Author: Burnt Sugar Arkestra

  • Burnt Sugar with Vernon Reid & Melvin VanPeebles Rocks Bryant Park!

    Burnt Sugar with Vernon Reid & Melvin VanPeebles Rocks Bryant Park!

    Burnt Sugar w/Vernon Reid & Melvin Van Peebles Rocks Bryant Park!

    Friday, September 16th @ 6p SHARP, The Black Rock Coalition, in conjunction with the Bryant Park Fall Festival, is proud to kick off the NYC Cultural Season with a live performance by Burnt Sugar featuring Special Guests Vernon Reid & Melvin Van Peebles as they freak the songbooks of James Brown, Ashford & Simpson, Melvin Van Peebles & David Bowie!
    FREE SHOW!!!
    Bryant Park is located behind the New York Public Library between 40th and 42nd Streets between 5th and 6th Avenues.
    The Bryant Park Fall Festival is presented by Bank of America.

    Go to www.bryantpark.org for more info!

    Find this event on Facebook here

  • Indomitable: James Brown at SummerStage

    Indomitable: James Brown at SummerStage

    Indomitable: James Brown at SummerstageIndomitable: James Brown is a testament to the musical, political and entrepreneurial impact of James Brown’s indomitable spirit, creativity and business wiles on American culture from the 1950s to the present.

    The format of the show, moving from hard hitting and precise musical homage to direct testimony to innovative remixes of his biggest hits, provides for a spectacular experience that is dramatically riveting, visually stunning, highly danceable and searing.

    Burnt Sugar’s full complement of male and female vocalists, instrumentalists and dancers allows the show to deftly portray those aspects of Brown’s life and lifestyle that provoked his variations on the battle of the sexes.

    Featuring Brandon Victor Dixon as James Brown, Dixon’s stellar possession of Brown as a performer and complex human being, will leave audiences in awe.

    Director Patricia McGregor’s brilliant shaping of dramatic elements including music, dance, and video projection set against a back drop of critical historical moments creates a vibrant, fast-paced, deeply moving, and unforgettable concert event.

    Burnt Sugar Freaks the James Brown Songbook (An Opera in Progress) was originally presented as part of the Apollo Theater Salon Series. The original music was commissioned as part of a national series of works from Meet the Composer/National Commissioning Network program.

    Get directions

    Visit the SummerStage website

  • Ziggy and the Berlin Trilogy

    Ziggy and the Berlin TrilogyFor this premiere performance Burnt Sugar will trip on some inner glam and Germanic starchild roots and resurrect the moment in musical history when space oddity David Bowie came under the cybernetic sway of Tony Visconti, Brain Eno, Kraftwerk, and Robert Fripp. Albums to be exhumed for reanimation and further study include Hunky Dory, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, Young Americans, Low, Heroes, Lodger, and Station to Station.

    lincolncenter.org

  • DROP THE BOMB PARTY!

    Friday, January 21st starting at 7:30pm, The Black Rock Coalition – Celebrating 25 years (and still going strong) as the ONLY nationwide nonprofit dedicated to supporting the COMPLETE and UNCOMPROMISED FREEDOM, RECOGNITION and EQUALITY of artists of color – will be have a PARTY at The Gibson/Baldwin ER Showroom to coincide with the eagerly awaited release of the BRC compilation CD, ‘Rock n Roll Reparations Volume 2’! Among some… of the artists featured on the CD:

    Fishbone
    The Family Stand
    The oOohh Baby Gimme Mores
    California King
    McRad
    Jeffrey Gaines
    Sophia Ramos
    Tamar-kali
    Stew & The Negro Problem
    The Smyrk
    Pillow Theory
    Swear On Your Life
    The White Noise Supremacists
    Year of the Dragon
    Analogue Transit
    And many, many more!

    There will be LIVE PERFORMANCES by:

    King Aswad
    McRad
    Lachi
    Fifth Nation
    Analogue Transit
    Pillow Theory
    Ajo
    HelixDown
    Burnt Sugar
    And at least ONE VERY SPECIAL GUEST!

    The best part – NO COVER! ABSOLUTELY FREE!

    The Gibson Showroom is located at 421 West 54th Street.

    Special thanks to Sugar Hill Golden Ale for providing adult beverages for the event!

    Check the Black Rock Coalition Facebook page for updates and details. Also, email us at brcmemberinfo@gmail.com to get on e-blast list. You can also follow the Black Rock Coalition on Twitter – BRCnewyork.

    Friday, January 21st will be one for the ages as The Black Rock Coalition will be partying at the Gibson/Baldwin ER Showroom! Don’t say you weren’t told!

  • Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The Man

    Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The Man

    After a sold-out run at the Apollo Theater’s Salon Series, internationally acclaimed Burnt Sugar Arkestra, Tony nominee Brandon Victor Dixon (Color Purple, Lion King and Unchain My Heart) and Director Patricia McGregor (Fela) present a one-night only concert version of Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The Man on Friday, December 17, 2010.

    Doors at 7 Show at 8
    $15 Standing in advance $20 Standing at door
    $25 premium Seating (limited availability)

    Indomitable: James Brown The Music and The ManDirector Patricia McGregor, Associate Director of Broadway’s Tony nominated Fela and co-founder of collaborative performance collective Angela’s Pulse, infuses the staged concert extravaganza with dance and multi-media elements, while the Burnt Sugar Arkestra, conducted by Greg Tate, interprets Brown’s music through their virtuosic skill at recreating and renovating musical styles of many genres. Lead actor, Brandon Victor Dixon (Color Purple,) brings Brown’s voice, movement and soul back to the stage in an unforgettable performance.

    “James Brown was a true American icon. Although he died on December 25, 2006, his influence lives on. The consummate showman, his complex, exhilarating, and socially conscious work formed an entire musical idiom that is the foundation of pop music worldwide.” said Patricia McGregor, Director. “Four years after his death, we wanted to create a performance that would celebrate his extraordinary life. The fusion of Mr. Dixon’s ferocious vocals, and Burnt Sugar’s dynamic improvisation, results in a unique and thrilling evening.

    “ This is a fast paced theatrical tribute to the man who defined a musical era in American History. This 18 piece band explodes with funk and soul, led by the incredibly charming and talented Brandon Victor Dixon. The band members channel his spirit through classics including “Think” “Say It Loud” and “Superbad.”

    Featuring performances by: Imani Uzuri, Shelley Nicole, Lisala, Luqman Brown, LaFrae Sci, V. Jeffrey Smith, Latasha N. Nevada Diggs, Karma Mayet Johnson, “Moist” Paula Henderson, Jared Michael Nickerson, Mikel Banks, Lewis “Flip” Barnes, Micah Gaugh, Curtis Stewart, Will Martina, Avram Fefer, Andre Lassalle, Bruce Mack, Christopher Randolph, Tiffany Rachelle Stewart and Eddie Brown.

    Indomitable is presented by Bert Media LLC, Burnt Sugar Index LLC, Nikole Vallins, and Natalie Malotke.