30 JUNE 27- JULY 3, 2024 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES B E S T O F M I A M I ® 2 0 2 4 16701 SW 72 Avenue Miami, FL www.deeringestate.org Deering Estate rotation of our city’s finest jazz instrumental- ists and crooners captivating crowds in this swanky hotspot. The atmosphere, along with the variety of virtuosic talent and diverse pro- gramming, make it the best jazz night in town despite some stiff competition. What helps up its cool factor from medium to high is that the Regent Cocktail Club at the hotel was recently nominated as one of the top ten best new bars in the country by the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation. So, with a cocktail in hand, under the sparkle of the overhead disco ball, there’ll be no question in your mind that heading to Medium Cool was the right call for the night. BEST KARAOKE SevenSeas Bar 2200 SW 57th Avenue Miami, 33155 305-266-6071 karaokemiami.com There are definitely more upscale options for karaoke in Miami than SevenSeas, but you’re unlikely to find a space with more quirk to belt out your favorite ’90s alt-rock classics, Spanish ballads, or pop favorites than this dingy dive in the ass-end of La Saguesera. It’s loud, and the kitschy, nautical-themed bar has seen better days — but the drinks are cheap and it’s one of the few remaining spots in Miami with the kind of neighborhood “regulars” that become bar leg- ends. You can leave for 20 years and come back to hear some of the same crooners, and it’s that kind of consistency that makes SevenSeas’ kara- oke the real deal. Stop in every Tuesday, Thurs- day, and Saturday at 10 p.m., and bring cash. BEST EVENT CURATOR Alexis Brown instagram.com/lexybmiami Founder and chief experience officer of the Mi- ami-based event agency Social Xchange, Alexis Brown is a “curator of cool.” After realizing there was a lack of entertainment events in Mi- ami that cater to Black and brown millennial professionals, she launched her company with a monthly happy hour series in Wynwood. She soon expanded with a lineup of parties and acti- vations at locations like Red Rooster and the Ur- ban in Overtown. From Instagram-viral fetes at the Easton Rooftop Pool and Lounge in Fort Lauderdale to her music and mixology Art of Cocktail event, she’s elevating the going-out ex- perience. Brown also challenged the status quo during Miami Art Week with her Basel BAE ex- perience dedicated to promoting and lifting up Black art and bucking stereotypes about Black cuisine with the Black Pepper Festival. Brown will continue to pave the way for party innova- tion and inclusivity. BEST OUTDOOR EVENT VENUE ZeyZey 353 NE 61st Street Miami, 33137 305-456-2671 zeyzeymiami.com Combining Old Florida hospitality with New Miami swagger, ZeyZey has become a scene unto itself, thanks to its embrace of globally minded live music and DJs playing everything from Afrobeat and son cubano to disco and jazz — especially meaningful in a city whose nightlife stakeholders offer little support to bands of any genre. With local food pop-ups and a beverage program focused on natural wine and craft cocktails, the trendy Little Haiti hotspot has also hosted community events like film screenings, pottery and candle-making workshops, and the Little River Flea vintage market. BEST MUSIC FESTIVAL We Belong Here webelonghere.world A new player has entered Miami’s busy festival game in the form of the We Belong Here festival. Although it’s been running for three years, this third iteration of the festival showed the city its real potential. It got crowds riled up with head- liners like Guatemalan DJ Gordo and British DJ Duke Dumont on their 360-degree mainstage and strong local acts and label takeovers on smaller stages. Smorgasburg was the fest’s food vendor, so attendees had no trouble fueling up on local culinary options. With a beachside loca- tion on Virginia Key, We Belong Here presented a way more relaxed opportunity to enjoy elec- tronic acts than the city’s more intense festivals. BEST PARTY Miami Ass Party instagram.com/asspartyofficial Responding to a hostile climate toward indepen- dent club promoters in Miami, the folks behind this raucous series of shindigs made lemons out of lemonade by hosting club-music gigs in a non- descript house in Brownsville. With nearly every DJ in town playing this best of parties, it became a rallying scene for the electronic underground and a rebuke to the city’s heavily commercialized
