In the summer of 1974, Harlem Week was birthed as Harlem Day, a one-time only, one-day only event as an effort to create a positive force that would unify the greater Harlem community residents; businesses; and religious, educational, arts, and cultural institutions from the severe economic and social doldrums that were plaguing New York City.
That positive force continues as Harlem Week, now celebrated for over a month, celebrates its 50th anniversary with a host of conferences, sporting and cultural events, and festivities, offering multiple positive benefits for Harlem and the city at large.
The festivities of Harlem Week 50 continue through August 18. Upcoming highlights include: August 10, Harlem 5K Run & Walk and Children’s Run, 8–11 a.m.; A Great Day in Harlem, 12 noon–7 p.m. at Grant’s Tomb (122nd Street and Riverside Drive); August 12, Youth Conference and Hackathon, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.; August 14, NYC Jobs and Career Day at CCNY (160 Convent Avenue); August 17, NYC Children’s Festival, 12 noon–5 p.m. at Howard Bennett Playground (135th Street between Lenox and 5th Avenues); Summer in the City (on 135th Street), featuring vocalist Eric Bent; Alex Trebek Children’s Spelling Bee, 2–4 p.m. at Schomburg Center.
Harlem Week concludes with its big finale on August 18, Harlem Day, 1–7 p.m., with live performances by keyboardist and composer Nat Adderley Jr., Full Force, and A$AP FERG (more guests TBA); the NYC Children’s Festival 2; and NYC Health Fair, 12 noon–5 p.m.
For a complete schedule of all events, visit harlemweek.org.
Marcus Garvey Park (124th Street and 5th Avenue) goes Latin with NY State Senator Cordell Cleare’s 2nd Annual Afro-Latino Jazz Festival on August 9, 3 p.m.–7 p.m. Headliners will include trumpeter Steven Oquendo, who puts his spin on salsa and mambo classics in the Afro-Latin tradition, and performances by the Son Del Monte Band.
For more information, call 212-222-7315 or email agray@nysenate.gov.
One of the summer’s most anticipated joys is the annual Great Jazz on the Great Hill, in partnership with the Jazzmobile and Central Park Conservancy (106th Street and Central Park West), on August 10 this year from 4–7 p.m.
The radiant cast of musicians who continue to impress audiences while rising to their zenith will be Lezlie Harrison, who brings a vibrant color to the Great American Songbook, and pianist Matthew Whitaker, who has been amazing Harlem audiences since his adolescent years—as a young man, he continues his musical journey not to be categorized, effortlessly crossing genres without thought. The audience may hear tunes from his new fourth CD, “On the Shoulders: An Organ Tribute,” an homage to some of his heroes on the instrument. The roster will be rounded out with another brilliant young pianist—Christian Sands (and his quartet), a protégé of Dr. Billy Taylor, and the ever-exploring pianist Orrin Evans and Captain Black Big Band.
Memories and sounds of smoky, fiery nights at the storied St. Nick’s Pub will return on August 12 as Berta Indeed presents “A St. Nick’s Jam Session Live in Harlem” at Marcus Garvey Park, 2 p.m.–6 p.m. The core group will feature Patience Higgins & the Sugar Hill Quartet (pianist Marcus Persiani, drummer David Gibson, and bassist Donald Nicks). The rest of the lineup is too astronomical to list, but if you had the pleasure of attending any of those blistering nights, you will recall saxophonists David Lee Jones, Bill Saxton, and Ray Blue; legendary percussionist Leopoldo Fleming, who played with Nina Simone for many years; drummer Craig Haynes, and trumpeter James Zollar. Add to that roster a string of vocalists from TC III, Barbara Jean English, Lady Catrese, Sista Zock, Annette St. John, and Antoinette Montague.
For more information, call 646-705-2932.
For salsa fans, August 14 at Grant’s Tomb (122nd Street and Riverside Drive) is the place for you, as Jazzmobile presents timbale player and long-time salsa contributor Willie Villegas and the Joe Cuba Sextet. Villegas was a former member of the late Cuba, a salsa pioneer, who rendered such hits as “Never Go Back to Georgia,” and the ballad “To Be With You.” Cuba was an architect of the Latin Boogaloo movement. It happens at 7 p.m.–8:30 p.m.
, will debut in early Summer 2024.
On August 16, Jazzmobile at Marcus Garvey Park (124th Street and 5th Avenue) will celebrate innovator and activist Max Roach’s Centennial, focusing on one of the drummer’s groundbreaking configurations: the 1970 all-percussive M’Boom. It will be reimagined as “Max Roach’s Centennial Concert M’Boom with Horns.”
The revered artists making up M’Boom will be surviving original members of M’Boom multi-instrumentalist music voyager Warren Smith and percussionist Bobby Sanabria. The reimagined M’Boom will also feature vibraphonists/percussionists Jay Hoggard, Bryan Carroll, Reggie Nicholson, and Lyndon Achee. The lively Horn Section, an addition to M’Boom’s creative combustion, will highlight the inventiveness of trumpeter Jimmy Owens, alto saxophonist Patience Higgins, tenor sax and vocalist Camille Thurman, and trombonist Craig Harris, with Donald Nicks on bass.
This reimagination of M’Boom with Horns is reflective of Roach’s Double Quartet with the Uptown Strings, but here, we have jazz horns. The opening act for this hip auspicious occasion will be the Kojo Melche Roney Experience. Roney, who was a child prodigy, is now a young force to be reckoned with. He, too, was inspired by Roach’s genius and remains a student through his musical legacy.
Jazz in the Valley just seems to keep soaring to greater heights. This year, on August 18, the Poughkeepsie, N.Y., based festival at Waryas Park will present an outstanding array of musicians, including harpist Brandee Younger’s trio; poet, activist, and early author of the Black Arts Movement Nikki Giovanni; song stylist Nnenna Freelon; and tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, who is moving the tradition forward in the soul steps of his predecessors Lou Donaldson and Stanley Turrentine. Jackson may offer a tune or two from his 2022 album “The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni” (Solid Jackson). Also to be there will be Mitch Frohman & the Bronx Horns and the underrated genius and keeper of bebop alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, whose reputation references a long stint with piano legend Barry Harris and even longer with the prolific composer and bassist Charles Mingus.
Music begins at 12 noon. For more information and tickets, visit jazzinthevalley.org.