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MAD THINKERS Everett, left, and Alvarez put careful thought into making sure their party is an inspirational one.

If not for a death-defying brush with a semi, Peven Everett might not be headlining the new Friday Night Dance Party this week at Double Door. “I was in a cab coming from a rehearsal at Betty Carter’s house,” says the renowned multi-instrumentalist, who’d declined a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music to pursue a jazz career in NYC. “I get out because the cab driver was overcharging—his meter is flying abnormally fast—and an 18-wheeler comes by, takes the car door off and my trumpet case with it.”

After briefly blacking out, Everett awoke to find his trumpet miraculously in pristine condition. “Something deep in me said, ‘This is not what you want to do,’” the Chicago native says. “It made me come home, spread my head open and see what was there. I found it was something more all-encompassing.” Since then, Everett has launched his label, Studio Confession, releasing dozens of albums in house, soul and jazz.

Recently, we shared a quiet lunch with Everett and Sean Alvarez, a local DJ, promoter and radio host who’s launching the quarterly Friday Night event. When we bring up the state of Chicago’s nightlife, the two men, staples in Chicago’s rich house-music scene for more than 15 years, passionately embrace the topic.

The Friday Night Dance Party nostalgically references the all-night parties in the late ’80s and early ’90s; Alvarez and Everett hope to capture some of that earlier spirit. “The dancers, the music, the respect that the people had for the music, I want to incorporate this back into what we do,” Alvarez explains. “People don’t get how the scene has to be unified to move forward.” Everett adds, “Recently, I’ve seen a small degree of musicians and DJs cultivating a community. But as long as there are people that aren’t willing to work together, there will be this stagnant feeling.” Both share a distaste for the scene’s focus on bottle service, with sound systems and dancing pushed to the back burner.

It was precisely Alvarez’s desire to revitalize a dance community that made Everett an obvious choice for the party’s kickoff. “Peven’s a Chicago icon,” Alvarez says. “I’ve had some of the best times in my life going to hear him perform. Before he’s even wrapped up his first song, I’m cutting it up on the dance floor.”

While the 35-year-old Alvarez has remained dedicated to the scene since high school, he maintains a day job in banking. Despite the different approaches to their musical careers, it’s obvious, listening to them speak, that Alvarez and Everett are kindred spirits. “The scene is too stale. It should be soiled with love and friendship,” Everett says, echoing Alvarez.

When organizing the night, Alvarez networked on the North and South Sides to tap as many local promoters and DJs as possible. Both guys are optimistic: “There’ll be a slight quiet after the show because people will be contemplating what’s just taken place,” Everett says with a chuckle. “This is the first time that’s going to happen in a very long time, you dig?”

The Friday Night Dance Party is at Double Door Friday 10.

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