As a kickoff to the national Future Sounds tour highlighting communities across the country, this concert celebrates the 50th year anniversary of the Harlem Cultural Festival. Taking place in the summer of 1969, the original festival held a series of concerts in Mount Morris Park (now known as Marcus Garvey Park), to celebrate black pride, empowerment, music, and culture, and featured the likes of Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone, B.B. King, Sly & the Family Stone, Jesse Jackson, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Mahalia Jackson, and others.
Curated by Neal Ludevig, a founder of the Harlem Arts Festival, musical direction by Igmar Thomas (who has collaborated and led with the likes of Wyclef Jean, Mos Def, Esperanza Spalding, Lauryn Hill and Nas), co-hosted by Talib Kweli, the fiercely independent MC known for his incisive, hard-hitting socially conscious raps and for Black Star, and with jazz trumpeter and singer Keyon Harrold (who has performed with Common, Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Beyonce, and Rihanna, and most recently was heard on Don Cheadle’s Miles Davis documentary Miles Ahead, this concert will feature a number of surprise special guests.
This SummerStage performance is presented in partnership with Future Sounds. For more information, please visit www.futurexsounds.com