The New York City Summer Blog

A place for people who love New York City in the summer!

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Archive for July, 2007

Tito Rojas

Posted by nycsummer On July - 30 - 2007




Tito Rojas Videos

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Salsa music pouring out of opened apartment windows on hot sticky summer days. This is one of the things that come to my mind when I think of summer in New York City. Tito Rojas made that memory come to life on Friday. He and his 18 person big band set Prospect Park ablaze with sweet hot salsa music. As you can tell from the pictures the venue was packed. Red white and blue Puerto Rican flags could be seen in the hands of people having fun. There were people dancing salsa to Tito’s infectious rhythms everywhere. Watch the video clips and Celebrate Brooklyn Tito Rojas style.Enjoy,

NycSummer.

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Latin

Things to see in Central Park

Posted by nycsummer On July - 23 - 2007




Central Park Videos

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I love New York City. I love it especially in the summertime. This blog covers the wide range of activities New York City has to offer during the summer. Probably the most popular activity is Central Park SummerStage. It’s a mostly free summer concert series. Some of the concerts are popular and can easily get filled to capacity. Depending on the artist you may arrive there and find that you cannot get into the concert because they have closed the gates. Then you have to stand there and listen to the band or group you really wanted to see play just beyond your reach. If this happens to you, don’t feel too disappointed. The area behind the SummerStage venue has an incredible amount of activities. Enough to keep you entertained while distracting you from the fact that you missed your concert. Even if you got to see your band you’ll probably still want to walk around this area afterward. To find it just follow the sound of the distant drums. When you get there you can see African Drummers and dancers in a drum circle, Haitian Zouk musicians, disco dancing Roller Bladers, Double Dutch jump rope dancers, house music dancers, Acrobats/Comedians, Magicians, Rock Bands, Tango Dancers, Brazilian Capoeira dancers, and a whole lot more. There is no shortage of new and interesting things going on in this one small section of the worlds greatest park, in the worlds greatest city. I love New York City.You see, I’ve already forgotten that I could not get in to see The Brazilian Girls.

NycSummer.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Other

Toumani Diabate Symmetric Orchestra

Posted by nycsummer On July - 20 - 2007




Toumani Diabate Symmetric Orchestra Videos

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Toumani Diabate and his Symmetric Orchestra came to Brooklyn to entertain and to teach. He is describe as a Malian Kora master, and master of the Kora he is. The Kora is a 21 stringed instrument from West Africa that has the sound quality of a harp mixed with a guitar. A skilled player, like Toumani, has the ability to play the bass line while simultaneously playing the melody and improvising on the melody, much like a jazz player. While he was playing a solo I was looking around to see who else was playing. I swore more that one person was playing, but it was just him. The song he was playing was a rich, melodic, almost hypnotic piece. It was simply beautiful, you have to see the video. Overall, the music they played was rhythmic with heavy percussion. But, that’s what you would expect with music from West Africa. The band gets into it on stage. The songs go on seemingly forever. They get faster and more energetic until the big climax. The crowds at Metrotech tend to be more subdued that at other venues. Probably because of the business atmosphere around there. But, they loved it just the same. It’s hard not to move when these guys are jamming. Another great New York City Summer performance!Enjoy,

NycSummer.

Popularity: 1% [?]

African

Globesonic Pier Party

Posted by nycsummer On July - 15 - 2007




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Fof the past three summers on the West Side of Manhattan at Riverside Park a Pier Party happens. Imagine being outside dancing to the coolest world music mixes every heard. The Globesonic DJ’s spin an eclectic mix of music from all over the world. The music is accompanied by the Body Temple Drummers. It’s an organic, earthy, cultural gathering. While we were there we heard music from Brazil, India, Jamaica, and the Middle East, and that was just during the last hour of this four hour dance party. The music is mixed with a driving house beat while the Body Temple Drummers add their African inspired flavor to the rhythm. The crowd is reflected by the types of music the DJ’s spin. Everyone is having a great time dancing and swaying to the music. Everyone is free to be themselves.Come as you are and dance your ass off.

Enjoy,

NycSummer

Popularity: 1% [?]

Dancing

Junior Reid and Djakout Mizik

Posted by concerthound On July - 9 - 2007




Junior Reid and Djakout Mizik Pictures

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Today’s show was a concert ‘hosted’ by Wyclef Jean and Papa Jube. It was a concert to raise awareness for Wyclef’s Yéle Haïti foundation. The foundation reinforces projects that benefit the people of Haiti. The concert was also a showcase of artists signed to Wyclef Jean’s record label, Sa Pase records. The artists were Junior Reid, Djakout Mizik, Joey Starr, Black Alex, and Mecca a.k.a GRIMO.The performances were a mix of Haitian hip-hop and compas, and Jamaician reggae and were all hot! As a matter of fact at about 93 degrees out there, everyone there was scorching!Mecca and Black Alex were spitting their style of Haitian Creole Hip-hop. Their flow was quick and powerful.Junior Reid came out and set the park jumping. He covered a few reggae standards that had the crowd singing along with passion.The headliners where the Compas sensation Djakout Mizik. As much energy as Junior Reid put out these guys went even further. The music was hot and the crowd went wild! There is something about being in a crowd of fans of the performer and the music being performed. Watch the videos and feel the energy that Djakout Mizik created in the park. (I’ll add the videos later this week)Enjoy,

NycSummer

Popularity: 3% [?]

Caribbean

Tortured Soul

Posted by concerthound On July - 5 - 2007





Tortured Soul Videos

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Back in 2005 I went to Central Park Summer Stage’s Dance Party with Tortured Soul. This was my first time seeing them. They are good! I happen to really like house music. House music is one of those musical styles where either you love it or you hate it. If you love it you would love these guys. What’s amazing is seeing (and hearing) a three piece band play live house music. I recorded some video of the concert (not enough though.)

I then saw them again in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s (BAM) Rhythm & Blues Festival. The first batch of pictures are from Summer Stage. The second are from BAM’s R&B Festival.

Enjoy!

Tortured Soul’s Offical Site
Visit Tortured Soul’s Official Site

Introducing Tortured Soul
Purchase Tortured Soul’s CD

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Dancing

Ozomatli

Posted by concerthound On July - 1 - 2007




Ozomatli Videos

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Ya Se Fue!

I first saw Ozomatli at Celebrate Brooklyn with my friends Rob and Laura. Laura is a huge Ozomatli fan and I came along to see what was up. I was blown away. Ozomatli is the bomb. So this year when I saw they were coming to Summerstage, you know I had to be there.The boys do not disappoint. They rocked the park with their unique style of Latin flavored, Reggae tinged, Hip-hop dance music. They even throw in some ‘Nawlins (That’s New Orleans) brass band music with “Magnolia Soul”. A song dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

For anyone who has not seen Ozomatli perform these guys are versatile. They play what they like and they seem to really enjoy doing it.The performances are energetic, fun to watch and to participate in. They like to get close to or in the audience when they perform. M.C. Jabu Smith-Freeman jumped off the stage during the performance to shake hands with the crowd. Later in the show they invited a bunch of kids up on stage to join the band and play instruments along with the band. All in all one hell of a good time.Ozo is a band that believes in spreading positive vibes. They believe in a spirit of community and harmony among all people and this is seen in their musical styles. They promote unity and diversity by showing it on stage with the different types of music they embrace. I felt the energy while watching them perform. It was a very cool experience.

They end the show by climbing off stage with their instruments and walking through the crowd while chanting “Ozomatli ya se fue, ya se fue!” (Ozomatli is leaving). Then it turns into a Brazilian samba batucada party. Everyone gets involved as Ozomatli walks though the crowd and gives everyone front row access to this enjoyable ensemble that does not want to stop giving. Awesome!

Enjoy,

NycSummer.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Latin

About Me

I love Summer in New York City. There are a gazillion things to do, from free concerts to street fairs, from outdoor dance parties to live performance art. The city is buzzing with activity. This blog captures the fun and energy that is New York City during the summer months. We attend all the coolest events in and around the city. I attend Summer Stage, Celebrate Brooklyn, PS1 Warm Up, Globesonic in Riverside Park and any other chill happenings. Whether it is Reggae or Reggaeton, Hip Hop or House, Salsa or Samba, Compas or Calypso. Whatever the style, we are there to enjoy it and share it with you. Jimmy Cliff, Raphael Saadiq, KRS-One, Kat Deluna, Ozomatli, The Wailers, Nile Rogers and Chic, Angelique Kidjo; these are some of the amazing acts we\'ve covered and there are many more to come. With a name like NYC Summer Blog you might think that everything goes on hiatus when it gets cold. Not so! It is always summer at NycSummer! Look for past NYC shows and other special events from other parts of the world, even when the temperature drops here in New York. So, browse the Gallery Index and enjoy the sights and sounds that is Summer in New York City! Terry

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