Judy Collins & More Added to This Summer's Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival
By: Tyler Peterson Jun. 18, 2015
Lincoln Center Out of Doors one of the country's longest-running, free, summer outdoor festivals opens its 45th season on July 22, 2015. A range of concerts, dance performances, family events, related film screenings, talks, and an exhibition will be presented across three weeks, from July 22 - August 9.
Just-announced additions and changes to the schedule include legendary singer-songwriter Judy Collins who will perform at Damrosch Park on July 26. On opening night, July 22, Patterson Hood, Bettye Lavette, Sam Moore, and Dan Penn will be special guests with The Muscle Shoals All-Stars featuring David Hood and Jimmy Johnson of the Swampers, and a Muscle Shoals Panel Discussion preview event moderated by NPR Music critic and correspondent Ann Powers has been added onJuly 21 at 7 pm. Shawn Colvin, Rodney Crowell, Pokey LaFarge, and Aimee Mann and Ted Leo will join the Watkins Family Hour house band to play every track from Bob Dylan's groundbreaking album Highway 61 Revisited on August 8. Lincoln Center's "silent" screening (audience members will wear wireless headphones) of the cult movie classic, Rocky Horror Picture Show™, previously announced for July 31, will take place instead on Friday, August 7 at 10:45 pm at Damrosch Park. And the start time of the earlier concert set that evening, Rock My Soul, will move up to 7 pm from 7:30 pm. Iris DeMent (August 9) has been added to the Roots of American Music-Americanafest NYC closing weekend. These updates, are incorporated into the detailed press release and separate chronological schedule that follow.
All events are FREE; no tickets required. Visit: LCOutofDoors.org for more information.
Lincoln Center Out of Doors 2015 lead support is provided by Bank of America.
LINCOLN CENTER OUT OF DOORS SCHEDULE UPDATES
Week 1
TUESDAY, JULY 21 (PREVIEW EVENT)
7 PM - HEARST PLAZA
Muscle Shoals Panel Discussion featuring Donnie Fritts, David Hood, Patterson Hood, Jimmy Johnson, Bettye Lavette, and John Paul White
Moderated by Ann Powers
NPR Music critic and correspondent Ann Powers will moderate a lively discussion with some of the key players who helped establish the Muscle Shoal sound, as well as artists whose careers have been shaped by this uniquely American sound.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22
7:30 PM - DAMROSCH PARK BANDSHELL
Muscle Shoals All-Star Band with David Hood and Jimmy Johnson of the Swampers plus
Muscle Shoals Horns, and special guest singers Patterson Hood, Bettye Lavette,
Donnie Fritts and John Paul White
Since the 1960s, some of the biggest music artists on the planet have made their way to a small town in Alabama to make music history. Muscle Shoals, Alabama has reigned for 50 years as one of the major recording capitals of the world. And the driving force behind that success? A group of session players who created The Muscle Shoals sound that can be heard on timeless classics such as "When A Man Loves A Woman," "Respect," "Old Time Rock & Roll," and "Still Crazy After All These Years." Backing the likes of Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Wilson Pickett, Bob Seger, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, and countless others, the musicians are responsible for dozens of the most memorable recordings of the 20th century. On July 22, The Muscle Shoals All-Star Band will rock Damrosch Park in the kick-off to Out of Doors. The Band includes Musician Hall of Famers Jimmy Johnson and David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (also known as the Swampers), the Muscle Shoals Horns, and singers Carla Russell and Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie, Jeff Beck). Joining the band as special guests are singers Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers (son of David Hood); R&B songstress Bettye Lavette, whose recent 4-month residency at Café Carlyle drew sold-out audiences and critical raves; Southern Soul and R&B great Sam Moore (of Sam and Dave fame); and Dan Penn, singer-songwriter-producer, and one of the earliest session musicians at Rick Hall's FAME Studios in the 1960s.
Opening the evening will be the celebrated songwriter and session musician Donnie Fritts, alongside John Paul White, formerly of the Grammy-winning duo the Civil Wars, performing songs from their forthcoming Single Lock Records release (fall 2015).
THURSDAY, JULY 23
7:30 PM - DAMROSCH PARK BANDSHELL
Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich + Fussible
With special guest Wolfgang Flür/MusikSoldat (ex-Kraftwerk)
Jungle Fire
Nortec Collective emerged from a burgeoning electronic scene in the late 90s in Tijuana, Mexico and invented a new style of music they called Nortec-a fusion of Norteño ("from the North") and Techno. Joining electronic music characterized by heavy dance beats and traditional forms of Mexican music performed with live instrumentation, Nortec Collective paved the way for a new generation of producers and DJs who reinvented electronic music from a global perspective. Bostich (Ramón Amezcua) and Fussible (Pepe Mogt), the original co-founders of Nortec Collective, take the Damrosch Bandshell stage to perform music from Motel Baja, the third and final installment of their critically-acclaimed Border Trilogy, which includes the Grammy- and Latin Grammy-nominated albums Tijuana Sound Machine and Bulevar 2000. Also appearing as a special guest, as he did on Motel Baja, is Wolfgang Flür/MusikSoldat, the former Kraftwerk member who currently performs under that moniker. A radio station favorite across the U.S., Motel Baja made PRI "The World's" list of Top Picks for 2014. Following the concert, at 10 pm, Wolfgang Flür/MusikSoldat will do a multi-media DJ set at the David Rubenstein Atrium. (Note: capacity is limited; first-come, first-served).
Opening the evening is Jungle Fire, a melting pot of Afro-Cuban rhythms, fusing classic break-beats, tropical cumbia, and 70s-inspired West African funk. Their debut album Tropicoso reflects influences ranging from James Brown and Fela Kuti, to Ray Barretto and Irakere, all layered with a uniquely Los Angeles grit that has made the band a hit on the LA funk/soul scene.
This event is part of the 10th anniversary of Nacional Records.
FRIDAY, JULY 24
7 PM - HEARST PLAZA
Gaby Moreno
"Moreno's breathtaking voice is passionate and stylistically malleable, as she glides back and forth easily between bossa nova and bluesy rock," is what NPR wrote about GuatemAlan Singer-songwriter Gaby Moreno. Singing in English and Spanish, Moreno blends jazz, soul, blues, and 1960s rock into her own unique sound. She has opened for Tracy Chapman, Calexico, the Punch Brothers, and other notable musicians. She has performed and recorded with actor-singer Hugh Laurie and his band, as well as with tenor Andrea Bocelli. Winner of the 2013 Latin Grammy Award for Best New Artist for her album Postales, Moreno has also collaborated with Latin superstar Ricardo Arjona, with whom she recorded the song "Fuiste Tú" from the CDIndependiente. The video of the track reached over 100 million views on YouTube.
7:30 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
Dorrance Dance: "The Blues Project Revisited" with Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Toshi Reagon and BIGLovely
Building on the critical and popular success of The Blues Project, which played to sold-out houses at Jacob's Pillow and The Joyce Theater, choreographer-dancer Michelle Dorrance and composer Toshi Reagon will introduce new material (both music and choreography) at Out of Doors this summer, in The Blues Project Revisited. This tap show "like no other" (The New Criterion) weaves together music that's "a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll...but also very funky" (The Boston Globe) by Reagon with her BIGLovely band, with virtuosic solo and ensemble numbers by members of Dorrance Dance, some of the most brilliant tap interpreters performing today. Bessie Award-winning tap dancer and choreographer Michelle Dorrance is founder and artistic director of the company which she formed to present tap in compelling new contexts that incorporate street, club, and experimental dance forms.
Toshi Reagon's hold-nothing-back approach to rock, blues, R&B, country, folk, spirituals, and funk has been described by The New York Times as "a love of mixing things up...[her] vocal style ranges from a dirty blues moan to a gospel shout to an ethereal croon." Reagon has performed with artists Lenny Kravitz, Lizz Wright, and Ani DiFranco, and collaborated on dance and theater projects with Urban Bush Women, Jane Comfort and Company, and LAVA, among others.
The presentation of "The Blues Project" by Dorrance Dance was made possible by the New England Foundation for the Arts' National Dance Project, with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
This event is part of The New York State Presenters Network Presenter-Artist Partnership Project made possible through a regrant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Made possible in part by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
Saturday, July 25
FAMILY DAY
10 AM - JAFFE DRIVE / TOLL PORTE-COCHÈRE
Baby Loves Disco - A Family Dance Party
Family Day kicks off with this popular dance party for toddlers, preschoolers, and their grownups. Baby Loves Disco features music from the 70s & 80s, spun and mixed live by real DJs, plus interactive elements like face-painting, egg-shakers, and other music makers, adding to the fun. Soon to celebrate its 10th anniversary, Baby Loves Disco was started by professional dancer (and mom) Heather Murphy, in Philadelphia, was brought to New York City by Ropeadope Records founder Andy Hurwitz, and now takes place in more than 20 cities across the U.S.
11 AM - JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
Lil Buck
The dance theme continues with a demonstration and performance geared to families by the virtuoso of jookin' Lil Buck. Buck has put his own distinctive stamp on the street dance that originated in Memphis, incorporating ballet which he studied there growing up, to dazzle audiences and dance critics alike.
12 PM, 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM - JAFFE DRIVE / TOLL PORTE-COCHÈRE
Bridgman|Packer Dance: Truck
This site-specific work is performed inside a 17-foot box truck, which will be "parked" on Lincoln Center's pass-through, underground drive. Truck combines live performance and film projections-both pre-recorded and captured live-to transform a utilitarian object, and an unexpected Lincoln Center location, into a magical space. Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Guggenheim Fellows in Choreography, are acclaimed for their innovative integration of choreography and video technology that transforms the partnering form into a stage where image and reality collide. "The most thrilling dance work this reviewer has seen in recent memory...flat-out exhilarating" is how The Boston Globe described a Bridgman|Packer Dance performance. Truckwill be repeated multiple times on Saturday, July 25.
Made possible in part by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
3 PM - JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
Joyous Quartet
Established in 2010, the quartet is led by eight-year-old cello virtuoso Justin Yu, with eight-year-old violinist Mickayla Jia, nine-year-old violinist Tyler Lau, and ten-year-old bassist Brendon Lau. The group has appeared at Carnegie Hall and on national and international TV (including NBC's Ellen Degeneres Show). The quartet will perform classical favorites as well as contemporary hits, "Firework" by Katy Perry and "Smooth Criminal" by Michael Jackson.
3:30 PM - JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
Heidi Latsky Dance
Choreographer and former principal dancer for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Heidi Latsky challenges preconceptions and prejudices about beauty with compelling works that feature an integrated company of disabled and non-disabled dancers. She and her company performed GIMP, one of her most celebrated projects, at Out of Doors in 2012. GIMPexamines the uncompromising ways we are often identified or defined by our physicality-a theme carried through to this summer's project with wheel chair athletes. Lincoln Center's event will feature wheelchair athletes in a work choreographed by Latsky that exploits the vastness of the main plaza. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Heidi Latsky Dance will present site-specific works at various locations around New York City throughout July, in partnership with the Mayor's Office, Art Beyond Sight, and Dance/NYC.
4 PM - JOSIE ROBERTSON PLAZA
National Dance Day
Dancers of all ages and abilities are invited to gather around Lincoln Center's Revson Fountain for National Dance Day. Launched in 2010 by So You Think You Can Dance co-creator Nigel Lythgoe, National Dance Day is an annual celebration that encourages Americans to embrace dance for fun and good health. Special guests and group routines will be announced closer to the July 25 date, and the public can visit the Lincoln Center Out of Doors website to learn and practice the routine.
Presented in association with the Dizzy Feet Foundation
Made possible in part by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
Family Day is supported by Disney.
Saturday, July 25 - EVENING
7 PM - DAMROSCH PARK BANDSHELL
Wycliffe Gordon and His International All Stars
Lil Buck
Multiple Academy and Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Randy Newman has explored various styles and sounds of the canon of 20th-century American music over the course of a long career. He first rose to fame for writing quirky, darkly funny, satirical songs about the lives of characters he invented. His idiosyncratic style alternated between sweeping cinematic pop and rolling R&B, the latter heavily influenced by time spent in New Orleans in his youth. After Newman's self-titled debut album was released in 1968, his reputation as a songwriter grew quickly, with Judy Collins, Dusty Springfield, Peggy Lee, Harry Nilsson, and Joe Cocker, among others, recording his songs. His career as a film composer took off in the early 1980s, and he has scored and composed songs for dozens of films including The Natural, Awakenings, Parenthood, and A Bug's Life. The author of the hit songs "Short People," "I Love L.A.," "I Think It's Going to Rain Today," and "You've Got a Friend in Me" from the Toy Story film trilogy, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.
Musical ambassador and interpreter of America's music, Wycliffe Gordon enjoys an impressive career touring the world performing hard-swinging, straight-ahead jazz to great acclaim. His unmatched modern mastery of the plunger mute and his exceptional technique and Signature Sound has solidifiEd Gordon's place in musical history as one of the top trombonists of his generation. The former member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra leads his own sizzling group in a New Orleans-flavored set at Out of Doors.
Lil Buck returns to get the evening off to an electrifying start. "When Charles 'Lil Buck' Riley performs it's as if he's gliding on water, defying gravity. Jookin' is his dance. And he's been called the Baryshnikov of it," is what Wynton Marsalis said introducing a profile of the dance phenom on CBS This Morning in January. Buck has astonished audiences in performances with Madonna at the Super Bowl halftime show and at the Grammy Awards, danced to Saint-Saëns The Swan with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and premiered a new work with French visual artist J R at New York City Ballet last year. The New York Times proclaimed jookin', "the single most exciting young dance genre of our day, featuring...the most sensationally diverse use of footwork."
Sunday, July 26
3 PM - HEARST PLAZA
Chinese American Arts Council Dancers: From Chinatown with Love
Featuring dazzling costumes and a live traditional Chinese music ensemble, Lincoln Center favorites, the singers, actors, dancers and acrobats of New York's Chinese American Arts Council open their afternoon performance with a traditional Lion Dance and continue with a program that includes the Sword Dance, martial arts demonstrations, excerpts from the musical-theater work, The Bound-feet Liu Jinding Crashes Four Gates, and other traditional Chinese dance and music works.
4 PM, 4:30 PM, 5 PM, 5:30 PM, 6 PM - JAFFE DRIVE / TOLL PORTE-COCHÈRE
Bridgman|Packer Dance: Truck
See above, Saturday, July 25.
Made possible in part by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
7 PM - DAMROSCH PARK BANDSHELL
An Evening with Judy Collins
From the release of her masterful 1961 debut album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, which featured interpretative works of social poets of the time such as Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and Tom Paxton, singer-songwriter Judy Collins has touched audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. Throughout the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and up to the present, she has remained a vital artist, in concert and with a catalog of 50+ critically acclaimed albums. Whether performing her own work, reimagining traditional pieces, or transforming the songs of Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, or Stephen Sondheim, Collins continues to create music that speaks to the heart. This intimate concert is part of a multi-city international, tour in anticipation of the release of her new album later this year.
Week 2
Wednesday, July 29
4:30 PM - BRUNO WALTER AUDITORIUM, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Letieres Leite, Arturo O'Farrill, and Steven Bernstein
Lecture and Demonstration
See below (Thursday, July 30) for project description.
Co-sponsored by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
7 PM - Damrosch Park Bandshell
The Mavericks
Orkesta Mendoza
"La Orkesta does for mambo what the Dap-Kings did for soul, respect and building upon the spirit of a tradition, while incorporating a contemporary sound and audience." (Music director of radio station KXCI, Tucson). Founded in 2009 in Tucson by multi-instrumentalist Sergio Mendoza, a longtime collaborator and sideman with Calexico and Devotchka, Orkesta Mendozaperforms an arresting take on traditional mambo-Mendoza calls it "indie mambo"-that mixes in cumbia, merengue, and ranchera, with jazz and indie-rock, all shot through a prism of psychedelia. The band's otherworldly sound has been enthusiastically praised by The New York Times and NPR. The group's debut studio album, Mambo Mexicano, was released in 2012 on Cosmica Records.
With a Cuban-American lead singer, garage band ferocity, an intense live show, and a deep love of 70s AM pop radio hits, bolero romance, and pure country they were raised on, The Mavericks became unlikely stars. Their raucous sound broke new ground for the Country format with hits like "Here Comes The Rain," "Crying Shame," and "Dance The Night Away." In 2013, after multiple gold and platinum albums, world tours, breakups and re-formations, the band reunited and released the critically-acclaimed album In Time, (The Valory Music Co) that critics at The Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, and New York Magazine, among others, named to their "Best Of" lists. Billboard.com called the band's just-released CD, Mono, "The splashy, seasoned spirit of new-millennium Mavericks. Deceptively simple songs of lust and chivalry get a vigorously swinging, guitar-heavy but horn-heated attack. They veer from big-band salsa to frisky, danceable Latin rock, swaggering, shuffling R&B and more mellow pop flavors."
Thursday, July 30
7 PM - Damrosch Park Bandshell
Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz (U.S. Debut) with special guests Arturo O'Farrill and
Cyro Baptista's Banquet of the Spirits
Forró in the Dark plays John Zorn
Presented in association with Brasil Summerfest
A 20-piece percussion and horn big band created in 2006 by the composer and instrumentalist Letieres Leite, Rumpilezzcombines the power of traditional Afro-Bahian rhythms with jazz influences for a one-of-a-kind "veritable explosion of the boundaries of Brazilian instrumental music," (leading Brazilian music critic). The group has garnered top music awards at home, toured to major European capitals and festivals, recorded a debut album (2009) that received four stars from Rolling Stone, and collaborated with music luminaries, saxophonist Joshua Redman and singer-songwriter Gilberto Gil. Making its U.S. debut at Lincoln Center, and kicking-off a 4-city U.S. tour, the group debuts a new collaborative project with U.S. jazz greats Arturo O'Farrill and Steven Bernstein. Each performs as guest artist, with Letieres arranging their compositions in "Rumpilezz style," based on the traditional drumming of Afro-Brazilian candomblé. In conjunction with the project, the three musicians will meet in a panel discussion and demonstration on Wednesday, July 29 at the Bruno Walter Auditorium to explain their collaborative process.
Forró is the hip-swiveling, dancefloor-filling, rural party music of Brazil's northeastern states. And Forró in the Dark is the collective of New York-based Brazilian ex-pats-Mauro Refosco (zabumba drum and vocals, who performs as percussionist with David Byrne, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Thom Yorke), Guilherme Monteiro (guitar and vocals) and Jorge Continentino (pífano flute, sax, and vocals)-updating this traditional sound for the 21st century with a signature blend of down home forró and urban cool.
Master percussionist, Brazilian-born Cyro Baptista-who has toured with Paul Simon, Herbie Hancock, John Zorn, Yo-Yo Ma, Laurie Anderson, and Sting-leads an inimitable world music quartet that embodies the Brazilian philosophy of anthropofagia, or cultural cannibalism. Described by All About Jazz as "a diversity of sounds and colors that can't be found anywhere else,"Banquet of the Spirits draws freely from an expansive array of music from around the globe, combining Afro-Brazilian beats with improvised, experimental jazz trappings to create utterly unique music. Banquet of the Spirits has performed at the Newport Jazz Fest, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Village Vanguard, and the Wexner Center, as well as Salle Pleyel in Paris, and Australia's Adelaide Festival. The group has released three albums on Tzadik.
This engagement of Letieres Leite & Orkestra Rumpilezz is made possible through Southern Exposure: Performing Arts of Latin America, a program of Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation.
This event is part of The New York State Presenters Network Presenter-Artist Partnership Project made possible through a regrant from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Friday, July 31
7 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
AFROPUNK @ Lincoln Center
Featuring: Vintage Trouble, LION BABE, The Skins
AFROPUNK presents The Triptych: Wangechi Mutu
Born as a documentary that explored the Black presence in the American punk scene, AFROPUNK has grown into a movement and a community of young, gifted people of all backgrounds who speak through music, art, film, comedy, fashion, and more. AFROPUNK's virtual home at afropunk.com (with approximately 4 million weekly users) has become a major platform for the alternative and experimental, while honoring punk principles of DIY aesthetics, radical thought, and social non-conformity. The AFROPUNK Festival, which celebrated its 10th anniversary at home in Brooklyn last summer, is expanding and diversifying, with events planned in various cities. AFROPUNK @ Lincoln Center offers outstanding bands, and a short film which celebrates the open-minded and unconventional spirit of this movement that occupies an influential place in urban culture.
Since the release of its debut album, The Bomb Shelter Sessions in 2011, L.A.-based band Vintage Trouble has gone from playing hometown clubs to opening for The Rolling Stones, touring North America and Europe with The Who, playing at Bonnaroo, Coachella, SXSW, and Glastonbury, and reaping ecstatic praise from critics everywhere. "Like an M-80 in church, Vintage Trouble lands with a hiss and then blows apart what's come to define modern soul, blues and rock" (Paste Magazine). The band, formed in 2010 by Ty Taylor, frontman on vocals, and Nalle Colt, joined by Rick Barrio Dill on bass, and Richard Danielson, drums, has cited influences ranging from Otis Redding and Tina Turner, to Prince and The Rolling Stones to Ray Charles and The Beatles. The band signed with Blue Note Records in 2014.
LION BABE is the New York duo of singer-songwriter and performance artist Jillian Hervey and instrumentalist and producerLucas Goodman. LION BABE draws on an eclectic mix of influences for its sonic and stunning visuals, which mirror the rich melting pot of New York cultures. Citing A Tribe Called Quest and Sergeant Pepper-era Beatles as early influences, the duo identify with a generation brought up on the internet, with references from film and music of all genres, places, and eras just a click away. The debut LION BABE EP features the single "Jump Hi" which includes a mesmerizing Nina Simone sample, written by Jillian, produced by Lucas, and featuring hip-hop artist Childish Gambino. The EP showcases the band's ethos for fearlessly reworking and reinventing the familiar and combining it with love of fantasy and the surreal, to make unique pieces of art and soul.
The Skins
The Brooklyn-based rock band formed in 2012 by five graduates of the School of Rock, just signed a deal with major label American Recordings. Playing a mature, soulful brand of funk-rock, The Skins, whose members range in age from 15-21, were one of the big hits of last summer's AFROPUNK Festival, and also fan favorites at the 2013 CMJ and SXSW festivals. They have played two sold out tours in support of UK band The Heavy, and their self-titled, self-released EP has received raves. Diffuser.fmwrote, "The Brooklyn-based band the Skins are defying the concept that teen musicians have to move into pop music or settle for living under The Shadows of their idols to carve out a career these days."
One of the three, artist profile short films from Terence Nance's exquisite The Triptych-a portrait of Kenyan-born, Brooklyn-based artist Wangechi Mutu-will be screened before the final band set.
7 pm - HEARST PLAZA
Chargaux, the string duo of Margaux Whitney, violin and Jasmin "Charly" Charles, viola, performs original works that combine elements of classical music, minimalist electronics, and haunting vocals. The Huffington Post said, "The two Brooklyn-based artists rework the traditionally classical instruments' vibes, releasing bubbling, boiling liquid sounds, somewhere between the brashness of jazz and the mellowness of R&B....[They've] already captured the attention of New York's art and fashion set with their infectious and unexpected covers of songs like Beyonce's 'Partition' and Kanye's 'Flashing Lights.'"
Saturday, August 1
A Celebration of the Life of Geoffrey Holder
In an exceptional career spanning more than 50 years, the late Geoffrey Holder left an indelible mark in the fields of dance, theater, film, and the visual arts. Lincoln Center offers a tapestry of events on Holder's birthday, August 1, in celebration of a New York City icon and Renaissance man of the arts. Highlighted by the premiere of a new co-commissioned work by acclaimed choreographer Garth Fagan, performed by his company, along with a solo performance by celebrated dancer Carmen De Lavallade, Holder's wife and life-long muse, the day-long celebration also includes the screening of a documentary about the life and work of the couple, preceded by a panel discussion. A companion multi-media exhibition, The Genius of Geoffrey Holder, is on view at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
1 pm - Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center - Amphitheater
Panel discussion: The Life and Work of Geoffrey Holder, speakers TBD
2 PM - Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center - Amphitheater
Carmen and Geoffrey, 2006, 79 Minutes
This joyful documentary celebrates two giants of the dance and theatrical worlds: dancer/choreographer/ actress Carmen De Lavallade and multi-hyphenate Geoffrey Holder. Wife-husband team Linda Atkinson (a student of Carmen's) and Nick Doob (Academy Award-winner for From Mao to Mozart) capture the intimate chemistry between quietly brilliant Carmen and larger-than-life Geoffrey. The film features interviews and performance footage of friends and colleagues including dancers Judith Jamison, Gus Solomons, Jr., Dudley Williams, Ulysses Dove, and Alvin Ailey. "What you see is more than an outstanding, five-decade creative collaboration; it's one of the dance world's great love stories," declared Dance Magazine.
7:30 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
Garth Fagan Dance
Garth Fagan turns 75 in May, and he and the company he founded nearly 45 years ago are going strong. "Ensconced in the top rank of America's most distinguished, contemporary choreographers," (The Star-Ledger) Fagan's ever-evolving dance language draws on modern and post-modern idioms and ballet, and powerful roots in Afro-Caribbean dance.
Program:
New Work co-commissioned by Lincoln Center Out of Doors - Tribute to Geoffrey Holder
Prelude
"Discipline is Freedom"
(September 1981, revised May 1983)
Choreography by Garth Fagan
Music by Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand) and Max Roach
Lighting Design by C.T. Oakes
Costumes by Amanda Horne
Thanks Forty (Excerpts)
(November 2010)
Choreography by Garth Fagan
Music by Dmitri Shostakovich, Bonga Kuenda, and Gerald Albright
Lighting Design by Hideaki Tsutsui
Costumes by Lena-Marie Bell
No Evidence of Failure (Excerpt)
(November 2013)
Choreography by Garth Fagan
Music by Monty Alexander
Lighting Design by Lutin Tanner
Costumes by Garth Fagan
Carmen De Lavallade performs The Creation, the 1972 solo choreographed and scored by Geoffrey Holder, accompanied by vocals by the Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble. Dancer and actress Carmen De Lavallade made her professional debut as a principal dancer with The Metropolitan Opera. Her career has spanned stage and film and she has collaborated with celebrated choreographers including Agnes De Mille, Glen Tetley and John Butler. Writing about a performance of The Creation, The New York Times said, "Anyone who has seen Miss de Lavallade whip through an arm ripple suggesting a river or first man standing upright for the first time will never forget her artistry."
Made possible in part by the Harkness Foundation for Dance.
The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble was founded in 1979 by renowned musical director, musicologist, and activist Bettye Franks Forbes. The Ensemble's wide-ranging repertoire brings together a body of work encompassing the African American religious experience. Included in the repertoire are traditional and contemporary spirituals, anthems, hymns, and gospels. One of New York City's great cultural treasures, The Ebony Ecumenical Ensemble has performed throughout the United States and abroad.
Related Event - Exhibition
July 23 - August 29, 2015 - The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts,
Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, PLAZA Corridor Gallery
The Genius of Geoffrey Holder
Born and trained in Trinidad, Geoffrey Holder revealed his genius in his long career in dance, theater, film, music, and art. As a choreographer, designer, director, dancer and actor, Geoffrey Holder is well represented in all of the research and circulating collections of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. The multi-media exhibition will cover his performing career, his Tony Award-winning work as director and costume designer for The Wiz, and contributions to the repertory of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Saturday, August 1
LA CASITA
12:00 pm - Hearst Plaza
La Casita
La Casita is Lincoln Center Out of Doors' annual celebration of community, showcasing urban poetry, spoken word and musical expressions representing the diversity of traditional and contemporary cultures across New York City. This year, to honor Sonia Sanchez and Ntozake Shange, central figures in the Black Arts Movement, activists and powerful voices come together and channel the streams that influenced the pioneering African-American poets. Chronicling the joys and struggles of identity and history, wordsmiths share the stage with musicians from around the Diaspora in a thought-provoking tribute. Returning to MC the two-day presentation (the full line-up is repeated on August 2 in the Bronx at Teatro Pregones) is Baba Israel, theater, hip-hop, and spoken word artist.
La Casita Spoken Word lineup:
Mardonio Carballo & Juan Pablo Villa, Mexican poet, actor, and journalist Carballo, who writes and performs in both Nahuatl and Spanish, and Mexican vocal artist and composer, Villa, present the New York premiere of their collaborative program Xolo;DarkMatter - Alok & Janani, the New York-based, trans South Asian performance art duo is known for their quirky aesthetic and political panache; Camonghne Felix, a poet, essayist, songwriter, and 2012 Pushcart Prize nominee, was featured in the HBO documentary Big|Brave New Voices; Luis H. Francia, born and raised in Manila, is a poet and nonfiction writer, who, in 2013, received the Filipino American National Historical Society's Lifetime Achievement Award for his writing; Magdalena Gómez, the vanguard poet of the Nuyorican literary movement, is joined by rising young trumpet player Jeremy Turgeon in this jazz-poetry performance; Roberta J. Hill, Oneida poet, fiction writer, and scholar has published and lectured internationally in a 40-year-plus career; Ayisha Knight-Shaw is a Deaf poet, actress, lecturer, teacher, photographer, and ASL theater consultant who has been featured on HBO's Def Poetry Jam; Aja Monet, poet and performer, combines a spellbinding voice and stage presence to empower and encourage youth, using poetry as a transformative force and alternative to violence; Roanna Shebala, Native American spoken word artist of the Dine' (Navajo) tribe, raised on the Navajo Nation, has been on four National Poetry Slam Teams.
La Casita's Music lineup:
Legacy Women led by Manuela, award-winning songwriter and activist Manuela Arciniegas leads the all-women's drum, song, and dance troupe that plays Afro-Dominican and Afro-Puerto Rican bomba and palos with an urban twist; Los Hacheros, formed in 2011, draws on son, charanga, and salsa to create a distinct sound, earning praise from die-hard salseros while introducing a younger generation to the music's beauty and vitality; Nkumu Katalay & Life Long Project brings a unique combination of Congolese church and secular music influences together in its founder's vision to highlight his culture's contributions to New York City and the world; Nano Stern, the young Chilean singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist draws on his Chilean and European-Jewish ancestry, combining indigenous, jazz, and rock music elements into a sound all his own; Vlada Tomova's Bulgarian Voices Trio, the a capella trio led by Bulgarian-born singer-composer Tomova, performs traditional Bulgarian love and work songs, Cossack folk songs, and more.
Both the August 1 and 2 La Casita performances will offer ASL interpretation for the deaf and hard of hearing provided by Lincoln Center Accessibility.
La Casita is curated by Melody Capote, Caribbean Cultural Center; Lillian Cho, Consultant; C. Daniel Dawson, Arts and Media Consultant; Latasha N. Nevada Diggs, Writer, Vocalist, Sound Artist and Curator; Claudia Norman, Lincoln Center Out of Doors; Shawn Termin, Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian; and Rich Villar, Acentos Foundation.
La Casita is supported by PepsiCo Foundation.
Sunday, August 2
1 pm - Hearst Plaza
Heritage Sunday
Opening Doors: Celebrating Immigrant New York
For the 17th edition of Heritage Sunday at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Center for Traditional Music and Dance presents a program commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Hart-Celler Act, the landmark U.S. immigration bill that changed the demographic makeup of the U.S. Also known as the Immigration and Naturalization Act, it opened doors to countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and parts of Europe that had historically been closed to immigrants. The afternoon features music and dance performance traditions from some of the New York City immigrant communities that witnessed robust growth after the bill's passage.
Abdoulaye Diabaté and Super Manden is an ensemble of master musicians led by lauded Malian-born singer Diabate who is steeped in the Malian griot tradition; The Boodoosingh Tassa Drummers, formed by Queens native Ryan Ali, performs high-energy drumming based on indigenous musical forms from Trinidad and Tobago; Calpulli Mexican Dance Companyspecializes in the regional dances of Jalisco, Michoacan, Puebla, and Veracruz, along with compelling interpretations of traditional Aztec dances; Csurdöngölo Folk Ensemble, accompanied by acclaimed Hungarian folk music band Életfa, offers a high-energy survey of traditional Hungarian music and dance, as well regional traditions from Slovakia and Transylvania; Ikhlaq Hussain, virtuoso sitarist, a descendant of a centuries-long line of master musicians from Delhi Gharana (India), including a 13th-century Islamic Sufi master, was relocated with his family to Pakistan during the post-colonial partition. Emigrating to the U.S., Hussain was granted permanent U.S. residency on the basis of his extraordinary musical gifts.
Presented in association with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and the Center for Art, Tradition and Cultural Heritage
2 pm - Teatro Pregones, 571 Walton Avenue, Bronx, NY 10451
La Casita (See Saturday, August 1 for lineup.)
7 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
Ache: Lavagem da Rua
Featuring: Gilson Menezes Santos Dorea (Tatau do Araketu), Alexandre Cortes de Barros, and a section of Baianas, Members of the Afoxe of Filhas de Gandhy and Drummers from Brazil; Something Positive from Trinidad; Legacy Circlefrom the Dominican Republic;
Ashe Dance from Haiti; Amma McKen; and Grupo Oriefun from Cuba.
Presented in association with the Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute
Throughout the African Diaspora, traditional sacred thought and practice regards the road and crossroads as a metaphor for the journey of life. Ache: Lavagem da Rua marks the cleansing of the road traveled to assure that one's life path is open, free of unnecessary obstacles. The groups performing represent countries of the African Diaspora, including Brazil, Cuba, Trinidad, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and others, all celebrating the different roads of song, music, and dance traveled on a path to a joyful destiny.
Week 3
Wednesday, August 5
7:30 PM - Damrosch Park Bandshell
Full Band Electric Counterpoint + Dither and friends, featuring Lee Ranaldo, Yo La Tengo, and
Matmos
Anchored by Dither, the acclaimed New York electric guitar quartet, this concert brings together a star-studded group of artists for an evening of experimentalism, minimalism, and driving rock 'n roll. Dither performs works by Eve Beglarian and Joshua Lopes, and is joined by Lee Ranaldo, guitarist, songwriter, and co-founder of alt-rock band Sonic Youth, in a performance of one of his pieces. The quartet also performs with celebrated indie band Yo La Tengo. Formed in 2007, Dither's experimental repertoire spans composed music, improvisation, and electronic manipulation. The New Yorker called the group's Invisible Dog Extravaganza, which annually gathers together a cross-section of some of the most creative artists on New York's music scene, an "official concert on the edge." The highlight of the evening at Out of Doors is Steve Reich's now classic, 1987, minimalist workElectric Counterpoint in a rarely-heard version for a live ensemble of 13 electric guitars and basses that will include Dither.Electric Counterpoint will be led by Mark Stewart, founding guitarist of Bang on a Can All-Stars and a member of Steve Reich and Musicians.
The evening opens with experimental duo Matmos, known for its electronic pop music that incorporates highly unusual sound sources-amplified crayfish nerve tissue, the pages of bibles turning, water hitting copper plates, liposuction surgery, cameras and VCRs, rat cages, tanks of helium, whoopee cushions, Polish trains, and insects, to name a few, often supplemented by traditional instruments-to create surprisingly accessible forms. Matmos has released more than eight albums and collaborated with artists such as Björk (on her Vespertine album), Antony, So Percussion, Terry Riley, The Kronos Quartet, David Tibet, the Rachel's, Lesser, Wobbly, Zeena Parkins, and more.
Thursday, August 6
7 pm - Damrosch Park Bandshell
We Like It Like That! A Boogaloo Celebration
Joe Bataan with special guests
Ray Lugo and the Boogaloo Destroyers with special guests Richie Ray and Pete Rodriguez
ABAKUÁ Afro-Latin Dance Company
DJ Turmix
Latin boogaloo is a product of the melting pot of New York City, a colorful expression of 1960s Afro-Latino soul, rocketing to popularity from the streets of El Barrio, New York's East Harlem, and being reborn today and introduced across the city and points beyond. Taking its title from the boogaloo anthem made famous by bandleader and pianist Pete Rodriguez, the Damrosch Park concert pairs pioneering legends with today's practitioners who are claiming and reinventing the sound for new audiences. Boogaloo innovator Joe Bataan and his band roll out irresistible hits from the early days. Ray Lugo's good-time, hip-swinging originals pay homage to the style's giants, including his special guest, Latin Music Hall of Famer Richie Ray, one of Latin music's most influential pianists, and Pete Rodriguez, in one of his first concert appearances in 40 years. New York's ABAKUÁ Afro-Latin Dance Company offers works from its rich repertoire choreographed by founder Frankie Martinez, as in-demand DJ Turmix-who has played an important role in the genre's resurgence with his monthly BOOGALOO! Party at club Nublu-spins some of the era's Latin gems.
Friday, August 7
7 pm - Hearst Plaza
denitia and sene.
Powerhouse vocalist Denitia and production whiz and beat-maker Sene paired up in 2011 to form electric pop duo denitia and sene. The Brooklyn-based group move seamlessly between pure pop, subdued electronica, and slinky R&B with a sound that is reminiscent of Massive Attack, The Fugees, and the shadowy late-night atmospherics of The xx-chilled-out, futuristic soul at its best. The group has released one full-length (2013's His and Hers), a handful of singles, and two EPs.
7 PM* - Damrosch Park Bandshell
*NOTE change in start time from 7:30 to 7 PM
Rock My Soul: featuring The Fairfield Four and The McCrary Sisters
Junior Mambazo
Exploring the formal emergence of gospel as a genre in the U.S., its African roots, and its influences on succeeding generations is at the heart of this evening's concert. Founding fathers of gospel The Fairfield Four reigned as one of the most popular a capella gospel groups in America in the 1930s and 40s. In the years following World War II, led by Sam McCrary, they recorded dozens of sides for Dot Records, Bullet, Nashboro, and other labels, that later influenced doo-wop acts such as The Clovers. Disbanding around 1950, the members reunited in 1980, and went on to renewed success. Though the original members have passed on or retired, the group continues to proclaim the a capella gospel with recordings and sold-out shows. The Fairfield Four are Grammy Award-winners for Best Traditional Gospel Recording (I Can't Hear Nobody Pray) and for Album of the Year for the soundtrack of the Coen Brother's film O Brother Where Art Thou? The Fairfield Four was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1999.
The McCrary Sisters-Ann, Deborah, Regina, and Alfreda-daughters of Reverend Sam McCrary of Fairfield Four fame, grew up on gospel and over the years have sung in every studio and style that Nashville has to offer, with various sisters collaborating with the likes of Johnny Cash, Wynonna Judd, Buddy Miller, and Patty Griffin, appearing on Bobby Jones TV show, and touring with gospel-rock powerhouse Mike Farris. Regina toured and recorded for several years with Bob Dylan and performed with Elvis and Stevie Wonder. Uniting to form their quartet a few years ago, they perform a delicious blend of gospel, blues, funk, soul, and R&B. They've released a third album and have guested on recordings by Paul Thorn, Mary Gauthier, and Dr. John. Says Regina McCrary, "I see us as a bridge between old school and new school (gospel). You've got to understand where the music has been to know where to take it."
Junior Mambazo follow in distinguished footsteps of their own: formed by the sons of Joseph Shabalala, co-founder of South Africa's famed Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the group are inheritors of Isicathamiya, a Zulu-based word for the style of a capellasinging that originated in the early part of the 20th century among South African mine workers. The style became widely known when Paul Simon's Graceland album and tour introduced its foremost exponents, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to the world. The younger group largely performed at home, but made several recordings and toured to the U.S. in 2003. The nine member choir is still led by one of the original sons, Nkosinathi Shabalala.
10:45 pm* - Damrosch Park Bandshell
*Note new date and start time
"Silent" Movie: Rocky Horror Picture Show
The longest-running thea
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