AfroPunkFest 2014 & Spike Lee MJ Party

(above: Alice Smith mid set on Saturday Aug 23, 2014 at Afro Punk Festival, Commodore Barry Park, Bklyn)

AfroPunk 2014 music art food culture ere in Downtown/Fort Greene Brooklyn and i'm here.

5:15p Alice Smith at the Green Stage literally brought the sun out with her voice and energy.

Amazing set, Alice gave that no nonsense sweet sweet fierce fierce love to the crowd, her inspirations and even had a little left over for the soundman.

Lianne La Havas, brit born, Jamaican/Greek descended chartreuse/muse followed a Beverly Bond DJ set, and proceeded to cause a Brooklyn swoon the likes of which many are still happily unrecovered from. 

Throughout the crowd I heard as many people singing La Havas lyrics as there were remarking about how perfectly darling she is. Its true Lianne's songs have the quality of a young woman who's in the effort of finding love has had heart tarnished and uses the experience to burnish out songs which when delivered in her range from primal scream to often audible whisper, melt the heart.

It's a perfect bit of scheduling that Valerie June (whom I just caught before her set ended) Lianne La Havas & Alice Smith, played a processional lead toward Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, because each of the three musicans present a facet of young womanhood. Valerie's rockabilly strunging and "aw shucks-esque" sing cleverly ensconce a Valerie's  woman who will not be taking shit now or later. Lianne is romantic optimist, going mind and heart wide open into the romantic abyss, and Alice is lightning a potential lover hopes to catch and worries my fry them. 

If you'll allow me to wrap these three musicans into a loosely fitting metaphor, here goes, Alice Smith is Id, Lianne the Ego and Valerie's the Super Ego. Granted each has songs in which they play all and none of those roles, but on stage thats what the viberation I hear.

Alice Smith is a force of nature unapologetically contained in the body of an electrifying young woman. When Alice's label lacked the vision of her second album, the Grammy nominated artist went to her crowds and funded "SHE" her second album which has produced more of the high voltage, piognant and true songs of Alice's heart as mind, laid bare, that make her a musical pleasure to be transfixed by.

The stellar end to the 1st night of Afro Punk at the green stage was aptly presided over by the one and only Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings. If you've ever been in a church service, if you've ever been to a racuous party, or had the pleasure of both in one, you'll have a slight idea of what heaven on Earth  Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings unfurled in Commodore Barry Park at Afro Punk 2014. Sharon was  minister preacher in full in one sequence sharing with the congregation her personal struggles and uncertainties after illness, "I didn't know if I would make it, I had no hair, no eyebrow hair no nostril hair, I didn't know if I would be anywhere.." in another moment renegotiating the playlists into a satisfying melody of their decade longer career songs. The movement of souls was visible, a funk more fortified than the sess tinged air, churning up the clouds as their musical chariot descended, like the revival jams of 100 Days, 100 Nights and eons of horny bass all rolled in to one, knocking the often unknowingly sanctifying crowd flat dead and bringing us back to life. Thats how Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings closed night one of Afro Punk 2014 on the green stage.

Today acts ranging from the nearly brad new life of "Unlocking the Truth" (who at aged 13 swiped the title of youngest festival group  from The Bots) to stalwarts of punk, ska & rock, Fishbone, who can always be counted on for a memoral show, will hit the Afro Punk stages, along with dynamic and diverse acts including Tamar-Kali, SZA, The Internet, Cro-Mags, the legenday Michell Ndegeocello, and culminating with a festival ending set by D'Angelo. So you've been told.

In a true challenge to musical loyalty and geographic possibilty at today is also the Spike Lee presented Michael Jackson party in Bedford-Stuyvesant at historical mixed media venue Restoration Plaza from 12noon to 6p Dj Spinna will be controlling the decks an spinning straight MJ and Jackson and or Jacksons inspired track just as Spinna does at hos annual MJ and MJ vs Prince parties around the country.

Cell service at these events tends to be spotty which I dont know whether to blame on infrastructure, or crowd control, but that is the case so I'll be uploading pics tomorrow as well as some choice video.

Fyi if youre a straight R&B type, the Mj Party ends at 6 as D'Angelo starts at Afro Punk at 8:30 so that C train (Kingston Av to Lafayette, followed  by a walk north on Ashland) might have your name on it

All Free. That's what's up Brooklyn, USA. 

Got To Be There: MJ Celebration in Pros Park tomorrow

Tomorrow's the big day, the party in the park (Prospect not Fort Greene) in memory of Michael Jackson. Expect to see Spike Lee and Boro Prez Marty, and hear DJ Spinna, more details from Gothamist, who I appreciate for doing the heavy blog lifting.

Remember it's 12-5pm, rain or shine, Nethermead lawn of the Park.

The community is bigger than one person.

Originally I wasn't going to post anything today, it's Friday and I wanna go outside.

But then along came Abby Weissman. Yes, I'm naming names.

A block party styled event, organized by Spike Lee and DJ Spinna, in honor of Fort Greene and Michael Jackson has been planned for Saturday Aug 29th to be held in Fort Greene Park.

Some people may wonder why.

Here's why Spike Lee, despite no longer residing in Brooklyn, put Fort Greene back on the map, in a positive way, that made all the benefits of today's Fort Greene, and to some extent, all of "Brownstone Brooklyn" possible. You wanna argue that, leave your comments below.

Also Spike Lee's business, 40 Acres and a mule filmworks, opened businesses in Fort Greene, his production office and some may remember, his merchandise store, which not only increased the profile of the Fort Greene area, brought positive press and tourists from around the world. And these businesses were also the sites of what? Block Parties; held right in front of Fort Greene park. Therefore, a Spike Lee/Dj Spinna block party is a tradition. It has not been repeated every year, but it's a part of the neighbor summer tradition in the minds of many long term residents of Brooklyn.

The fact that this year's event was dedicated to Michael Jackson has given opponents to an event held in the park an angle to declare the event unsuitable. Michael Jackson didn't stay in Brooklyn long enough to deserve a party held in Fort Greene, that may be but the party is by Brooklynites who are choosing to celebrate Michael Jackson. MJ didn't have to receive mail in Brooklyn to be appreciated here. Even Borough Prez Marty Markowitz with whom I don't always agree, could see it's a party celebrating music and culture most of all.

Enter Abby Weissman. In a letter to the NYTimes Fort Greene/Clinton Hill blog, she argues against the event being held in Fort Greene Park, raising the specter of the masses who will come (I guess like locusts?) from parts unknown and wreck havoc on the area. Where is the evidence to support this last claim? Abby sites the thousands of people who came to the Michael Jackson memorial in Los Angeles as proof that the neighborhood will be overwhelmed...and then she complains. Fine. We live in a Democracy, I disagree with you but make your voice heard if you need.

But now I read that the city is considering relocating the party. Based on the concerns of people like Abby Weissman, who's initial comments seemed to have started the anti-party bandwagon rolling with further statements asking why taxpayers are footing the bill for policing this party and complaining about how the neighborhood will suffer.

And enter my beef and two cents. A few years back there was a massive event the biggest I've seen in Fort Greene Park held that featured neighborhood food vendors, a concert stage a performance by several musicians headlined by Twalib Kweli and thousands of people. It was held without incident, it was orderly, it went into the night shutting down at the time predetermined by city officials. And it was amazing. The park was not hurt. The vitality of the neighborhood harmed, and local businesses around the park, made good business on the foot traffic to and from the event.

This is was not a MICHAEL JACKSON event, it was a Fort Greene event celebrating Michael Jackson, celebrating Spike, celebrating the neighborhood, celebrating our historic neighborhood culture.

What's the difference you may wonder? This is not the Staples center in LA with a schedule of world renown performers and the Jackson family. I know some of the people involved and they described the event to me this way,"you know those block parties we used to do... it's gonna be like that."

The people opposed to the party have a right to be opposed to everything (and quite possibly are), but they've exaggerated the hypothetical dangers of this neighborhood event, created by neighborhood residents, inappropriately depicted the event because it doesn't match their idea of what the neighborhood is. And now they're pressuring the city to succumb to their personal view of things.

I saw on Facebook (of all places) where Abby responded to a pro-party person calling them a Fascist. Before you get with the name calling start with the man in the mirror.

My opinion, if this event is moved somewhere else, if the city succumbs to the misinformation being put out there then an irreparable wedge will be permanently driven into the heart of the neighborhood which has still managed to be united by the good intentions of diverse neighborhoods despite the arrogant sense of entitlement that represents the downside of gentrification.

People's concerns should be addressed. One view of the neighborhood should not be able to bulldoze other citizens and in fact history.

UPDATE:

The party has been moved out of the neighborhood.

"It’s official: Spike Lee’s Michael Jackson birthday party will be held in Prospect Park, not in Fort Greene Park."

from NYTimes Local blog

Photo Wed: 7/1/09 : The Rainbow Connection

(by B'klynBorn from flickr: Fort Greene Park)

Considering the size and diversity of the planet it's probably true to say that rainbows are an everyday thing. But it's not everyday that you get so close to everyone watching one rainbow. Last weekend, on Saturday the 27th I saw one over Brooklyn and so did many others. It kept my attention for nearly a half hour of shining brilliance.

As I've told friends I've never seen a rainbow as well defined, vibrant, wide and long lasting as that rainbow. What a way to end a week of surprises good and bad.


("Rainbow over Brooklyn" by Barry Yanowitz, on Flickr: Downtown)

The rainbow which was observed by thousands at least (possibly millions when you consider that the populations of Brooklyn, Staten Island, Queens and lower Manhattan alone, number in the 4 million range).


(by Danon' from flickr: East River)

My research comes from the search I did on flickr by topic and date. Dozens of shots began to load from flickr, all rainbows, all from Saturday all with Brooklyn center frame.


(photo by andyclymer on flickr: Williamsburg)

Dozens of pics of the same rainbow from various vantage points and angles all over Brooklyn and the surrounding areas.

(by B'klynBorn on Flickr: Fort Greene Park)

How ubiquitous was it? To give an idea how much of Brooklyn was covered by this one rainbow, I found a photo on flickr with a clear view of my residence framed by the rainbow (I wasn't home but it was nice to see what it would have looked like had I been there) there's almost nothing remarkable about that block of mine and yet someone was moved to photograph it and had an impressive view at that.


(by Alberto Vargas26 on flickr: Williamsburg)

I was so taken with the phenomenon that I created the flickr group "Brooklyn's June 27th Rainbow Massive" http://www.flickr.com/groups/1158831@N21/pool/and you should really check out the snapshot-in-time it offers in addition to the variety of rainbow orientations. It's not often you get to see what people are doing all across Brooklyn at roughly the same moment.



(top: by underwhelmer: Prospect Park / bottom by Rubys Host from flickr: Coney Island)

All the photos on this posting are also from the flickr group and besides catching the rainbow, in an impromptu (nearly) all Brooklyn snapshot, the photos in the group offer some great views by photogs with great eyes. Check it out.


(by RICHBRAT from flickr)

Which takes me back to the dynamics of the rainbow. Don't get me wrong I've seen rainbows before, and while they're pretty I've never thought much more than "oh look there's moisture in the air combining with refracted sunlight..."


(by yatta from flickr Clinton Hill)

But (cue the crazy talk) this rainbow was different, as you'll see in my flickr pics, it appeared briefly and then disappeared, reappeared suddenly and then grew from an almost totally vertical band to an arc that then grew until it seemed to connect both north and shout Brooklyn from Williamsburg to Coney Island. And it lingered.

(photo by petname on flickr Crown Heights)

Long enough that I called people in Bushwick and Flatlands from Fort Greene and was able to direct them to see it with enough time to walk around taking more and more pictures.

(by M505XL from Flickr: Flatlands)

The pictures don't do it justice, the two bands of the rainbow were visible, the thinner outer band less so but the colors against a fairly bright sky were vibrant and frankly, cheerfully fake looking to the point of seeming painted on.


(photo by petname on flickr Crown Heights)

And for the first time I looked up at a rainbow and thought,"water vapor my ass, that thing is magic!"

I think we did it. I have complete belief that the intangibles of life affects the physics of nature, and that human expressions such as emotion are just one of those affecting factors. I believe happiness, sadness, etc have manifestations in the visible world. My caveat is I don't think the small scale, one individual's emotional/spiritual affect on the world for example, is enough to be noticed. So if I win the lotto I don't expect anyone to see pot's of gold other than me. However on a large scale if we all feel the same way so to speak, I really think we can have an effect on the world around us.


(by Abhimanyu Lad from flickr: near Metrotech)

A week ago I was looking forward to my niece's high school graduation on Thursday. Thursday comes, I'm in an auditorium at Brooklyn College sitting with family waiting for the graduation to start when a ripple of conversation begins to spread. My family and the rest of the audience began checking mobile devices. Thus the news was broken, as well as some websites and communications networks and so the weekend was turned into a review and assessment of the life of Michael Jackson.

The sheer volume of people interested in the news was enough to motivate us to push the internet into a busy signal or at least Google for a few minutes. I know what you're thinking, "google is essentially a bunch of computers, a device, we pushed it, we broke it. The atmosphere is physics, we can't just change the laws of science and physics."(cap'n)


(from MariaTeresaCB from flickr: Prospect Park)

Well, okay. You can talk about refractionary forces on molecules of water, suspended in the atmosphere until you're blue (and every other color of the rainbow) in the face, but really isn't science a consistently repeatable, confidence inducing magic trick? And who's to say positive energy is any less potent or operational?


(from MariaTeresaCB from flickr: Prospect Park)

I was at a Michael Jackson party on Saturday night in Sputnik (thanks DJ Spinna) where the crowd was so deep with hundreds of focus points of personal nostalgic revelry and exhalation; that the air turned to steam. During the same weekend Pride celebrations filled the canyons of Manhattan expressing not only cultural joy and tradition; but did so in the most favorable political climate for that culture in over a decade.

(by The MikeD on Flickr: South Street Seaport)

For over thirty-five years I've lived in this borough and I've never seen a rainbow much less a double solid manifestation stretch borough to borough lasting nearly 30 minutes.

(by BarkerBell from flickr: Williamsburg)

Maybe there aren't enough occasions in our fractured world where we've all got the same topic in mind, or the same level of emotional out-pour, to really see what can be manifested en masse.

(by simply photo on flickr)


(by sarkeezy on flickr: Williamsburg)

Sounds crazy? Not to the lovers, the dreamers and me.

(by B'klynBorn on Flickr: Fort Greene Park)

(Wikipedia rainbow definition entry)

Blame it on the BoogieMJ Tribute party last night in Brooklyn @ Sputnik

Last night at Sputnik in the hazy space where Clinton Hill and Bedford-Stuyvesant intermingle, DJ Spinna and Keistar Productions turned an intended Motown party into a straight Michael Jackson Tribute. As the pics show, people turned out, got of the wall and just enjoyed themselves.


As if song titled puns weren't enough, the party was hot, REALLY hot (these photos were not altered and the camera was wiped dry several times and still the heat of the crowd created the atmospheric effects you see in the pics.) Check the slide show for more, and RIP MJ.


Slideshow: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr_fuetur/sets/72157620544773669/show/