Since moving to a new location in Fort Greene last year, the nonprofit Haiti Cultural Exchange has expanded its programming, most recently into vinyl-focused events.
That direction is reflected in its upcoming old-school day party, Records & Rhum, featuring DJ and archivist Patrice Espérant. The event centers classic Haitian recordings and a musical archive that remains largely absent from streaming platforms. Much of Haiti’s recorded music history survives on vinyl, leaving programs like this to function less as themed entertainment than as informal acts of preservation and circulation.
“Records & Rhum is an opportunity for people to celebrate classic Haitian sounds and really speak to the generations of Haitians who came here and brought with them—as well as created here—a sonic heartbeat of our culture,” said Kassandra Khalil, program director at Haiti Cultural Exchange.
The series builds on HCX’s longer engagement with Haitian music and archival practice. Its first iteration was staged as a fundraiser in collaboration with DJ Hard Hittin Harry. Since then, the organization’s vinyl collection and network of collectors, musicians, and archivists has steadily grown, alongside its Mizik Ayiti! program series.
“At HCX, it's been our central call to create a permanent presence for Haitian arts and culture in our city,” said Khalil. “It’s for what is new, what came before us, and what is coming in the future. Spending time with the material culture of vinyl speaks to a broader resurgence and how we can begin to see Haitian culture as part of that resurgence.”
The event also arrives alongside growing attention to Espérant’s work through Haitian Vinyl Night, an immersive all-vinyl listening series devoted to Zouk, Konpa, and other Caribbean diaspora recordings. The series connects contemporary audiences with Haiti's rich musical history while bringing overlooked recordings back into public circulation.
In recent months, Haitian Vinyl Night has appeared at venues including Public Records and The Sultan Room, spaces more often associated with experimental electronic music and contemporary club programming. Espérant’s sets introduce a different historical texture, shaped by earlier recording economies, diaspora circulation, and the informal infrastructures through which Haitian music has long moved between Haiti, New York and other cities.
Born in Port-au-Prince and based in Miami, Espérant began building his collection five years ago after acquiring his first records from an artist’s estate in Haiti. Since then, he has presented selections in New York, Miami and Atlanta. There, the music often meets audiences who already know it through family or memory, or encounter it for the first time in a public setting.
“The energy in Brooklyn is just different,” he said. “And when you're looking at the music itself, a lot of these classic Haitian bands had their roots in New York, all over Flatbush.”
Recent editions of Haitian Vinyl Night have drawn audiences that span generations, from longtime collectors to younger listeners encountering the material for the first time. The response, according to Espérant, is less about discovery than community and recognition—an encounter with sounds that have remained present in family life even when absent from formal archives.
“We are preserving culture through sound,” said Espérant. “A lot of this music is not on streaming, and if we don't play it, there is no way for a kid of Haitian descent to know about any of this stuff. It's a privilege. The fire is there.”
HCX’s Records & Rhum Day Party featuring Patrice Espérant will be hosted at the Prospect Park Boathouse on Saturday, June 27. For tickets to HCX’s Records & Rhum Day Party with Patrice Espérant click here.
