2007 Central Park SummerStage Schedule Announced - Joss Stone, Black Crowes, and More

Press release
Source: Morris-King

Central Park SummerStage, a program of City Parks Foundation, that presents performances of outstanding artistic quality, free of charge (except for the Benefit series), to serve the diverse communities of New York City, has announced the 2007 performance schedule.

The artists represent a breadth of genres and cultures and perform in an outdoor setting accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds.

Central Park SummerStage strives to develop audiences' deepening appreciation for contemporary, traditional, and emerging artists as well as the communities in which these artists originate.

2007 Central Park SummerStage Schedule:

Friday, June 15 7:00 PM

OPENING NIGHT

Cassandra Wilson

Olu Dara

Supported in part by Museum for African Art

The 2007 SummerStage season will open with the return of one of our favorite performers, vocalist Cassandra Wilson. While she’s widely acknowledged as one of America’s best jazz singers, Wilson’s artistic vision defies categorization, incorporating as it does deep blues, folk, soul, rock and world music. Her 2006 album Thunderbird is her most rhythmically adventurous, replete with drum loops and sampling. As always, Wilson ’s choice of material reflects her wide-ranging tastes, and on Thunderbird she mixes stirring originals with mesmerizing covers of songs by everyone from Jakob Dylan to Blind Lemon Jefferson.

A fixture of NYC’s jazz scene for over thirty years, Olu Dara has worked with David Murray, Henry Threadgill, James “Blood” Ulmer, hip-hop superstar Nas (who happens to be his son) and Cassandra Wilson. His trumpet playing earned him comparisons to Roy Eldridge, but when he released his solo debut, In The World: From Natchez to New York, in 1998, he had metamorphosized into a country blues guitarist and singer. His success at moving so effortlessly between different worlds of music is just one indication of Olu Dara’s creative prowess.

Saturday, June 16 3:00 PM

Television

Apples in Stereo

Dragons of Zynth

One of the most important bands to emerge from the mid-‘70s New York punk scene, Television was founded on the double-guitar attack of leader Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd. But where most guitarists of the time specialized in extended jam snooze-fests, Verlaine and Lloyd pioneered an angular, yet tuneful, style largely stripped of blues references and heavily indebted to the garage rock of the ‘60s. Television was the first band to play regularly at CBGBs, and its success encouraged the club to book other unknown acts like Patti Smith, The Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads.

Fake newsman Stephen Colbert’s favorite band The Apples in Stereo are back after a hiatus of nearly five years with all creative guns blazing. Led by songwriter Rob Schneider (co-founder of the Elephant 6 collective that included ‘90s low-fi stars Neutral Milk Hotel), The Apples specialize in a sunny power pop that owes as much to Sonic Youth as it does The Beach Boys. Their new album, New Magnetic Wonder, is their most intricate and ambitious yet.

One of the city’s most groundbreaking new bands, Dragons Of Zynth combine punk, dub, funk, soul and heavy metal in a way so fresh it’s been given its own name: Afrotek. Critics have described the group’s live shows as “insane” and “bonkers,” though the band itself prefers to call them “audio-physio-psychic” experiences. Said performances have attracted a number of well-placed fans, including fellow sonic explorers TV On The Radio, who helped produce the Dragons’ debut album Coronation Thieves.

Sunday, June 17 3:00 PM

Tiken Jah Fakoly

Idan Raichel Project

DJ Kadafi

Reggae singer Tiken Jah Fakoly has become the musical conscience of his native Cote d’Ivoire by merging the spiritual optimism of Bob Marley with the political activism of Fela Kuti. Like Fela, his outspokenness has got him in trouble with his country’s authorities: at one point he had to flee to Mali in order to stay alive. But he’s stayed true to his classic reggae roots, and continues to strike a chord with down-trodden Ivorians, as well as pretty much anyone who happens to hear him.

Idan Raichel is an Israeli keyboardist and composer whose love of Gypsy music and tango was profoundly impacted by his exposure to Israel ’s Ethiopian population. With The Idan Raichel Project, he not only merges the Ethiopian and European music traditions, he brings in influences from all over the Mediterranean and North Africa . Featuring Ethiopian, Yemenite Jew and Arab musicians, the group is an established success in Israel . The Idan Raichel Project’s albums only started seeing American release last year, but have already made a big impression on the world music circuit.

African-born, New York City-based DJ Kadafi spins the most engaging and challenging sounds from West Africa . The house DJ at the Bronx ’s Zoodoo Nightclub, he was named the best Africa DJ in NYC by Delaroca productions. His first album is scheduled for release this summer.

Friday, June 22 7:30 PM

WORD

Comedy Central Park

Courtesy of presenting partner Comedy Central

Comedian Dave Attell (Comedy Central’s Insomniac) hosts a free night of comedy featuring the best young talent from the city and beyond, including John Mulaney, Joe DeRosa, Amy Shumer and Kurt Metzger.

Sunday, June 24 3:00 PM

CANADA DAY!

Sloan

Apostle of Hustle

Duhks

Supported by the Canadian Consulate General

Headlining our annual celebration of Canadian music is Halifax , Nova Scotia ’s own Sloan. Four guys obsessed with the Beatles and ‘70s glam rock, Sloan hit big in their native Canada during the early ‘90s with concise and melodic power pop. But it wasn’t until 1996’s One Chord To Another that they “broke” in America . Last year’s critically-acclaimed Never Hear The End Of It plays like the second side of The Beatles’ Abbey Road : 30 songs—some less than a minute long—that blend into each other to form a kind of epic rock ‘n roll suite.

Canada Day wouldn’t be Canada Day without at least one connection to Broken Social Scene, the Toronto-based indie-rock collective. This year, the connection comes from Apostle Of Hustle. Inspired by a two-month-long trip to Cuba, BSS lead guitarist Andrew Whiteman founded Apostle as a means of exploring his new found love for Spanish music, particularly the Cuban guitar, or tres. The band’s sophomore album, National Anthem Of Nowhere, marries electric guitar experimentation to flamenco strumming and Afro-Cuban beats. In March of this year, Spin magazine said that “Whiteman recombines mambo, Americana , and mesmerizing BSS-style rock with infectiously rambling results.”

Though they ended up losing to The Dixie Chicks, The Duhks’ recent Grammy® nomination for “Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal” was a sweet victory for the five-piece from Winnipeg. Neo-folkies with a decidedly contemporary bent, the young members of The Duhks combine gospel, folk, samba, Celtic, zydeco and country string band sounds into a kind of joyful Western hemispheric bop.

Saturday, June 30 3:00 PM

Ozomatli

Babylon Circus

DJ Joro Boro

Hailing from the City of Angels, Ozomatli have spent the last 12 years developing a unique rock/salsa/hip-hop/ska/dancehall/jazz fusion style—a sound which achieves near perfection on the group’s latest, Don’t Mess With The Devil. Mixing political messages with rhythmic adventures, the band have added a radio-friendly sheen to the mix. Reviewing the album, the Village Voice noted that “You could always dance to Ozo's beats, but this time they supply more hip-churning swing than alt-rock stomp. How many contemporary combos could shift so effortlessly from the laconic ‘Stoned Soul Picnic’ tempo of ‘After Party’ to the mariachi- and cumbia-inflected rhythms of ‘La Gallina’?” Ozomatli concerts are legendary for their energy and showmanship, especially the show closing breakdown where the band members venture into the crowd while playing an irresistible samba beat on hand drums and percussion.

Both a rollicking, chaotic clown troupe and whip-smart, musically-explosive big band, Babylon Circus combine the absurd and the compelling in a show that has to be seen to be believed. Formed in France in the mid-‘90s, the 10-piece group mixes Gallic chanson narratives, Jamaican reggae/ski/dub grooves and English punk rawness with political satire and classic big top stunts.

When Communism collapsed in the early ‘90s, Eastern Europe plunged into a crisis of identity, as a bright tidal wave of Western pop culture overwhelmed the grey, Soviet-sanctioned status quo. One happy product of this creative chaos is the work of DJ Joro Boro. The Bulgarian native moved to America in the late ‘90s and eventually wound up at the Bulgarian Bar in New York . There, he added Arabic, Gypsy and Indian tunes into the usual Balkan and Russian mix, and oversaw the birth of a scene that, on any given night, might see young European jet-setters dancing next to hip-hoppers dancing next to drag queens and people in traditional Bulgarian dress.

Sunday, July 1 3:00 PM

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Vietnam

JDH and Dave P

Not since the White Stripes has a two member band created as much rock and roll noise as Rodrigo y Gabriela. What’s more, this Mexican-born, Dublin-based duo doesn’t even need electricity: they create an enormous amount of energy with just two acoustic guitars. Virtuosos Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero have created a sound that’s almost impossible to describe. While they use the super fast strumming, finger picking and rapid rhythmic tapping of flamenco, their biggest influence is the classic thrash metal of bands like Metallica--on their second album they not only reinterpret that band’s “Oracle,” they completely reinvent the king of all hard rock songs, Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven.” The Boston Globe praised the duos "idiosyncratic dueling-guitar style that brims with rock 'n' roll energy," while Billboard called Rodrigo y Gabriela “one of the best guitar albums in ages; one of the best discs this year."

Don’t expect anything remotely Vietnamese from Brooklyn band VietNam. The quartet—whose long hair, beards and ‘70s sunglasses evoke Duane Allman sooner than Ho Chi Mihn—play a hazy, yet tough guitar rock equally influenced by Bob Dylan and Sonic Youth. Their eponymous debut is regarded by many as a shaggy masterpiece.

DJs JDH and Dave P are famed on the New York dance scene for their regular “FIXED” party, at which they somehow fuse everyone from AC/DC to Technotronic into a seamless club mix. FIXED has also featured a who’s-who of underground bands before they got famous, including Soulwax, Peaches, LCD Soundsytem, Hot Chip, Art Brut, The Rapture, Simian Mobile Disco, Scratch Massive and others.

Friday, July 6 8:00 PM

DANCE

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence

Full Circle Soul Productions

Dancer Ronald K. Brown founded Evidence in 1985 to explore the intersection of ballet, modern and African dance. Considered one of the most important choreographers of his generation, his work incorporates the full spectrum of the African-American experience, from the brutal history of slavery to the creative brilliance of jazz and hip-hop. The Washington Post has noted “Brown's choreography has zoomed to the forefront of modern dance by virtue of its exquisitely sculpted movement, and a compelling sense that the dancing springs from a deep well of spiritual urgency.” Brown and dancers will be presenting several works from the Evidence repertoire, including High Life, an evocation of the journey from slavery to freedom.

Reflecting the extensive reach of hip-hop culture, Full Circle Soul Productions has been spreading the art of break-dancing, rap and street-culture since 1996. Founded by artistic directors Gabriel "Kwikstep" Dionisio and Anita " Rokafella" Garcia, FCP hosts workshops for young dancers, singers and artists, and brings their work to such unexpected environments as the Library of Congress. In a review of one Full Circle Performance last year, the New York Times said: “There were hints of the basketball courts and the African dance that influenced hip-hop dance, but the spectacular concluding spins on all parts of the body recalled nothing so much as fast, ornamented ballet fouettés.”

Saturday, July 7 3:00 PM

Cinematic Orchestra

RAMP

El Michels Affair

Kevin Michael

Presented in collaboration with Giantstep

Jason Swinscoe is a British DJ and instrumentalist with an extreme fondness for jazz, movie music and the sample aesthetic of electronica. Cinema Orchestra is his attempt to blend these obsessions together. The group’s new album, Ma Fleur, is described by its creators as “the soundtrack to a specially commissioned screenplay for an imagined film (which may or may not yet be made).” Britain ’s Mojo magazine called it “a raw and overwhelming surge of soul," while Q magazine praised the group for achieving “a rare kind of poise, hovering between jazz, soul and orchestral soundtrack.” In concert, Cinematic Orchestra creates a beat-driven yet subtle sound as the musicians improvise to samples of bass lines, percussion and airy strings.

Cincinnati band RAMP is one of the great lost stories of the ‘70s. The band released one Roy Ayers-produced album, Come Into Knowledge, in 1977, then disappeared. That would have been the end of the story, but RAMP’s music started to circulate among the rare groove and hip-hop undergrounds, its appeal enhanced by the mystery that surrounded the band. In 1989, hip-hoppers A Tribe Called Quest sampled the song “Daylight” for their breakthrough single “Bonita Applebaum” and RAMP’s sound was introduced to a whole new generation. Newly reformed with its original line-up intact, RAMP is back to preach the true gospel of groove.

Brooklyn drummer and organist Leon Michels is in love with the “rare groove” albums of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. But rather than just sample those irresistible beats, Michaels put together the El Michels Affair to create them the old fashioned way, live on stage. The group’s debut Sounding Out The City doesn’t feel “retro:” it feels “vintage,” like it was actually recorded back when John Lindsay was Mayor. Not that Michels and co. are stuck in the past – they’ve covered songs by hip-hop’s Wu Tang Clan, and worked with Clan rapper Raekwon.

Soul prodigy Kevin Michael is a confident young man, but he has the talent to back it up. The 22-year-old Philadelphia-based singer has already worked with folks like The Roots and Wyclef Jean, and his Sly Stone / Michael Jackson-influenced single “We All Want The Same Thing” features hip-hop star Lupe Fiasco. Michael is known for his live shows: stripped-down sets in which he is accompanied only by rapper Akil Dasan on acoustic guitar and beat-box.

Sunday, July 8 3:00 PM

Junior Reid

Djakout Mizik

Diams

Black Alex & Mecca (a.k.a. Grimmo)

Curated and hosted by Wyclef Jean & Papa Jube

A celebration of music & culture to support Yele Haiti ; presented in collaboration with Museum for African Art

At the tender age of 14, Junior Reid emerged from the tough environs of 1970s Kingston to record his first single, the wise-beyond-his-years “Know Thyself.” Thus began a singing career which made him a champion of Jamaica ’s ghetto youth, a vital member of reggae giants Black Uhuru and an international roots music superstar. Reid’s passionate singing style has been emulated and sampled, but never topped. Earlier this year, Reid was featured on a smash hit remix of “That’s Why I’m Hot” by rapper MIMS.

The “compas” style originated in Haiti in the ‘50s, and has grown to be one of the most popular and imitated Latin music sounds. Currently, one of the best practitioners of the style is the band Djakout Mizik, led by Haitian music star Tony Baptiste. Playing a rhythm similar to meringue in a pared-down ensemble of organ, electric guitars and saxophone, Djakout Mizik regularly brings the house down in crowded clubs from Port-au-Prince to New York City .

Born Mélanie Georgiades in 1980, Diams is one of the few women to find success in France ’s hip-hop scene. Her 2003 album Brut De Femme was a huge hit in France and won the Best Rap/Hip Hop Album award at that country’s annual Victoires de la Musique. More recently, MTV Europe voted her Best French Act of 2006, and her latest album, Dans Ma Bulle, debut at #1 on the French charts.

Two of the most respected names in Haitian hip-hop, Black Alex and Mecca (a.k.a Grimmo) each blend a love of American hip-hop with a pride in their home culture. Black Alex first rose to fame with Haitian hip-hop group King Posse. He sings and raps, bringing a fierce melodic energy to both. Mecca helped spearhead the development of “Creole hip-hop” through a series of original hits and Creole language remixes of hip-hop classics.

Tuesday, July 10 7:00 PM

MUSIC & FILM

Nortec Collective

Federico Aubele

Film Screening: So What’s Your Price? A Film by Olallo Rubio

Presented in collaboration with LAMC

Working separately and together, the Tijuana-based DJ/musicians of Nortec Collective have created an irreverent and irresistible new hybrid genre. Combining the distinctly Mexican styles of norteño and tambora with the international language of techno, they’ve come up with a music that is old and new at the same time, the sound of state-of-the-art computers sampling the lo-tech wheeze of accordions and the slap of a double bass. The Collective’s 2005 album The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 3 perfectly captures the ambience of the group’s hometown, a place overflowing with music and clashing cultures, where nothing is as it first seems.

Argentinean guitarist Federico Aubele blurs the lines between acoustic South American balladry and beat-obsessed electronica. His 2004 album Gran Hotel Buenos Aires evokes the sun-kissed sophistication of the Argentinean capitol, tying samples and Latin folk song styles together with hypnotic guitar figures. All-Music Guide says that “Aubele may be to Argentina what Sigur Rós is to Iceland : the most forward-thinking and experimental artist to capture the sound of his homeland's cultural, symbolic, and physical geography.”

The performances will be followed by a screening of So What’s Your Price?, a documentary from director Olallo Rubio. The film is a fascinating examination of how Mexican society has been changed by its proximity to and involvement in the consumer culture and ultra-capitalist system of its neighbor, the United States .

Wednesday, July 11 7:00 PM

MUSIC & FILM

Femi Kuti & The Positive Force

DJ Rich Medina

Since the 1997 death of his father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, Femi Kuti has become the undisputed king of Afrobeat, having taken the style worldwide over the last ten years with his band Positive Force. Collaborating with hip-hoppers like Mos Def and Common and touring with alt-rock icons Jane's Addiction, Femi has expanded the music’s scope without sacrificing its relentless, hypnotic beat or its urgent political concerns. Femi’s performance will be followed by a screening of Music As A Weapon, the 1982 film by Stephane Tchal-Gadjieff & Jean Jacques Flori that remains the definitive documentary on Fela Kuti and his times. Fela Kuti’s influence on black contemporary music cannot be overestimated; virtually all modern forms of black music (from funk to electronic) owe something to his irresistible Afrobeat groove.

A respected DJ and spoken word artist, Rich Medina has worked with Jill Scott, King Britt, Bobbito, DJ Spinna and many others. With residencies at New York ’s S.O.B.’s, APT and Table 50, and Philadelphia ’s Tragos and Fluid, Medina is familiar to club goers up and down the East Coast. Marked by a strong message of self-empowerment and hope, his sets are equal parts call-to-party and call-to-action.

Saturday, July 14 3:00 PM

Café Tacuba

Pacha Massive

La Sista

Presented in collaboration with LAMC

Arguably the most successful groups to emerge from the “rock en español” movement, Café Tacuba formed in the late ‘80s in Mexico City . The band’s core has always been the guitars, bass and drums set-up of your typical rock ‘n roll outfit: it’s what Café Tabuca does with this set up that matters. Heavily influenced by the punk and alternative rock of The Clash, The Cure and The Smiths, the group also incorporates Mexican styles like norteño and ranchero, as well as hip-hop, electronica and even musique concret. Two Thousand and Three’s Cuatro Caminos won the Grammy ® for Best Latin/ Rock Alternative Album and made the year-end lists of Rolling Stone, The New York Times and Blender, among others.

Bronx-based Pacha Massive is composed of Dominican multi-instrumentalist DJ Nova and Columbian-born chanteuse and bassist Maya. The duo specialize in the kind of bi-lingual, multi-genre mash-up that is equal parts downtown dance club, music nerd’s bedroom and barrio street party. All Good Things, Pacha Massive’s 2007 debut, has received across the board praise for its mix wildly promiscuous grooves--everything from Afro-Beat and dub to cumbia and Cuban son. NY Newsday praised the way All Good Things “mixes everything up in typical Downtown fashion, creating an ambience that can turn an iPod fueled walk around town into an all-night DJ party.”

Straight outta Puerto Rico , La Sista is one of the few women to really dominate the reggaetón scene. Growing up in a defiantly Afrocentric area of the island, La Sista is known for her pride in her African heritage and her refusal to conform to industry expectations. Her debut Majestad Negroide came out last year, and scored La Sista a big hit with the single "Anacoana."

Sunday, July 15 3:00 PM

GLOBAL FAMILY DAY

Hip-Hop Harry

The Sippy Cups

BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular

Get ready to rock it pre-schoolers at SummerStage’s Global Family Day 2007, with the wild beats and kid-friendly flow of Hip-Hop Harry. A six-foot tall yellow bear in a Kangol cap, Harry is kind of a funkier version of Barney—if Barney had lived in the South Bronx in the ‘80s. Nominated for Outstanding Pre-School Children’s Series by the Daytime Emmys, the show is a staple of Discovery Kids and TLC networks. A typical live Hip-Hop Harry show is a joyous mix of break-dancing, educational lyrics and musical adventure.

Described by the LA Times as “the Flaming Lips of the toddler set,” The Sippy Cups bring to kids’ music such hipster-certified influences as the Velvet Underground, T. Rex, The Beatles and Syd Barrett. Most of the six members of group played in indie rock bands before having kids, so they understand the importance of getting the grown-ups involved. The Cups make the kind of glorious din that will induce parents to stomp and bomp along with their children.

BREAK! The Urban Funk Spectacular is a mind-blowing trip through the history of break dancing, with the most amazing poppin’, lockin’, head-spinning and power-tumbling you’re ever likely to see. The dancers are some of the finest New York has to offer, veterans of old-school “battles” who use their skills and athleticism to bring break dancing to stages across the world.

At 2:00 PM, master puppeteers from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park present Cinderella Samba. Set in the lush landscape of Brazil , this timeless fairy tale finds Cinderella and her Prince in a Samba contest at the Carnival Ball.

Thursday, July 19 7:30 PM

WORD

UCB Theatre’s Comedy Cabaret

NYC’s renowned comedy venue presents a special evening of music & comedy featuring scheduled performers Human Giant (Aziz Ansari, Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer), Rebecca Drysdale, The Defibrillators and many surprise guests.

Friday, July 20 7:00 PM

Neko Case

Eric Bachmann

In the words of Rolling Stone: “Neko Case turned up forty years or so too late to be one of the great country voices of the Fifties -- hearts break whenever she hits one of those seraphic high notes.” The Eisenhower era’s loss is our gain: this Chicago-based singer has created some of the most beautiful alt-country music of the last ten years. Her 2006 album Fox Confessor Brings The Flood is considered by many to be a masterpiece. With the help of musicians like Giant Sand’s Howe Gelb and The Band’s Garth Hudson, Case created a powerful set of songs that reflected her love of classic country while remaining perfectly attuned to the moods of a new century.

Eric Bachmann spent most of the ‘90s making raucous indie rock with his band Archers Of Loaf. Then he recorded a series of more ornate, orchestral folk rock albums under the moniker Crooked Fingers. With his new album, To The Races, he’s decided to use his own name—which is appropriate as it’s his most personal record to date. Bachmann wrote the songs while living in a van for two months, and then recorded them over six days in a hotel room on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. As you might expect, the result—stark songs performed solo on nylon-stringed acoustic guitar—is some of the most intimate and spare music the singer has ever created.

Saturday, July 21 3:00 PM

Sharhabeel Ahmed

Abu Araki al-Bakheit

Yousif El Mosili

Hadia "Al Balabil" (Humming Bird)

Ali Al Segid

Rasha Sheikh Aldein

Al Wareef Sheikh Aldein

Brides of the Nile Dance Group

Emmanuel (South of Sudan )

Omer Ehsas ( Darfur )

The Nile Music Orchestra

Presented with the support of the Sudanese Information Center

To most of us in the West, the Sudan has become synonymous with refugees, war and genocide. But the country had a rich and thriving culture before the imposition of fundamentalist rule in 1989—a fact that makes the current situation there all the more tragic. SummerStage is proud to host a showcase of Sudanese culture, featuring legendary Sudanese artists who are reuniting for the first time in 20 years to celebrate the past and hope for a peaceful future.

Sunday, July 22 3:00 PM

Brazilian Girls

Cat Empire

HIMALAYAS, conducted by Kenny Wollesen & Jonathon Haffner

SummerStage is delighted to welcome back Brazilian Girls, the ultra-hip and wonderfully breezy groove band that first appeared at SummerStage two summers ago. For those who don’t know, only one of the Brazilian Girls is a girl (front-woman Sabina Sciubba) and none of them are actually from Brazil . But the name perfectly fits the globe-trotting vibe of their music, a playful mix of electronica, bossa nova, vintage French pop and rock. Their sophomore set Talk To La Bomb was released last year, and Spin magazine called it “multicultural, cosmopolitan, intellectual dance music: Ibiza meets punk, dub goes tango, trance gets smart.”

Originally formed as a keyboards, double-bass and percussion trio in the late ‘90s, Melbourne , Australia ’s Cat Empire quickly expanded to include a trumpet player, a drummer and a full-time DJ. Such unusual instrumentation is only one indicator of Cat Empire’s unique style. The band has filled three albums and over 500 live performances with an (iconoclastic) mix of hip-hop, reggae, alt-rock, Afro-Cuban jazz and pure experimentation. The latest album, Cities, was praised by Australia ’s The Age: “the Empire's humorous capacity to make light of genre borders is a great deal of their charm, and the jam-based construction of Cities ensures an even more lunatic eclecticism.”

HIMALAYAS doesn’t seem like a project for the age of downloads and digital music. A marching band that prefers to play on the street and have its audience participate in the show, it’s almost the antithesis of today’s music: it’s spontaneous, organic and ephemeral. This is exactly why drummer Kenny Willeson and saxophonist Jonathon Haffner started the band in 2000. With an ever-changing cast of characters and a penchant for mixing genres--Cajun tunes with Downtown atonality; fusion jazz and disco jams— HIMALAYAS is a marching band experience like no other.

Thursday, July 26 7:30 PM

WORD

Marisha Pessl

Jennifer Egan

In her third novel The Keep (Anchor), Jennifer Egan wraps a fantastical gothic tale in a family drama, then incorporates both into a prison story and finally back into a (different) family drama. If that sounds a little too meta-fictional for your taste, rest assured that Egan keeps the dramatic narrative firmly grounded in reality. As The New York Times put it: “Egan sustains an awareness that the text is being manipulated by its author, while at the same time delivering character and story with perfect and passionate conviction. Very few writers, of our time or any other, have been able to bring that combination off.”

Hailed as one of the best literary debuts in years, Marisha Pessl’s Special Topics In Calamity Physics (Penguin Group) landed on numerous bestseller lists last summer and earned its young author comparisons to Jonathan Safran Foer and Zadie Smith. Entertainment Weekly described the book as a “frisky, smarty-pants debut … [an] escapist extravaganza packed with literary and pop culture allusions, mischievous characterizations, erotic intrigue, murders, and unstoppable narrative energy.”

A discussion with both authors moderated by Laura Miller, critic for Salon & The New York Times, follows the readings.

Friday, July 27 8:00 PM

DANCE

Parsons Dance

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet

Founded in 1987 by its artistic director David Parsons, The Parsons Dance is one of New York ’s most vibrant dance institutions. The company has a repertoire of over 70 works and has toured all over the world, in addition to annual seasons in New York , Brazil and Italy . Parsons and his company were an integral part of “Times Square 2000,” the 24-hour event which celebrated the beginning of the new millennium, and they have collaborated with pop star Dave Matthews, photographer Annie Liebowitz and Brazilian music legend Milton Nasciemento, to name a few.

The Cedar Lake Dance Ensemble has dedicated its five-year existence to highlighting the work of new talents in contemporary ballet. Based in its own theater in New York ’s Chelsea district, Cedar Lake is helmed by artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer, formerly of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The Ensemble will present Ohad Naharin's clever and humorous full-company piece "Decadence," which distorts the reality between audience & performer.

Saturday, July 28 7:00 PM

MULTIMEDIA

Liz McComb

King Britt presents Sister Gertrude Morgan, with Ben Jaffe of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band

The daughter of a Pentecostal preacher, Liz McComb has been singing gospel music her whole life. Her classically-trained, blues-soaked alto has made her a star in France and the rest of Europe, and her skillful mix of traditional and contemporary gospel styles is winning her more and more converts in the U.S. every day. Her latest album, Soul, Peace & Love, is earning praise from secular and gospel critics alike. Back in 2001, Billboard said “McComb’s masterful mix of R&B, jazz, and fervent gospel is stirring and surefooted enough to stand in the company of Aretha Franklin's 1972 classic, Amazing Grace, yet unique and singularly inspired.”

Sister Gertrude Morgan was one of the most extraordinary figures to come out of the extraordinary city of New Orleans . A self-taught artist, street preacher and gospel singer, she roamed the streets of the Crescent City with a bullhorn, exhorting sinners to come to God and extemporizing wildly original sermons and songs. Her striking, totemic paintings are now hailed as outstanding examples of outsider art, and the one set of recordings she left behind is a stark sonic document of raw, religiously-inspired creativity. Both paintings and recordings will be featured in a multimedia event conceived by acclaimed DJ & producer King Britt, who has put music and beats to Sister Gertrude’s songs.

Thirty-six year old bassist Ben Jaffe is a musician of many interests, but his first love is the old time jazz of New Orleans . That makes sense, as he is the son of the co-founders of Preservation Hall and was raised in the music filled environment of New Orleans ’ French Quarter. As both bassist for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and now Preservation Hall’s Director, Jaffe brings an understanding of the full breadth of old and new jazz to his playing.

Sunday, July 29 7:00 PM

MUSIC & FILM

Wild Style 25th Anniversary Reunion featuring Fab 5 Freddy, The Chief Rocker Busy Bee, The Cold Crush Brothers, Grand Master Caz, DJ GrandWizzard Theodore

Before all the hits and headlines, before the bling and bullets, hip-hop was a comparatively naïve scene centered in New York ’s South Bronx . Aside from the records themselves, nothing evokes these fantastically vital early years as well as Wild Style. The 1982 film by Charles Ahearn tracks the fortunes of a young graffiti writer as he makes his way from street artist to gallery attraction. This 25th reunion event will include a screening of Wild Style, plus live performances from legendary figures that appeared in the film, such as The Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Caz, Theodore and Busy Bee. There will also be new works of graffiti art created live onstage and special surprise guests.

Thursday, August 2 7:30 PM

WORD

Amiri Baraka

Sonia Sanchez

One of the founders of the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s, iconoclastic poet, author, critic and revolutionary theorist Amiri Baraka will read from his recently published collection of short fiction Tales of the Out & the Gone (Akashic Books), which spans the early 1970s to the twenty-first century. Baraka’s fellow Black Arts Movement pioneer, the poet Sonia Sanchez, joins him on the program, reading from her vast body of work, which includes Homegirls And Handgrenades, Shake Loose My Skin and Like The Singing Coming Off The Drums: Love Poems.

Friday, August 3 8:00 PM

DANCE

Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco)

Camille A. Brown & Dancers

An alumna of the Alvin Ailey School and a distinguished member of Ronald K. Brown’s Evidence, Camille A. Brown is one of New York ’s most exciting young choreographers. The company that bares her name is only a year old, but already has distinguished itself. Reviewing the company’s debut, The New York Times observed: “Ms. Brown presents the dancing body as a vehicle for overt religious celebration…[mixing] modern dance techniques with West African dance elements.”

Founded in 1970 by choreographer Joan Myers Brown, Philadanco is Philadelphia ’s preeminent dance company and one of the most respected in the nation. Known for its athletic and innovative works, Philadanco maintains a prodigiously active touring and teaching schedule while still breaking new ground. Writing in The New York Times, critic Jennifer Dunning called Philadanco "a company of happy, invigorating contrast...a venerable institution...but [one that has] has not lost its youthful verve or the freshness of its strong technical grounding."

Saturday, August 4 3:00 PM

Spanish Harlem Orchestra

Spam Allstars

Tato Torres Y Yerbabuena

Bobbito Garcia a.k.a. Kool Bob Love

SummerStage celebrates the rich diversity of Latin music with this rhythm packed event. Formed in 2000 by Rubén Blades’ piano player and musical director Oscar Hernandez, and comprised of some of the greatest Latin musicians in
New York , The Spanish Harlem Orchestra seeks to recreate and expand on the sound of salsa’s golden age, particularly as it was epitomized by greats like Tito Puente and Machito. SHO’s 2004 set Across 110th Street won the 2004 Grammy ® Award for Best Salsa / Merengue Album, and their latest offering, United We Swing is of the same caliber. All Music said “The 13-piece collective delivers a non-stop volley of pure neo-retro salsa dura that couldn't possibly be improved upon.”

Spam Allstars include every type of instrument in their music, from timbales to turntables, creating an exhilarating mix of Latin music, R&B, funk, hip-hop, deep-down dub and spaced-out soul. The instigator of this acousti-electronic jam style is DJ Le Spam, a Miami-based turntablist of English-Venezuelan extraction. The group’s latest album, electrodomésticos, includes contributions from soul-funk legend Pee Wee Ellis.

Traditional Boricuan music is the lifeblood of Tato Torres Y Yerbabuena. Torres grew up in Puerto Rico, and ever since his family moved to New York over 20 years ago, he has played in groups such as Los Amigos de La Plena and Los Bomberos de Brooklyn. Torres gathered together many of New York ’s best Boricuan musicians, vocalists and dancers to form Yerbabuena--a group whose express purpose was to rescue such styles as bomba, plena and música jibara from the kiss-of-death “folklore” label and restore them as living, breathing expressions of Boricuan culture. Yerbabuena shows are renowned for their hypnotic rhythms and enchanting vocal harmonies.

Bobbito Garcia wears a lot of hats. He’s a basketball player, published music critic, film actor, sneaker designer and sneaker culture historian. All you really have to remember, though, is that he’s an internationally famous DJ who’s had his finger on the pulse of hip music for the past 20 years. Throughout the ‘90s, his regular radio show with DJ Stretch Armstrong on WKCR introduced such future giants as Nas, Jay-Z, Big Pun and Wu-Tang Clan. His live sets incorporate Latin, hip-hop, funk, house, classic rock and afro-beat and have kept dance clubs hopping from New York to Beijing .

Sunday, August 5 7:00 PM

MUSIC & FILM

Cine Fest Brasil

AfroReggae

Film screening of Zuzu Angel, directed by Sergio Resende

AfroReggae was formed in 1995 in the favela shanty-towns of Rio de Janeiro . Fusing many elements of Brazilian and international music past and present—including mangue beat, rap, samba-reggae, funk, raga, xaxado beats, drum ‘n’ bass, capoeira and candomblé—the 13 member group has established itself as one of Brazil’s most passionate and creative bands. AfroReggae has collaborated with artists like Arnaldo Antunes, Nando Reis and Caetano Veloso, and opened for the Rolling Stones at a 2006 Copacabana Beach concert for a crowd of over 2 million people.

AfroReggae’s performance will precede a screening of director Sergio Resende’s 2006 film Zuzu Angel, which tells the true story of a famous Brazilian fashion designer of the ‘70s, and her political awakening after the military regime kills her son.

Friday, August 10 8:00 PM

DANCE

Complexions Contemporary Ballet

Takē Dance Company

With a young, multi-ethnic company and an adventurous mix of experimental dance and pop culture, Complexions Contemporary Ballet has built a reputation as one of the city’s most diverse ensembles. Founded in 1994 by Alvin Ailey alumni Dwight Rhoden and Desmond Richardson, Complexions is known for the densely-packed rhythms and explosive energy of Rhoden’s choreography, as well as the superb nimbleness of the dancers, led by the brilliant Richardson . The group’s sold-out January run at the Joyce Theater featured works inspired by both Bach and Marvin Gaye, and caused Clive Barnes to gush in The New York Post over the “targeted fierceness of [the dances’] rhythmic impulse.”

Tranquility and a wry humor mark the choreography of Takehiro Ueyama, a veteran of the Paul Taylor Company and founder, in 2003, of the Takē Dance Company. Even at its most robust, his work has a winning composure: the New York Times once said: “Mr. Ueyama brings a soft and silky calm and sunny sweetness to everything he does. Even his villains are reassuringly serene.” The pieces he has created blend many influences, including the spare aesthetic of classical Japan (“Sakura Sakura”) and the sassy strut of modern New York (“Are You Going With Me?”).

Saturday, August 11 3:00 PM

Celebrate New Orleans : Soul to Soul III

Galactic & special guests Monk Boudreaux & The Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians, Soul Rebel Brass Band

A celebration of music & culture to support the New Orleans ’s Musicians Clinic

Hardcore punk veterans who fell in love with the music of New Orleans , guitarist Jeff Raines and bassist Robert Mercurio formed Galactic to express their newfound appreciation of Professor Longhair, The Meters, the Neville Brothers and Dr. John. The instrumentalists of Galactic have developed a meaty, bass-heavy mix of swamp funk, bluesy hard rock, electronics and improvisation which New York Times critic Jon Pareles praised as “some of the most danceable music on earth.” Galactic is currently finishing its next album, which includes a guest appearance by New Orleans legend Monk Boudreaux.

After 30 years singing with Bo Dollis and the Wild Magnolias, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux struck out on his own and formed a new “tribe,” the Golden Eagles Mardi Gras Indians. Bourdreaux’s half moaning, half spoken singing style perfectly fits the hypnotic, reggae influenced sound of the Golden Eagles, and creates a sound that is New Orleans at its rawest and most funky.

For the members of the Soul Rebel Brass Band, “second line” jazz music is part of their make-up, almost as important as blood. But the band also likes modern hip-hop, and has managed to combine the two styles into an original sound that is contemporary while true to New Orleans traditions. Soul Rebel has worked with everyone from Crescent City favorites the Neville Brothers to progressive hip-hoppers A Tribe Called Quest and The Roots and rock icons Jimmy Page and Robert Plant.

Sunday, August 12 3:00 PM

Zap Mama

Angelique Kidjo

K’Naan

Since the early 1990’s, Zap Mama has reigned supreme as one of the premier groups in world music. And they’ve done this by largely ignoring the label of “world music.” Founded by Zaire native Marie Daulne, Zap Mama specializes in a form of evocative vocal technique that Daulne learned from the pygmy tribes of her homeland. At heart, the Zap Mama sound is based on the harmonic and percussive sounds that the five members make using nothing but their voices. Over the years, Daulne has added instrumentation and contemporary touches to the group’s style, and worked with people like Common, King Britt, Erykah Badu, Nelly Furtado and The Roots. Time magazine has noted "Marie Daulne and Zap Mama make music that sounds like a one woman multicultural movement, melding African percussion, American soul and European urbanity."

Angelique Kidjo also knows a thing or two about cultural fusion. The West African singer has been exploring the common ground between the Beninese music she grew up with, and the classic soul and rock she came to love. Her latest album, Djin Djin (“seize the day”) is a masterful blend of world music styles--Afro-funk, reggae, salsa, gospel, zouk and makossa—with contemporary sounds, and features guest appearances from Amadou & Miriam, Peter Gabriel, Ziggy Marley, Alicia Keys and Carlos Santana (this last on a mesmerizing cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter.”)

Rap stars like to brag about the rough neighborhoods they grew up in, but not many can truthfully claim to live in a war zone. In that respect, K’Naan has the advantage over his peers: he spent the first 13 years of his life in Mogadishu , Somalia , trying to stay alive amidst that country’s civil strife. The unquestionable street cred that experience bestows on the young rapper is not wasted—his 2005 debut The Dusty Foot Philosopher is a truly great album, a canny mix of slick African pop, radio friendly hip-hop and urgent, politically intoned lyrics.

Sunday, September 16 TBD

New York World Festival - Sounds of the Mediterranean

Hassan Hakmoun

Orchestre de Tanger

Amalia Papastefano with clarinetist Lefteris Bournias

Chris Tiktapanides

Dimonis de Mallorca

Presented in collaboration with the Center for Traditional Music & Dance and World Music Institute with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Heritage and Preservation, and L'Institut d'Estudis Baleàrics

1:30 PM

Artist Encounter

Hassan Hokmoun leads a workshop on the style of Gnawan devotional music used in all-night trance ceremonies in Morocco .

2:15 PM

Artist Encounter

A workshop on Greek dance which will give participants the opportunity to practice popular forms from the Dodecanese Islands , such as syrto, ballos, issios and sousta.

3:00 PM

Performance

The Gnawa of Morocco claim descent from Bilal al-Hibashi, the first Muslim muezzin, so it stands to reason that their musical tradition is unusually strong. Master musician and dancer Hassan Hakmoun grew up seeped in that tradition, a mesmerizing sound that was used to drive worshipers to a place of spiritual ecstasy. A master of the gimbri, or three-string African bass, Hakmoun moved to New York from Morocco in 1987. He’s spent the two decades since that move exploring the rich interaction of African, Islamic and modern Western music, appearing at numerous WOMAD festivals and other world music showcases.

Also appearing at this event to help celebrate the music of the Meditarrean will be: Orchestre de Tanger, a leading Moroccan ensemble specializing in Andalusian music; legendary Greek island singer Amalia Papastefano, accompanied by master clarinetist Lefteris Bournias; Pontic Greek lyra player Chris Tiktapanides; and Dimonis de Mallorca, musicians from the Balearic islands of Spain.

SUMMERSTAGE BENEFIT CONCERTS

The following 2007 benefit concerts support the free programs of Central Park SummerStage.

Friday, June 8th 6:30 PM

The Bowery presents:

Joss Stone / Common with special guest Ryan Shaw

$37.50 advance/ $40 day of show

Purchase via Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

OR at the Mercury Lounge Box Office with no service charge

217 E. Houston Street (between Ludlow & Essex), Phone: 212-260-4700.

When Joss Stone first emerged in 2003, her story had an irresistible hook: this blues shouting singer who sounded like a soul veteran was, in fact, a young white British girl just 16 years old. Now that the novelty of her youth and skin-color has worn off, audiences can get to the truth of the matter, which is that Stone is an accomplished artist with an intuitive grasp of classic R&B. As she showed in a scorching performance of “Piece Of My Heart” with Melissa Etheridge at the 2005 Grammy Awards, Stone knows how to bring the house down. Her barefoot, hippy-chick aesthetic belies a voice as powerful as Tina Turner’s in her prime. Stone’s latest CD, Introducing Joss Stone, is actually her third album, and its mix of warm grooves and soulful harmonies most truly reflects what she’s about.

Appearing on Stone’s album—and sharing the show with her at SummerStage— is Brooklyn-based rapper Common. You may recognize him from those Gap ads a few months back, but the Chicago native has been at the center of the alternative urban music scene since the early ‘90s. His 2000 album Like Water For Chocolate was a breakthrough fusion of hip-hop and neo-soul, and his 2005 set Be (produced by superstar Kanye West) earned him four Grammy nominations. Common’s new album Finding Forever will be released this year.

Georgia native Ryan Shaw is determined to revive the song craft of the Golden Age of R&B. The 26-year-old vocalist grew up singing gospel music in the Pentecostal church, and didn’t really hear secular pop songs until his late teens. Struck by how little of this music used the sophisticated arrangements and intricate melodies he was used to, Shaw started to craft his own sound inspired by the pop music of the ‘50s and ‘60s. His debut, This Is Ryan Shaw, shows how well he succeeded: the album is all pared-down soul—warm, organic covers of artists like Jackie Wilson and Bobby Womack, as well as funky originals like “Nothing” and “We Got Love.”

Thursday, June 28 6:30 PM

The Bowery presents

The Levon Helm Band

$60

Purchase via Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

OR at the Mercury Lounge Box Office with no service charge

217 E. Houston Street (between Ludlow & Essex), Phone: 212-260-4700

Levon Helm brought a funky, down-home rhythmic sense and a beautifully textured singing voice to his work with The Band, imbuing the group’s sound with a true Southern sensibility. After the Band’s demise, Levon continued to make great music, emerging in recent years with his Midnight Jam series: small intimate hootenannies at his storied Woodstock home and studio. Though throat cancer silenced his voice for a while, he’s back to full strength again, singing and playing classic Americana with his all star band.

Monday, July 9 6:00 PM

Metropolitan Talent presents

Bob Weir & RatDog

Keller Williams

$45

Purchase via Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

Or on concerttonight.com

There aren’t many musicians who can strike gold twice. Bob Weir joined the Grateful Dead as a teenager and spent the next 30 years in one of rock’s most legendary groups. Kind of a hard act to follow, but Weir has managed it with RatDog, the band he founded in 1995. What started as a side project has grown into a full time affair, a jazzy rock and roll outfit that lives up to the Dead’s groundbreaking heritage. Improvising on classic Dead tunes, easy-going originals and well-picked covers, RatDog shows are a delight for any fan of the jam band scene.

Keller Williams has often been described as a one man jam band. With a percussive guitar style, and an amazing talent for looping live samples, Williams weaves elaborate rhythms and harmonies on stage, building up a full band sound all by himself. His warm singing voice and irreverent songs add to the charm, as does his prolific output: he’s recorded nearly an album a year since 1998. His latest, Dream, includes appearances from Bob Weir, Michael Franti, John Scofield and others.

Monday, July 16 6:30PM

The Bowery presents

The Decemberists

Grizzly Bear

Land of Talk

$30 advance / $35 at door

Purchase via Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

OR at the Mercury Lounge Box Office with no service charge

217 E. Houston Street (between Ludlow & Essex), Phone: 212-260-4700

SummerStage is delighted to welcome back The Decembrists. Two summers ago, this theatrical folk pop band played a great SummerStage show with fellow alt-rockers Death Cab For Cutie and Stars. These days, The Decembrists are a major label band, riding high on the success of their critically acclaimed 2006 album The Crane Wife. Front man Colin Meloy continues to put gothic elements into the songs—e.g. shipwrecks, ghosts and women who turn into birds—while his band mates weave a fantastical tapestry with accordions, fiddles, standup bass and acoustic guitars. The New York Times is certainly impressed: it called The Crane Wife “The band’s sharpest and most satisfying work, and one of the most accomplished albums of its kind this year.”

Grizzly Bear started life as a series of extremely lo-fi cassette tapes recorded by Brooklyn singer Edward Droste in the early ‘00s. Though never actually intended for release, these tapes started to circulate, and soon everyone in the rock underground was talking about Droste’s rustic folk-psychedelia. Skip ahead to 2006: the tapes have been released as a debut album, Horn Of Plenty; Droste has hooked up with three musically simpatico band mates and the quartet has just recorded its more professional sounding follow-up, Yellow House. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic go crazy – Pitchfork praises the songwriting, while England ’s Guardian newspaper says “The lo-fi has gone large-scale, each song slowly unfurling to reveal dense, dreamy rhythms, choirs of silky voices and opulent melodies rich in atmospherics.”

Formed two years ago in Ontario, Land Of Talk combines the jagged angularity of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and the Southern impressionism of early R.E.M.. Led by singer-guitarist Elizabeth Powell, this trio of young alt-rockers has already made quite an impression on the indie rock scene with their debut Applause Cheer Boo Hiss in 2006. All-Music noted “There's something of the dog days of summer in these tracks, especially in the plodding, reverb-slicked guitars of ‘Street Wheels’ and the mournful, drugged riffs of ‘Sea Foam.’”

Thursday, August 9 4:30 PM

Live Nation presents

Black Crowes

$45

Purchase via Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

OR at the Irving Plaza box office with no service charge

17 Irving Place between 15th & 16th Sts.

Carrying on the glorious blues and boogie-based tradition of the Rolling Stones and The Faces, Black Crowes have been making raunchy rock and roll for the last 17 years. Front man Chris Robinson soulful shout evokes Rod Stewart and Steve Marriot, while the musicians—led by Robinson’s guitarist brother Rich— tear it up like it’s 1969. In true rock fashion, the band has had its share of “musical differences,” solo career attempts and tabloid drama (such as Robinson’s recent divorce from actress Kate Hudson), but at the end of the day Black Crowes still create one of the most exciting live shows in all pop music. The band is currently working on their first set of new material in six years.

Sunday, August 19 6:30 PM

Live Nation presents

Rufus Wainwright

Tickets are $37.50 in advance and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com

OR Ticketmaster by phone: 212-307-7171

The son of singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, Rufus Wainwright long ago established himself as a unique singer/songwriter. Unlike most of his peers, he's classically trained, and in his songwriting he draws on a mix of opera and the Tin Pan Alley traditions. In performance he models himself on dramatic torch singers like Marlene Dietrich and Judy Garland. He also has big artistic ambitions, and is unafraid to indulge them: his last project was a two album-long song cycle called Want (One and Two) and his newest record, Release The Stars, features dramatic, baroque instrumentation, including strings, choirs and piccolo flute. Britain 's Guardian newspaper described Release The Stars as "a wonderful album, packed with stunning melodies and brilliant lyrics."

For more information on Central Park SummerStage, please visit www.summerstage.org.

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