Pique-nique events are spaces for listening — for improvised music to unfold in real time, and for artists and audiences to meet in shared attention. Our programming includes one-off performances, collaborations, and festivals, as well as two recurring series: Unheard and Take Two, which anchor our work throughout the year.
William Alexander & Friends during Unheard 012 in August 2025 // Daniela Cruz
Ambient in movement with Joy Guidry, evolving from stillness to motion through multidisciplinary artists shaping the edges between improvisation, performance and club culture.
Following two sold-out shows, Steam Down are back in Brooklyn with their distinctive fusion of jazz, grime, afrobeat, and funk.
Following their sold-out New York debut last November, Steam Down are back in Brooklyn with their distinctive fusion of jazz, grime, afrobeat, and funk.
Straight from the UK, Steam Down lands in Brooklyn for their NYC debut, channeling the soundsystem culture of south-east London, with their distinctive fusion of jazz, grime, afrobeat, and funk.
In celebration of half a century in the performing arts – beginning with the founding of his legendary band in 1972 – Pique-nique is proud to present Idris Ackamoor & The Pyramids, performing in New York City for the first time since 2018. Chronicling “the historic times we be a’livin’ the past we be feelin,’ and the future the planet is headin’ in,” Ackamoor will perform a new body of work entitled Afro Futuristic Dreams, paying homage to the Afrofuturism movement which he inspired alongside writers Octavia Butler, Samuel R. Delany and fellow musician Sun Ra.
For this performance, The Pyramids will build upon their spiritually-informed sound, as vivacious today as it was five decades ago, traversing psych, modal jazz, deep funk, and African rhythms. The seven-piece band will feature original 1970s Pyramids member Dr. Margaux Simmons on flute, Bobby Cobb on guitar, long-term associate Sandra Poindexter on violin, Mark Heshima Williams on bass, George Hearst on drums and Kele Nitoto on percussion
