Booker T. Jones, Replacing Chuck Brown, Will Perform May 10th, 2012 in Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party Series at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Apr 20, 2012 / BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn
BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn is pleased to announce that Booker T. Jones will headline the first concert in this year’s Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party series, May 10 on Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pier 1. The scheduled headliner, Go-Go godfather Chuck Brown, has cancelled due to health concerns.
Jack Walsh, BRIC’s Director of Performing Arts Programs and Executive Producer of Celebrate Brooklyn, said, “All of us at BRIC wish Chuck Brown a speedy recovery. We are also thrilled to be able to present the legendary Booker T. Jones, an artist who, in the sixth decade of his career, sounds better than ever. We look forward to welcoming audiences to this fantastic location in May.”
Jones’s performance will feature material from his tremendously acclaimed recent album, The Road from Memphis (2011), on which the Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was backed by The Roots and joined by Sharon Jones, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Matt Berninger of the National and Lou Reed. The album, produced by Jones with The Roots’s ?uestlove and Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith), prompted NPR to say, "After all these years, [Jones] remains so soulful, and so good.” USA Today said The Road from Memphis “transports listeners to the ‘60s heyday of Stax, where [Jones] and the MGs defined soul music.” At Brooklyn Bridge Park, Jones will also perform highlights spanning his career.
Rich Medina, one of New York’s favorite DJs, will warm up the evening with a sonic journey through hip-hop, house, Afrobeat, funk and soul.
Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party comprises an extraordinary lineup of bands and DJs, a great lawn with sweeping views of the city, dance lessons, free valet bike parking, food trucks and more. The dance parties will begin at 7:00 P.M. each night and end by 10:00PM. Pier 1 can be entered at the foot of Old Fulton Street at the waterfront.
To feed the hungry dancing crowds, a variety of food trucks will be on hand, many with Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party specials. These vendors, which will differ by concert, include Frites & Meats, Kimchi Taco, Kumquat Cupcakery, Morris Grilled Cheese, Pizza Moto, Rickshaw Dumplings and Taim Mobile (falafel & smoothies).
After opening with Jones / Medina, this year’s Bridge Dance Party series will include:
Thursday, May 17 | 7 PM
Brazilian Dance Party
Nation Beat / Maracatu New York
DJ Greg Caz
Seamlessly fusing Brazilian and Gulf Coast musical traditions, Brooklyn’s own Nation Beat will rock the stage with their bold and colorful sounds—something like Carnival and Mardi Gras rolled into one.
The evening will also feature the thunderous drumming of Maracatu New York. DJ Greg Caz will spin Brazilian beats. A Rio-inspired dance lesson will kick off the party.
Thursday, May 24 | 7 PM
Zydeco/Cajun Dance Party
Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience
Jesse Lége and Bayou Brew
It will be Mardi Gras set in the New York Harbor when Grammy Award-winner Terrance Simien takes the stage. An eighth generation Louisiana Creole, Simien is “one of the finest zydeco artists to emerge from south Louisiana” (Billboard).
Jesse Lége and Bayou Brew will start this Fais do-do with their traditional Cajun dance hall music. The Jalopy Theatre and School of Music will provide free dance lessons.
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Presented in partnership with Brooklyn Bridge Park, Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party advances BRIC’s mission of providing high-quality free or low-cost programming that is reflective of Brooklyn’s diverse communities, and offers artists important platforms on which to reach new Brooklyn audiences.
Leslie G. Schultz, BRIC’s Executive Director, said: “We are thrilled to reprise our partnership with BrooklynBridge Park and to again present Celebrate Brooklyn! in such a spectacular setting. Through this joint venture, BRIC is able to bring eclectic, fun and free performing arts programming to new audiences, which is at the heart our mission. We also hope to continue to introduce newcomers to the Park so they may get to know this great outdoor resource.”
Jack Walsh, BRIC’s Director of Performing Arts & Executive Producer of the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, said, “For 34 years, Celebrate Brooklyn! has been synonymous with live performances by world-class artists from Brooklyn and around the world, presented in Brooklyn’s most stunning outdoor settings. All of us at BRIC are excited to return to Brooklyn Bridge Park for this springtime series, which features a diverse line-up of musicians and DJs who fuse sounds, instruments and beats in a way that is so infectious you can’t help but dance.”
“Brooklyn Bridge Park welcomes Celebrate Brooklyn! back to Pier 1” says Regina Myer, President of Brooklyn Bridge Park. “BRIC’s amazing line up will kick off the park’s 2012 season with three great musical parties that will get everyone dancing on the Harbor View Lawn.”
The Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Party series is presented by BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn in partnership with Brooklyn Bridge Park. Public support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. Sponsorship is provided by Vitamin Water. Media Sponsors include WNYC/New York Public Radio, WBGO 88.3 FM and WFUV 90.7 FM. Free bike valet parking provided by Transportation Alternatives and Bike and Roll.
About BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn
BRIC Arts | Media | Bklyn presents contemporary art, performing arts and community media programs that reflect Brooklyn’s creativity and diversity. BRIC also provides resources to launch, nurture and showcase artists and media makers. We advance access to and understanding of arts and media by presenting free and low cost programming, and by offering education and public programs to people of all ages. Learn more at bricartsmedia.org
BRIC’s performing arts programs present emerging and established artists in music, dance, theater and multidisciplinary performance to broad audiences from Brooklyn and New York City, and support the development of new work. BRIC’s flagship performing arts program is the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, one of New York City’s longest running, free, outdoor performing arts festivals. Launched by BRIC in 1979 as a catalyst for a Brooklyn performing arts scene and to bring people back into Prospect Park after years of neglect, Celebrate Brooklyn! was an early anchor in the park’s revitalization and has
become one of the city’s foremost summer cultural attractions. Over its history, more than 2,000 artists and ensembles reflective of the borough’s diversity, ranging from internationally acclaimed performers to emerging, cutting-‐edge artists, have been presented at Celebrate Brooklyn! In 2011, BRIC partnered with Brooklyn Bridge Park to first present Celebrate Brooklyn! Bridge Dance Parties, featuring free live music,
DJs and dance lessons in Brooklyn’s newest outdoor destination.
For more information, please visit www.bricartsmedia.org.
About Brooklyn Bridge Park
Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation, known as Brooklyn Bridge Park, is the not-for-profit entity responsible for the planning, construction, maintenance and operation of Brooklyn Bridge Park, an 85-acre sustainable waterfront park stretching 1.3 miles along Brooklyn’s East River shoreline. The self-sustaining park was designed by the award-winning firm of Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc. and features expansive lawns, waterfront promenades, innovative playgrounds, a greenway, sports facilities and the popular Jane’s Carousel.
For more information, please visit www.brooklynbridgeparknyc.org
BRIC/Celebrate Brooklyn! Press Contact: Blake Zidell and Yuri Kwon at Blake Zidell & Associates, 718.643.9052 or blake@blakezidell.com / yuri@blakezidell.com.
Brooklyn Bridge Park Press Contact: Leigh Trucks 718.724.6434 or ltrucks@bbpnyc.org.
For a PDF of the press release, click here.
