Red Hook was just treated to almost six nights of world class entertainment courtesy of City Park’s SummerStage. The word almost is used because the opening show, scheduled for Tuesday, June 2, was rained out at the last minute. Those that did show up at the soccer field in front of the Red Hook Rec Center did get to see the legendary Scarface, who was waiting for the rain to stop with the rest of us, but the moisture made it dangerous to power up the sound system.
The weather held up for the rest of the week, which turned into something like Red Hook’s own Tanglewood Festival. Unlike Tanglewood, you didn’t have to spend a penny and you could walk right over. Last year SummerStage gave us three hip hop shows – this year the programming was more diverse, yet just as relevant to everyone who lives here.
The Star-Revue was at every show hosting a sponsor table. This turned out not to be a task but a pleasure. The week intertwined music and dance in an uplifting way. On Sunday night I found myself wandering through the back of the park, amidst the Battlefield movie, the brightly lit ship on the waters of Gowanus GBX, and the illuminated baseball diamond where softballers were practicing, not to mention a beautiful stand of oak trees, thinking that this might be as close to utopia as one gets. Especially if you can remember those days when a late night walk through Red Hook Park (and most city parks, for that matter) was ill advised.
The music ranged from hard core rap to alt. country. Dance ranged from extreme street to traditional West African. There was a film showing and a poetry reading. There were cellos, electric basses and upright string basses.
Scarface rained out
As mentioned, the first night’s much anticipated appearance of Scarface – described as an “old-school” rapper, was cancelled due to rain, although he did end up taking his performance indoors to Delancey Street in Manhattan later that night.
Phony Ppl opened the show Wednesday night. I have been listening to music for many years, but my relationship with hip hop begins and almost ends with the Talking Heads album “Remain in Light.” That’s not altogether true, as I’ve been a fan of Afro Pop and even the song Gin and Juice, although as done by the country band “The Gourds.”
Phony Ppl played a mellow hip hop – at least that’s how I hear it. The musicianship is great – the bassist looks like the prototypical musician, neo mohawk with a bright yellow embroidered dashiki shirt, fu manchu moustache and playing some mean bass lines. There were two contrasting vocalists – one sang in the mode of a rapper, the other, a tall willowy man with long dreads and a pants that went out and then in again, sang gently, you might even say he crooned. It worked.
After an intermission, a whole crew of guys, led by the main man – Troy Ave – overwhelmed the stage to the sound of gunshots. They were just sounds, although later I heard that people living nearby were kind of wondering what was going on. The chanting that took place included all kinds of phrases that on the one hand were kind of liberating to hear, but on the other hand, I’m not going to repeat them here.
Before these shows, the Star-Revue published a preview and put it on the back page of the June issue as well as posting it on Facebook. We got a few comments from people who were concerned that this kind of music would bring hoodlums or gangsters to the neighborhood. While the audience enjoyed the music, at its conclusion everybody very peacefully picked themselves up and headed out into the Red Hook night. One couldn’t have asked for a more polite crowd. There was minimal police presence, which was appropriate as none was needed.
The Felice Brothers, a popular country rock band from the Hudson Valley, were the main act on Thursday. As opposed to many of the other acts, who seemed to think it appropriate to do Brooklyn shout outs many times, The Felice Brothers shouted out the Van Brunt Street bar Bait and Tackle, where they played almost ten years ago. This show started a bit earlier than the others, at 6:30, so I walked in as the first act was playing. Actually, I didn’t realize I was late, and thought it was a sound check. But it was really the first song of an exemplary set by a Montreal based band – the Barr Brothers (see associated story). Smack dab in the middle of the stage sat a full sized harp, alongside the more typical bass, guitar and drums. If one looked carefully, though, you would see that the drumset included something that looked like a bicycle wheel, and the piano was an interesting looking beat up wooden thing with pedals. All went to make for a distinct, complex sound. A think-good, rather than feel-good band – although I felt real good listening to them.
Shakespeare almost comes to the park
For whatever reason I didn’t research any of these acts before seeing them – I guess I wanted to be surprised. I was really surprised when Lemon Anderson came onstage Friday night. He followed some fun music featuring a man and woman singing with a band calling themselves #LoveHustle. The music was soulful and like many of the other acts who performed this week in Red Hook, they exuded humility – grateful to have been booked by SummerStage and to have a career in the arts, but not forgetting where they came from. Maybe the performers felt it important to say that in Red Hook, as opposed to say, Las Vegas, but while it’s true that Red Hook is home to a large low-income community, it is one of the safer places in a safe city, including the Houses. And to have the luxury of a beautiful and well-maintained Red Hook Park isn’t too shabby.
So I didn’t know what to expect as Lemon came to the stage. He spoke of growing up nearby, playing in what was then the abandoned Grain Terminal that loomed over the park, walking to the methadone clinic as a young child with his mother. Then he started reciting poetry, in what was a kind of hip hop way, at least I thought so at first, but then I started hearing echoes of Shakespeare and then Allen Ginsberg. A 21st century Allen Ginsburg is what I was thinking. A very homeboy looking woman in a green outfit stood gyrating right in front of the stage, and after a bit, Andersen very graciously acknowledge her as a show stealer and allowed her a few minutes of fame.
He then took out a book and started reading more poetry. All of a sudden I started hearing something that drew forth a memory – I must have encountered Anderson sometime in the past as the words of his poem “Tito Puente,” came back to me. It is a gripping poem about the great Puerto Rican musician.
Anderson was an inspiring performer – and like just about everything I watched this week, an unexpected pleasure and surprise. SummerStage doesn’t mess around with their bookings – this was a great program for Red Hook – it would be for anywhere at any price.
Saturday night featured one act – the KanKouran West African Dance Company. The night began with a class – audience members came up on stage and were taught movements and danced alongside the troupe, which featured a number of amazing drummers. What was a class became a performance as the audience members turned dancers followed the movement of leader Assane Konte for a full 45 minutes. I was glad actually that I didn’t run up – as I’m not sure I could have made 15.
After a short break, the stage became awash in color as the company, dressed in traditional African garb came on stage. The drummers wore a bright yellow, the male dancers a bright red, and the woman wore colorful robin’s-egg blue dresses with splashes of magenta and yellow, and yellow head scarves. For over an hour we were presented with a show that one might see as part of an Ivy League college’s cultural program. Konte told the audience that all the performers had doctoral degrees. A peak at their website informs that indeed all the performers “are involved in diverse academic, professional and entrepreneurial pursuits, and who credit KanKouran with instilling within them the discipline, pride and commitment to self and community which have made their life pursuits meaningful as well as successful.”
Their joy at performing was infectuous and it was heart warming to see how caring they were to some of the younger members (obviously way to young for graduate school), who both danced and played percussion.
Youth was the theme on Sunday as teenage rock bands ruled the stage from 4 – 7 pm. Another commitment caused me to miss the girl bands that were part of the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, but I heard they were outstanding. I did catch a trio of local 14 year olds rock the place out with Hendrix inspired heavy metal. “Unlocking the Truth.” Heavy metal was never my thing, but these kids were just so very professional – and decent musicians to boot. I looked them up online afterwards, as well, and found that they have been playing music together since just about kindergarten. Then I read that they signed a big recording deal with Sony Records which has since become an albatross, and which they are trying to get out of. What I saw with my own eyes was the young lead singer/guitarist loading up his equipment in his parents Honda and drive home. Like so many of the other musicians that played Red Hook this week, their graceful humility showed through.
The Battlefest League is another well known (except to me) entity that featured movement in freestyle, extreme dancing contests. The dancers gyrate and move to their own beat in contests all over the country. Like just about everything else this week on the Red Hook stage, the performers used movement and music coming from their everyday lives to create moving art.
A puffy, inflatable movie screen was lowered onto the stage, and when it got dark the Battlefield documentary, Flex is Kings, began showing. It was towards the end of the film that I wandered to the back of the park thinking that I was in heaven.
