City of Providence
Department of Art, Culture & Tourism
David N. Cicilline, Mayor

Celebrate Providence at Waterplace Park This Summer!

The festival will kick off on Friday, June 17, with the delightful sounds of the Providence String Quartet. As the quartet-in-residence for Community MusicWorks, the members of the Providence String Quartet teach violin, viola, and cello lessons to youth in the West End and South Side neighborhoods of Providence , support the social development of their students through mentoring, and create community events for entire families. They will bring their unique and enchanting classical music to Waterplace Park for a very special performance.

On Friday June 24, join us for a one-night trip to the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. Local favorites Lydia Perez and Yoruba II begin the pre-show at 7:00pm with pleny of costumes, dance and bomba music. Then get ready to dance with Los Pleneros De La 21 (http://www.losplenerosdela21.org) will us with their blend of Latin culture and plena music. Plena is an urban genre with roots in West African Music. “San Tomas” and “Si Yo Ouduera” offer a lively, swinging, contemporary taste of bomba traditions. The rapid call-and-response of their voices, the frequently percussive vocal style, melodic-rhythmic sound of bomba drums will sure to have you moving. This incredible evening of music is the kick-off event of FirstWorksKids (www.firstworksprov.org) which takes place through Saturday.

On Friday, July 1, the eclectic sounds of Balla Tounkara (http://www.ballatounkara.com/) will fill downtown Providence . Balla’s music represents the best of tradition and innovation. A Malian kora master of the griot tradition, Balla incorporates a fluid of harmony of old and new world. The blend of rock, reggae, hip-hop, gospel, and blues is truly an original sound. Each song performed is a complex pastiche of culture, philosophy and musical idiom. This performance is truly a great representation of the diverse genres of music the concert series has to offer.

The series continues on July 8, with the multi talented Andy Narell (http://www.headsup.com/bios/narell.html) . Narell has had 11 solo albums and more than 2 as a co-leader of the Caribbean Jazz Project. Andy Narell has pioneered the role of the steel pan in contemporary music. He has recorded with artists as diverse as Marcus Miller, Bela Fleck, Aretha Franklin. He has performed on movie scores by James Horner, Maurice Jarre, Elmer Bernstein, Hans Zimmer, Michel Colombier, and Thomas Newman, and his compositions have been featured in the film The Firm, and TV shows like Designing Women and Going to Extremes, as well as commercials for Apple Computers, Sony, Porsche, and Southwest Bell .  

We then move on to July 15, when we will be treated to a group that rocked the concert series last summer. The Campbell Brothers (http://www.campbellbrothers.com/) will return with their music, that until recently was only heard in gospel churches. They present a compelling, rich variety of African- American gospel music with sacred steel guitar and vocals. When the Campbell Brothers’ take the stage the church house never seems far removed from the roadhouse because their music, often charged by clangorous rhythms, reveals both blues and soul influences. A recipient of the 2002 Indie Award for Best Gospel Album, the Campbell Brothers are truly magnificent.

July 22 will be twice as entertaining. Roy Ayers ( http://www.royayers.com/) and , Ex-Centric Sound System ( http://www.ritmoartists.com/ExCentric/ExCentric.htm and http://www.ex-centric-sound.com/) sit on a double bill to kick off SoundSession ’05, a multi genre, multi-stage music festival produced in collaboration with the Providence Black Repertory Company. At 7:30 legendary jazz vibraphonist, Roy Ayers returns to Waterplace Park . R oy Ayers was during the 1960s one of the most prominent and leading jazz vibraphone players in America . During the 1970s and 80s he came to change his focus and became one of the leading figures in r n'b and jazz/funk. The 1990s has once again brought him into a new direction and he is now regarded being one of the greatest innovators of the acid jazz movement. His music has often been described as being years ahead of it's time.   At 9:15 pm Ex-Centric Sound System takes the stage. The Israeli/Ghanaian world music, ambient, trip-hop, African-dub ensemble Ex-Centric Sound System is the result of many journeys, a chance meeting, and a gathering. Their blend of African, Latin, Caribbean , and African-American music captivates audiences. 

On July 29, Ricardo Lemvo ( http://www.makinaloca.com/) will bring his gifted voice to the series. Vocalist Ricardo Lemvo formed his ten-member Los Angeles-based group in 1990 with musicians from Cuba , Europe , Africa , and the United States . The music is as colorful and diverse as the band itself, consisting of an irresistible fusion of Afro-Cuban rhythms spanning everything from his native Congolese soukous and rumba, to salsa, Cuban son, Puerto Rican bomba, and Dominican merengue and bachata. Singing in a multitude of different languages - Spanish, Portuguese, English, French as well as Lingala and Kikongo from his native Congo – Ricardo’s lyrics parallel the diversity of the his group’s rhythms. Media and audiences worldwide have, enthusiastically received the band’s three CDs.

The series will come to a close with a performance on August 5, by Maria del Mar Bonet (http://www.eyefortalent.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/artist.detail/artist_id/41). Not only is this the culminating performance of the series but it is also the culmination of the week long Magdalena Festival, July 31- August 5. This festival celebrates women in the theater arts and will hold workshops and public performances throughout the week. (www.magdalenausa.org) The warmth of Maria del Mar Bonet’s voice and her passionate elegance have seduced audiences who fall under the Spanish charm of her defiant pride. Born on the island of Majorca , introduced in Barcelona to Catalan musical traditions, and then hit by censorship under the Franco regime, Maria del Mar Bonet has since become the spokesperson for Mediterranean song. She began her first performances abroad in the early seventies in France , Denmark and England , and has visited the following countries during the course of her career: Switzerland , Venezuela , Mexico , Portugal , Poland , Italy , Sweden , Germany , Greece , Tunisia , Holland , Belgium , the former USSR and Japan . Along with numerous awards, she has been credited with popularizing Catalan folk music. This will truly be a spectacular end to this year’s concert series.

The Summer Concert Series at Waterplace Park is presented and sponsored by the City of Providence , David N. Cicilline Mayor, Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, Department of Public Parks, in cooperation with NBC10 WJAR TV.