Yes, you can use the term “dynamic duo!”
Hunter’s Point South Park won a very prestigious international award last week.
This week, Gantry Plaza State Park – which is HPSP’s next-door neighbor (minus the door) – kicks off Live at the Gantries, which hosts free outdoor concerts with the Midtown Manhattan skyline in the background. (They all start at 7 pm.)
Head there on Tuesday, July 8, for Migguel Anggelo’s Icons, which honors Cuban singer Celia Cruz. (Born 100 years ago, La Reina de la Salsa died in July 2003 after a career that includes three Grammys, four Latin Grammys, and several million record sales.)
Adrian Alea, Jaime Lozano, and Anggelo created the tribute, which explores Latin cultural identity, resilience, and music’s transformative power with an all-star ensemble featuring Saúl Cosme on guitars, Lozano on piano, Yahir Montes on bass, and backing vocals by Sara Ornelas and Mayelah Barrera. (A percussionist will be announced.)
Live at the Gantries, a Kupferberg Center for the Arts program that’s now in its 17th year, then presents The Slide Stops on July 15. This Brooklyn-based honky-tonk band is influenced by the music of Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and the Carter Family. Their sets consist of country standards and original songs in a style that aims to make the audience dance and cry.
Next up is Alphonso Horne & The Gotham Kings on July 22. Horne, a two-time Grammy-nominated trumpeter, and his group blend the sounds of New Orleans, Funk, Jazz, and Hip Hop inspired by the King Oliver Creole Jazz Band.
Rebolu, which boasts some of the TriState Area’s finest Colombian-American musicians, hits the stage on July 29. They’ll offer modern sounds rooted in the musical traditions of their Afro-Colombian ancestors from the South American country’s Caribbean coast.
Multi-cultural Malika Zarra is next on Aug. 5. Moroccan-born and French-raised, this mezzo-soprano fuses North African chaâbi, Amazigh (Berber), and Gnawa rhythms with contemporary Urban Jazz. She sings in Amazigh, Arabic, French, and English and handles hand percussion with JC Maillard on guitar and effects and Mamadou Ba on bass.
The grand finale is vocalist and violinist Mireya Ramos on Aug. 12. This Latin Grammy winner and Grammy nominee – who has Dominican and Mexican roots, but grew up in Puerto Rico – blends Mariachi, Salsa, Merengue, Hip-Hop, and Classical music.
Admission is free, and RSVP is not required. Gantry Plaza State Park straddles Central Boulevard and the East River in Long Island City. (It’s west of the East River, thanks to the self-centered Manhattanites who named the body of water.)
Live at the Gantries is presented with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation and support from the Mathis-Pfohl Foundation.
Images: Kupferberg Center for the Arts