Harlem Stage's Uptown Nights Celebrates Caribbean-American Heritage Month & Black Music Appreciation Month

Harlem Stage closes out its Spring 2023 season with a special installment of its signature series, Uptown Nights, on Thursday, June 8, featuring Afro-Dominican bandleader and guitarist Yasser Tejeda, plus opening and closing sets from DJ Sabine Blaizin (Oyasound). The event celebrates Caribbean-American Heritage Month and Black Music Appreciation Month, and is presented in collaboration with World Music Institute and the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute. The concert is standing room with limited seating. Doors open and first DJ set begins at 8pm, the performance begins at 9pm.

Yasser Tejeda is an award-winning composer, guitarist, vocalist, and producer who hopes his music inspires new generations to explore, promote, and uplift their roots. At Harlem Stage, he'll perform a combination of traditional folkloric music, jazz, and rock with Caribbean rhythms. Tejeda has released two commercial albums, Kijombo (2019) and Mezclansa (2009), with his group Palotré. Mezclansa was dubbed one of the "100 essential recordings of Dominican music" by the Dominican National Association of Art Writers (Acroarte), and Kijombo received six awards from Dominican Republic's Premios Indie, including Best Album. In 2021, he released his first solo EP called Interior, and his third studio album, La Madrugá, was released last month.

Keeping things moving before and after the performance, DJ Sabine Blaizin (Oyasound) will spin Global House and Soul, Afrotech, Afrobeat, and other diasporic Afro-Caribbean dance music with a nod to her Haitian roots. DJ Sabine Blaizin also serves as the Director of Programs at the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute. This collaboration is part of CCCADI's five-month celebration of Black music entitled Rhythm, Bass and Place: Connections and Reflections of Music of the African Diaspora.

Uptown Nights: Yasser Tejeda takes place Thursday, June 8, at the Harlem Stage Gatehouse (150 Convent Avenue, New York, NY, 10031). Tickets, $20 - $25 can be purchased at harlemstage.org.