Photos: Miguel Atwood-Ferguson + Peanut Butter Wolf

(Photos by Jeremiah Garcia. Review by KCRW volunteer Taryn Olsen)

The Natural History Museum showed everyone last Friday night that they plan to keep everybody guessing. They proved that no First Fridays can be missed without missing out.

As always, the Hall of African Mammals offered its wow factor with KCRW DJ Aaron Byrd following DJ Anthony Valadez on the turntables. Aaron always brings a unique flavor to the places he DJs and his soulful rhythms brought new life to the crowd, who come with high expectations for musical exploration.

The rest of the museum seemed full of surprises with the party now extending into the brand new Hall of Mammals in the museum’s back corner. Beneath life sized bones from a Humboldt Fin Whale, Peanut Butter Wolf and DJ Anika threw down sets of late 70s/early 80s funk with video projection of the accompanying music videos on the walls. Utterly inspiring and dance worthy, both DJs kept the party going.

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson took the stage for two phenomenal sets of music. Miguel’s ensemble has a way of layering many different kinds of sound, from Jazz to Hip-Hop to Reggae to Soul, giving everyone a chance to grab onto or be hooked in by something. His guests included soulful voices and guest instrumentalists, all of them adding another interesting layer to Miguel’s repertoire of collaboration.

— Taryn Olsen