• Brazilian Beat at Black Betty

  366 Metropolitan Avenue, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

  Remember the dance-party scene in City of God? Well, think smaller—and leave out the gunplay—and you’ve got this giddy, human-scale party. Crowded but comfortable, loud but not deafening, “Brazilian Beat” has to be the most attitude-free night in town, with a diverse crowd of friendly dancers who return weekly for D.J.’s Greg Caz and Sean Marquand’s deep knowledge, and deep crates, of all things vintage-Brazilian: from bossa nova and straight-up samba to the samba-rock of Jorge Ben to seventies funk Rio-style and beyond. Don’t leave before hearing Noriel Vilela’s “16 Toneladas (16 Tons)”—an unforgettable foghorn-voiced Portuguese-language version of the Tennessee Ernie Ford chestnut that, combined with the caipirinhas, will have you feeling like you’re very far from New York City.

From the 2004 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine