When FENIX Producer Christian Velasco reached out asking if Stix Bones and The Bone Squad could jump onto the lineup for the debut of Fenix Rising at Groove in the Village, nobody could have predicted what would unfold. The answer was yes — and within hours the room on MacDougal Street became a pulsing celebration of rhythm, soul, improvisation, and raw New York energy.
Featuring the unstoppable Stix Bones alongside Big Al on bass, Sean Taylor on trumpet, and Meighstro on keys, the band delivered a performance that blurred genres and elevated the entire night into something unforgettable. Jazz melted into reggae. Hip-hop grooves collided with funk. Soulful improvisation floated through the packed room like smoke rising from a midnight city street.
I had seen them before, and they are always magic.
Tonight, they were magical.
The crowd inside Groove didn’t simply watch the band — they surrendered to them. Every musician onstage seemed locked into an unspoken conversation, each solo answered by another wave of rhythm and electricity. Sean Taylor’s trumpet lines cut through the room with elegance and fire, while Big Al’s bass kept the heartbeat steady and deep. Meighstro painted textures across the performance with dazzling keys, and at the center of it all was Stix Bones, commanding the stage with the confidence of someone born to move audiences.
What made the night extraordinary was not only the technical brilliance, but the spirit. There was joy in the room. Community. Spontaneity. The kind of live performance that reminds people why music matters in the first place.
The debut of Fenix Rising at Groove was already shaping up to be a major downtown moment, but Stix Bones and The Bone Squad transformed it into an experience people will talk about long after the lights faded on MacDougal Street.
For one night in the Village, music didn’t just play.
It levitated.
Photo Credits: Billy Hess
