Celebrate Brooklyn! Is Set for Its 40th Year
An opening night concert by the uncommonly talented Common will launch the 40th anniversary edition of Celebrate Brooklyn! The lineup of singers and musicians that will take the stage at the Prospect Park Bandshell this season is, as always, anything but common.
Antibalas / photo by Al Pereira
Brooklyn performers are once again well represented this season. These include Afrobeat artists Antibalas; Mamie Munch opening for Ricky Skaggs; Tony Award nominee Jonathan Coulter, sharing a bill with Superchunk and headliner Aimee Mann; My Brightest Diamond, opening for Anoushka Shankar; Taylor McFerrin, part of Robert Glasper’s R+R=NOW ensemble; and Kaki King. King, who demonstrated her extraordinary and innovative guitar-playing skills during a special “Sneak Peek” presentation Brooklyn Roads attended at BRIC House on May 1, will play a set prior to the screening of the classic anime film, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Valley of the Wind.
The Decemberists at Celebrate Brooklyn! /photo by Al Pereira
Brooklyn’s own Grizzly Bear shares the bill with Spoon for one of CB’s six benefit concerts, while local rock band Joe Russo’s Almost Dead takes the stage for another. The other four feature The Decemberists; Vance Joy and Alice Merton; Courtney Barnett with Julien Baker and Vagabon; and Jason Mraz and Brett Dennen.
Gary Clark Jr. / photo by Al Pereira
Other noteworthy scheduled performers include The Jayhawks, The Breeders, Toshi Reagon, Gary Clark Jr., Branford Marsalis, Brandi Carlile, Ruthie Foster, Kronos Quartet, Latin rapper Mala Rodriguez and reggae star Tarrus Riley, as well as an evening of rap, hip-hop and soul with Noname, Topaz Jones and Jazze Belle, and a Leonard Cohen tribute by Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal.
More information, including show dates and times, can be found on the BRIC Arts website. Look for reviews and other Celebrate Brooklyn! coverage in upcoming editions of Brooklyn Roads.