6:00 – 7:00 Arrival & cocktails

7:00 – 8:00 Dinner

8-11 Dancing 

Entertainment by The Empire Beats

Glamorous jazz chanteuses and gutsy blues shouters front Empire Beats as they explore an expanding book of old-school Rhythm & Blues, Rock & Roll, Jazz, and Pop music – familiar and forgotten hits from the past and funky new original sounds. Empire Beats’ non-stop showcase draws from the best of 1952 to 2023 – from pioneers Etta James and Big Mama Thornton to Maxine Nightingale and Ann Peebles, with crowd pleasing numbers by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Amy Winehouse, Chaka Khan, and Prince – plus much, much more. Their energetic revue recalls another era but is firmly rooted in the right now.

Since 2011, drummer Mark Boquist’s sharply dressed five to seven piece band has been playing behind some of New York City’s most talented singers like A’shanti Tyree, Jessica Harp, Chloe Thompson, Johnique Edwards, and Kamal Morales presenting their real live show at nightclubs, theaters, lounges, dive bars, and dance halls as well as at weddings, fairs, fundraisers, festivals, private events, and public parties throughout the boroughs of New York City, the Hudson Valley, the Berkshires, the Hamptons, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Residencies at venerable Manhattan music halls and lounges as well as distinguished Brooklyn bars and saloons have solidified Empire Beats’ esteemed reputation as a rocking dance band interpreting songs with spirit, style, and soul.

Bandleader Mark Boquist has been working for over 35 years in the entertainment business playing all kinds of music on stages large and small, on recordings and broadcasts with bands and solo artists, on tours around the United States and Europe, and in slick private clubs and public dives. Beginning in Minneapolis in the early 1980s, with forays to Kansas City and then Seattle in the 1990s, he made the move to Manhattan in 1997. The son of a Big Band Jazz man, his affinity for real American music led him to start up his own band after an inspiring series of shows playing as a side man behind legendary Northern Soul artists as part of the Dig Deeper Dance Party in Brooklyn. His Empire Beats deliver an authentic and exciting sound with songs from every side of the love equation that’ll keep you dancing in your seats and on your feets.