By Sean Barlow and Jake Gold

Central Park SummerStage announced its 2007 season this week. (See Afropop’s picks below for the best of the best concerts.) Outdoors and free, SummerStage is always one of the most enjoyable highlights of summer in New York City both for locals and for visitors. Over 1,000 concerts, dance performances, plays, and spoken word performances will be offered this year in both the flagship SummerStage setting of Rumsey Playfield (72^nd street, closest access east side) as well as at venues throughout all five boroughs.

Afropop fans know SummerStage for its glorious legacy of presenting many of the world’s finest performing artists—Khaled, Mahotella Queens, Cheikh Lo, Boukman Eksperyans, Gilberto Gil, Chico Science, Angelique Kidjo, Papa Wemba, Kanda Bongo Man, Mory Kante, Thomas Mapfumo, Oliver Mutukudzi, Cheikha Remitti, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra, the Wailers, and many, many others. Who can ever forget the afternoon Baaba Maal closed Africa Fete, as the swirling sky erupted in a torrential deluge of rain and the fans stayed right there, soaking and ecstatic? Or George Clinton’s mothership landing one Fourth of July evening and taking everyone with him?

As important as the talent is Summerstage’s ethos as being a truly unique democratic meeting ground in America’s largest, most diverse city--a city that has a long proud history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world. SummerStage is where New Yorkers from all walks of life, from all ethnic backgrounds, from all religions, immigrants and native born, from mainstream to outrageous fashion sensibility, gather together to celebrate music and life. If you don’t know how to dance samba or salsa or mbalax, not to worry, your neighbor at SummerStage will gladly show you!

Afropop Worldwide is proud to have served for many years on SummerStage’s Board of Advisors (connecting, for example, the brilliant Chico Science (R.I.P.) from Recife Brazil to SummerStage for a searing, sublime afternoon of maracutu rap rock with special guest Gilberto Gil sitting in.) And we are proud to be media partners of SummerStage helping to get out the word to our listeners and web visitors around the world. (Look for us at the Afropop booth at select events. We’ll have the latest version of the Afropop Map of New York City to give you.)

See below for our picks of what we are looking forward to most this season. Thanks to Alexa Birdsong, of the City Parks Foundation, and her talented team for putting together this cool SummerStage season. Thanks to City Parks Foundation Executive Director David Rivel and the Foundation’s Board for their commitment to this wonderful New York institution. We urge you to make a donation every time you attend a SummerStage event and also to become a Member of Central Park SummerStage. Every bit helps.

 We’ll see you in the Park this summer!

CLICK HERE for a direct link to view the complete SummerStage 2007 listings!

Sunday, June 17 @ 3pm

Tiken Jah Fakoly
Ivory Coast native Tiken Jah Fakoly creates a unique brand of African reggae, blending the styles of Bob Marley and Fela Kuti to create politically conscious lyrics, sung over the brass and electric guitars of his band. He deals with issues both local and global, ranging from crises in Africa to the challenges of globalization. Fakoly channels his anger into exciting, hard-hitting music.
Artist Site

Read Afropop’s “WOMEX 2005 Report” to see more coverage on Tiken Jah Fakoly.

Idan Raichel Project
Idan Raichel is an Israeli keyboardist/composer who draws on Ethiopian, Eastern European, and Middle Eastern musical traditions in his compositions. His touring band includes Ethiopian, Yemenite Jew, and Arab musicians, representing the ethnic and cultural diversity of Israel, where he has achieved wide success, going triple-platinum on his first album, securing his status as an Israeli pop icon.
Artist Site

Read more about The Idan Raichel Project with Kay Shelemay’s interview on Ethiopia part 2: Diaspora & Return.


Saturday, June 30 @ 3pm
Ozomatli
For the past twelve years, Los Angeles’ Ozomatli has continued to astound listeners with their high-energy hip-hop/latin/jazz/rock/dancehall performances. Refusing to be pigeon-holed, Ozomatli’s energy and showmanship, along with their politically oppositional lyrics have brought them a wide range of audiences. They recently released a new album, Don’t Mess With the Devil and are currently on tour supporting it.
Artist Site


Sunday, July 8 @ 3pm
Junior Reid
Junior Reid is a Jamaican reggae/dancehall legend, who got his break by replacing the lead vocalist, Michael Rose, of reggae giants Black Uhuru. He began his recording career at fourteen, during the politically turbulent 1970s in Jamaica, and has been a force in the music scene ever since. His music has been sampled by hip hop stars like the Wu-Tang Clan, The Game, and, most recently, Mims, for his 2007 hit, “This is Why I’m Hot.”
Artist Site

Djakout Mizik
Djakout Mizik plays compas music, a style made popular in Haiti in the mid-twentieth century. Since their formation in 1993, they have become the most popular compas band in the world. The style, similar to merengue, played on organ, electric guitar, and saxophone, is sure to get a crowd dancing.
Read Afropop’s “Highlights from Carnival 2006” for more information on compas!

Diams
Melanie Georgiades, better known as “Diams,” is one of the few women to emerge on the French hip-hop scene. MTV Europe voted her Best French Act of 2006, and her most recent album, Dans Ma Bulle, debuted at #1 on the French charts.
Artist Site

Read Afropop’s coverage on Hip Hop in Africa with “The Hip Hop Generation: Ghana’s Hip Life and Ivory Coast’s Coupe Decale” and “African Hip Hop in Senegal and Tanzania”.


Wednesday, July 11 @ 7pm
Femi Kuti
Femi Kuti, son of the late great Fela, carries the afrobeat torch, passed down to him by his father. Collaborating with hip-hop stars like Common and Mos Def, Femi has been able to add to the afrobeat sound while maintaining its radical political critiques. This performance will be followed by a screening of Music as a Weapon, the definitive 1982 documentary on Fela Kuti.
Artist Site
Read Derek Beres’s CD review of “Live at the Shrine”


Saturday, July 14 @ 3pm
Café Tacuba
Grammy-winning Mexican artist Café Tacuba merge punk and alternative rock with Mexican styles and rhythms, creating a hybrid called “Rock en Español.” Their lead guitarist and vocalist changes his name for each album and each world tour. 
Artist Site

Pacha Massive
Pacha Massive, the Bronx-based duo, is composed of Dominican multi-instrumentalist DJ Nova and Columbian singer/bassist Maya. All Good Things, their 2007 debut, received praise across the board from the press. NY Newsday wrote that the album, “mixes everything up in a typical Downtown fashion, creating an ambience that can turn an iPod fueled walk around town into an all-night DJ party.”
Artist Site

See more on Pacha and Afropop’s coverage of The Latin Alternative Music Festival 2006.


Saturday, July 21 @ 3pm
Sudanese Festival – featuring…Sharhabeel Ahmed, Abu Araki al-Bakheit, Yousif El Mosili, Hadia Al Balabil, Ali Al Segid, Rasha Sheikh Aldein, Al Wareef Sheikh Aldein, Brides of the Nile Dance Group, Emmanuel (South of Sudan), Omar Ehsas (Darfur), and The Nile Music Orchestra.


Saturday, August 4 @ 3pm

Spanish Harlem Orchestra
Winners of the 2005 Grammy for Salsa Album of the Year, this hard-hitting orchestra is packed with New York’s top Latin musicians. Their mission is to recreate salsa’s golden age, the New York old school salsa dura (heavy salsa). According to pianist and musical director Oscar Hernandez, “That sound has been lost and we want to keep it alive while educating the new generations (and music lovers in general) on the true musical roots of our culture.”
Artist Site

Spanish Harlem Orchestra’s new CD United We Swing (Six Degrees) in one of Afropop Worldwide’s “Spring 2007 Hot Picks”, click to read more!

Learn more about Puerto Rican music in the U.S. from Afropop’s interview with Juan Flores!

Spam Allstars
A Latin funk band led by a DJ, the Spam Allstars combine Latin, dub, electronic, and funk music and jam out for hours on end, instigated by DJ Le Spam, an English-Venezuelan turntablist from Miami.
Artist Site

Tato Torres y Yerbabuena
Traditional Boricuan music as performed by Tato Torres and his band. Torres grew up in Puerto Rico before moving to New York with his family, where he assembled the best Boricuan musicians, vocalists, and dancers around to rescue such seemingly lost styles as bomba, plena, and musica jíbaro.
Artist Site


Saturday, August 11 @ 3pm - Celebrate New Orleans: Soul to Soul III
Galactic
Galactic is a funk and jazz group from New Orleans, hailed by Jon Pareles of the NY Times as “some of the most danceable music on earth.” The band dropped their vocalist in 2004, and has since been touring as an instrumental act. While remaining steeped in New Orleans style, they have managed to break out of the bubble by incorporating electronic instruments and sounds into the mix.
Artist Site

Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians
Monk Boudreaux has been making music in New Orleans since the 1950s, and has earned the title “Big Chief,” the top honor given to Mardi Gras Indian, after singing with Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias for thirty years.

Soul Rebel Brass Band
One of a plethora of brass bands to come out of New Orleans, this one is unique in the way they mix second-line jazz with modern hip-hop. They have worked with all sorts of artists, from the Neville Brothers to A Tribe Called Quest to The Roots to Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.
Artist Site

Read Afropop’s interview with Helen Regis to learn more about Mardi Gras Indians and Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs in New Orleans.


Sunday, August 12 @ 3pm

Zap Mama
Formed in 1990 by Congo native Marie Daulne and four of her eccentric friends, Zap Mama started as an entirely vocal-based group, singing an eclectic mixture of soul, gospel, pygmy music, and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Over the years, things changed, and instrumentation was added, giving the group a funkier, hip-hop based sound. Zap Mama continues to push the boundaries of what is and can be expected of world music. Their theatrical and charismatic performance is unique and is great fun.
Artist Site






Angelique Kidjo
A four-time Grammy nominee from Benin, Angelique Kidjo uses both her Beninese vocal traditions as well as the jazz vocals she learned in France to create a blend of world music styles, ranging from Afro-funk to reggae to gospel to zouk to makossa. Her latest album, Djin Djin features such guests as Amadou & Miriam, Ziggy Marley, Alicia Keys, and Carlos Santana.

Artist Site
Angelique’s full tour schedule
Read more about Angelique’s role as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador with the “Roll Back Malaria” campaign.

K’Naan
A rap star from Somalia, K’Naan grew up in an especially dangerous hood, during the nation’s civil war. His beats are a mix of hip-hop and African pop, and his lyrics convey political messages and philosophical ideas.
Artist Site


TIPS TO ENHANCE YOUR SUMMERSTAGE EXPERIENCE:

* Arrive early to get choice viewing spots! Get to the gate 90 minutes early on weekends, 60 minutes on weekdays to covent prime positioning.

* Check weather updates! Rain or shine, the show goes on!

* Stop by the Afropop outreach booth to meet the Afropop team! We'll have giveaway raffles and more!

First published: www.afropop.org