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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JAN. 13, 2019
FLIP IT: This year’s state pinball championship will play out on 30
machines inside Greenpoint’s Sunshine Laundromat.
Photo by Caroline Ourso
They’ve got all that jazz
Slope Lounge’s new series welcomes the really big bands
ON THE BOARDS: From left, the owners of the Slope Lounge, husband and wife Omari Clarke and
Nicole Price-Clarke, teamed up with jazz musician Joshua Schneider to create the Living Large
music series, which features performances on Monday nights. Photo by Alexandra Simon
PINBALL
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changes to Courier Life, One MetroTech Center North, 10th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11201.
There the players will
vie for high scores on
machines that celebrate
bands including AC/DC
and the Beatles, and shows
“Ghostbusters,” “Game of
Thrones,” “Walking Dead,”
and “Star Wars,” among
others.
Most of the event’s 24
contenders hail from New
York City, but the night’s
ladder will also include
several upstate wizards
and some out-of-state competitors,
including storied
Texan champ Steven
Bowden, who is ranked
the 13th-best player in the
world by the International
Flipper Pinball Association.
The out-of-state interloper
will be the man to
beat at the New York showdown,
according to the
championship’s director.
“He’s one of the best
players in the world,” said
La Rocca. “He’s one of the
best players ever!”
The two dozen entrants
were chosen from more
than 670 registered pinball
players who performed
well in some 150 tournaments
throughout New
York State, and will battle
each other in best-of-seven
matches, each round of
which will play out on a different
machine.
The key to success, according
to La Rocca, is not
merely skill at the game,
but knowledge of each machine
— knowing the tricks
of how to coax multi-balls,
point-multipliers, and endof
ball bonuses out of the
table.
The winner will take
home the largest share of
a $2,500 prize pool, along
with the chance to compete
at the US National Pinball
Championship in Las Vegas
on March 28.
Check out the elite pinball
action at the New York
State Pinball Championship
at Sunshine Laundromat
860 Manhattan Ave.
between Milton and Noble
streets in Greenpoint, (718)
475–2055, www.sunshinelaundromat.
com. Jan. 19
at noon. Free.
Continued from page 1
BY ALEXANDRA SIMON
They’re thinking big!
A Caribbean restaurant
in Park Slope welcomes
jumbo jazz ensembles and
oversized orchestras to
play new tunes each Monday
night. “The Living
Large Ensemble Series”
takes place at the Slope
Lounge, opened last September
by husband-andwife
Omari Clarke and Nicole
Price-Clarke.
The Caribbean-fusion
spot took over the space
previously occupied by
the Tea Lounge, which often
invited bands to play
at the space, and the music
series is an expanded version
of that tradition. To
accommodate the musical
acts, the new owners built
a stage, adorned by a colorful
mural in the background.
Previously, bands
had just set up in the corner,
said the Lounge’s coowner.
“When we walked into
the space, I felt it was missing
something, and it was
a stage,” said Clarke. “We
needed to make one just
so bands could come and
play, and I felt the corner
wasn’t the right place.”
The center of the cafe
now features a raised platform
large enough to hold
up to two dozen musicians
at once. The expansive
stage is a welcome change
from other spots in Brooklyn,
which can often only
host a jazz trio, according
to the co-curator of the
music series.
“There really aren’t a
lot of big rooms in town
that can even accommodate
groups that large,”
said Joshua Schneider,
who also lives in the Slope.
“But the idea was to have
the place where writers
and players who are into
this kind of music, where
there are sometimes 20
people on the bandstand
— can have a place to come
and play. We’ve been fortunate
in getting some really
wonderful bands.”
Previous bands have
included the Grammywinning
Afro Bop Alliance,
along with some of
the city’s best established
and up-and-coming bands.
The series has received a
great reception from regulars
and musical acts, and
several groups have clamored
to play again, said
Schneider.
“It’s been really heartening,
and a lot of bands
are interested in trying to
get in the series,” he said.
“We are seeing bands from
all over the city.”
Up next, on Jan. 14, will
be Michael Sarian and the
Big Chabones, followed on
Jan. 21 by the Neal Kirkwood
Big Band, led by the
other curator of the music
series.
In addition to Monday
night jazz, the lounge also
hosts an open mic night,
soca music on Saturdays,
puppet shows for kids, and
karaoke with a live band.
The lounge is currently
experimenting with other
daily and weekly themes to
fi nd out what appeals most
to its patrons, and its owners
hope the Living Large
series becomes a staple for
the community.
Schneider said that
he wants the series to
introduce live jazz to a
new demographic of listeners.
“People are not really
exposed to this kind of music,
and unless you know
about it or are introduced
to it, you’re really not going
to know about it,” said
Schneider. “It’s contemporary
music, and it comes
from all different directions.
What we are hoping
to do is to make it available
to people, because a lot of
people aren’t exposed to
live music.”
“Living Large Ensemble
Series” at the Slope
Lounge 534 Union St. between
Sixth and Seventh
avenues in Park Slope,
(347) 889–5005, www.
theslopelounge.com. Monday
nights at 8 pm. Free.
/www.theslopelounge.com
/www.sunshine-laundromat.com
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/www.sunshine-laundromat.com
/www.theslopelounge.com
/theslopelounge.com