS MoCA's director of external affairs.

Tickets to the Tiki Dance Party are $12 for adults, $10 for students, and $6 for kids. MASS MoCA members get 10% off. Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA Box Office located on Marshall Street in North Adams from 11 A.M. until 5 P.M. every day but Tuesday. Tickets can also be charged by phone by calling 413.662.2111 during Box Office hours or online at www.massmoca.org. Doors open at 7:00 P.M. for tiki-inspired food from Trainer's book and tropical drinks.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located off Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

MASS MoCA 1040 MASS MoCA Way North Adams, MA 01247 413.MOCA.111 www.massmoca.org

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org