As summer slowly pulls down its shades and shies away from its long summer nights, there are a few more hot flings left as New York City, the mecca of jazz and everything swinging, immerses itself in absorbing rhythms from the soul of Black American music through three separate all-day festivals on Sept. 7, all free to the public.
We start in Harlem at 2 p.m., where the 8th Annual Sugar Hill Music Festival commences at the Sugar Hill Luminaries Lawn (Edgecombe Avenue, W. 155th Street). The event will pay tribute to the revered word warrior Greg Tate (who passed in 2021), whose words were as potent as a John Coltrane riff pierced with burning reflections of Amiri Baraka. Tate’s “Fly Boy in the Buttermilk” will be a festival highlight. The ensemble that he founded, Burnt Sugar Arkestra, will accompany excerpted readings by author, journalist, and filmmaker Nelson George; poet and sound artist LaTasha Natasha Nevada Diggs; and historian and multidisciplinary artist Carl Hancock Rux.
The deep-honey-toned vocalist, guitarist, and composer Allan Harris will headline the festival. The native Harlemite will draw from his immense repertoire of original songs and a reservoir of jazz standards that he has reconstructed with his own creative signature.
Sugar Hill will round out with an all-star lineup featuring the Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, performing Afro-Cuban, salsa, and mambo classics; pianist and composer Marcus Persiani and the Uptown Hi-Tones; and vocalist Jennifer Jade Ledesna, whose vocal stylings have been accompanied by such musicians as Elew, Roy Hargrove, Joatan Nascimento, James Carter, and Janis Siegel.
Donations are accepted for this worthwhile nonprofit organization.
For more info, visit whilewearestillhere.org/upcoming-events.
Ode to the Black Fiddler (OBF) Music Festival: A Celebration of Talent and Culture doesn’t present the typical European classical music string configurations. No — as the title might suggest, this festival takes on an entirely different perspective, a different sound, a new dimension similar to bebop’s in-your-face fiery spontaneity.
This unique (a word not to be used lightly) all-day festival (1 p.m.–9 p.m.) at the Bronx Brewery and Empanology (856 E. 136th Street) will highlight the cultural richness and versatility of string music through an eclectic lineup, including Majid-Khaliq, recognized by Downbeat Magazine as a Rising Violinist (2017). Joining him is Patrick “Dr. Violin” Bogui, a soulful violinist and aspiring medical doctor who earned the Association of American Medical Colleges Award in 2022. The lineup also includes Classique, a violinist, singer, and two-time winner of “Show Time” at the Apollo Theater. The festival offers continuous DJ sets throughout the day, with a food and vendor marketplace.
According to Iymaani Abdul-Hamid, founder and executive producer of the festival, “This will be our eighth year presenting innovative performances by professional string musicians of color for audiences from across the tri-state. Our string musicians have performed under the OBF brand at various venues in Harlem, Brooklyn, and lower Manhattan.” This will be the festival’s finale to a three-year venue residency at the Bronx Brewery.
Abdul-Hamid founded the festival eight years ago on Juneteenth, saying, “We sought to teach our young students at the IAH Studio about the significance of this day. In doing so, we uncovered the rich legacy of Black violinists during U.S. slavery. Out of a group of 300 runaway slaves, 17 — more than 5% — were described as playing the fiddle, violin, or fife ‘tolerably well’ (“The Afro-American Fiddler,” Theresa Jenoure). This profound discovery inspired the creation of the Ode to the Black Fiddler Music Festival to honor these musicians and provide a platform for today’s top professional artists who play everything from jazz [to] Latin, Hip Hop, classical, and electronic — demonstrating the extensive musical range of these outstanding artists.”
Donations are welcome for the ongoing education of young students of color in the world of classical music.
Celebrating Visual Arts and Jazz takes place at the Governor’s Island Jazz by the Water, from 12 noon–5 p.m. The lineup will feature the Nat Adderley Jr. Quartet. Adderley is a keyboardist, songwriter/composer, and longtime music director and co-writer for Luther Vandross. Artists will include the Ronnie Burrage Quintet, led by Burrage, a seasoned drummer whose star is still raising and who has earned a reputation across genre lines in R&B; straight-ahead with Woody Shaw; avant gardism with Arthur Blythe, Andrew Hill, Billy Bang, and Hamiet Bluiett; the Ray Blue Quintet, led by saxophonist and composer Blue, a Harlem mainstay, who has a big, all-engrossing sound that has astounded the globe as a leader and sideman; Whiteny Marchelle Quintet, a singer who has performed with Jeremy Pelt, Steve Turre, Patience Higgins, and Riza Printup; and Cindy Lou Robinson & Her Blues Band.
The event is free but ferry tickets are required; for more info, call 212-665-5313, email artsandjazzfestnycifo@gmail.com, or visit www.artsandjazzfestny.com.