Sons of Kemet, pictured here at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival, performs at Central Park SummerStage this weekend.
Sons of Kemet, pictured here at this year’s Bonnaroo Festival, performs at Central Park SummerStage this weekend.
We usually try to give you a lot of time to wait before sending you to see something. But today we’re going to talk about a show that will take place tomorrow night – Sunday, July 31st – at Central Park SummerStage. It’s a triple list of innovative black artists representing new strands of creative jazz and pop, and it’s a killer.
Headlining is Sons of Kemet, a British quartet led by Shabaka Hutchings, who play saxophone along with a tuba player and two drummers. It’s one of several bands that Hutchings leads, and on their latest album, “Black to the Future,” the group plays with a handful of prominent guest stars. The group mixes jazz improvisation with African and Caribbean beats, in addition to a decided political bias.
The press has stated that this is the last US tour for Sons of Kemet, at least in its current setup, so you won’t want to miss this opportunity. And the occasion is even bigger because it includes two more groundbreaking artists: Chicago drummer and songwriter Makaya McCraven and Brooklyn singer and instrumentalist L’Rain, two of the most talked about artists in contemporary creative music. July 31 at 6pm; cityparksfoundation.org
Kyle Abraham’s AIM will perform “Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth” at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in August.
Kyle Abraham’s AIM will perform “Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth” at Lincoln Center’s Rose Theater in August.
This coming weekend at Lincoln Center, MacArthur Award-winning choreographer Kyle Abraham opens a series of performances that should be extraordinary. Much of what Lincoln Center has done with its programming is dedicated to ideas on how to mark what we have lost and celebrate what we have as we begin to come together again after the pandemic lockdown, and these Abraham events fit that idea.
The first is a program literally called “Reunions,” in which seven-star alumni of their dance company, A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham, present new pieces of their own design. This is taking place in Lincoln Center’s Hearst Plaza, and it’s free. August 6th and 7th at 6pm; lincolncenter.org
This creates a second show called “Requiem: Fire in the Air of the Earth”, a big new night dance by Abraham at his New York debut. The song is based on Mozart’s well-known “Requiem”, a mass for the dead, but has been reworked by the amazing electronic musician Jlin. The link to the dark idea of a “Requiem” is there, but this particular dance is so much about the joy of coming together and being alive.
“Requiem” is running at the Rose Theater at the Jazz at Lincoln Center on August 11, 12, and 13, and tickets are available on a “pick-what-you-pay” basis. That means they probably won’t last, so you should plan ahead. August 11th to 13th at 8pm; lincolncenter.org
