BRIC to Celebrate Brooklyn with Pharoah Sanders, The Soul Rebels, Tei Shi, Lila Downs, and More

The BRIC Festival has announced its full lineup! See the full schedule below!

THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 7:00 P.M.
YEASAYER | POLIÇA | CYMBALS EAT GUITARS
FREE

The illustrious experimental rock trio Yeasayer makes their bandshell debut in an evening of "pan-ethnic spiritualism, filtered through walls of echo and layers of gossamer synths" (Pitchfork). Over four records they have built a meticulous sound that invites careful inspection, or can simply wash over you like a wave. Poliça burst from the same Minneapolis scene that brought us Gayngs and Volcano Choir, and can be described as "a heavily digitized Norah Jones atop Radiohead at its most polyrhythmic" (Pitchfork). Shoegazing, shimmering rockers Cymbals Eat Guitars start things off.

FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 7:30 P.M.
American Express Series
PHAROAH SANDERS | BROOKLYN RAGA MASSIVE: COLTRANE TRIBUTE
FREE

Tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders emerged from the storied and controversial John Coltrane ensembles of the 1960s, where he eschewed traditional jazz structures in favor of expressionistic, wondrous, nearly anarchic sound-making. Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world" and he has continued to blaze new trails with his signature "sound like a midnight riptide" (The New York Times). Brooklyn Raga Massive, the beating heart of Indian Classical music in New York City, tips their cap to Sanders with a tribute to the music of Coltrane.

SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 7:00 P.M.
Bud Light Music Series
THE SOUL REBELS featuring TALIB KWELI | PHAROAHE MONCH & KIRK KNIGHT | GOAPELE | NATASHA DIGGS OF #SOULINTHEHORN
FREE

New Orleans' most beloved brass ensemble The Soul Rebels brings the spirit of the bayou to the bandshell for the evening, joined by special guests Talib Kweli, Pharoahe Monch and Kirk Knight. The Rebels' high-energy, genre-hopping sound has been characterized as "the missing link between Public Enemy and Louis Armstrong" (Village Voice). Natasha Diggs of #Soulinthehorn spins throughout the night, and Goapele, "the spiritual love child of Sade and D'Angelo" (Rolling Stone), kicks things off with sumptuous neo-soul.

THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 7:30 P.M.
LILA DOWNS | ORKESTA MENDOZA
FREE

Lila Downs is one of today's great ambassadors of Mexican folk music. For twenty-five years, she has brought her magnetic, operatic voice to twelve albums, earning four Latin GRAMMYs. She has a long history as a human rights activist both onstage and off, telling stories that touch on cultural and political issues through "full-throated mariachi singing that would fit right in at Mexico City's Garibaldi Square" (NPR). Orkesta Mendoza specializes in "generous handfuls of cumbia, merengue and ranchera - all fed through a psychedelic prism" (NPR).

FRIDAY, JULY 7, 7:30 P.M.
MUSIQ SOULCHILD | PEOPLE'S CHAMPS
FREE

Musiq Soulchild was raised on the sounds of vintage soul, and has channeled its positive, celebratory spirit over a multi-million-selling twenty-year career. Rolling Stone calls him "arguably the best soul singer ... since Prince" - an accolade that speaks for itself. With twelve GRAMMY nominations under his belt, two platinum records and two gold records, he visits BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival with a goldmine of timeless hooks, and a hot-as-embers band. Brooklyn's ten-piece People's Champs blend afrobeat, indie rock and hip-hop into a "dance party waiting to happen" (Consequence of Sound).

SATURDAY, JULY 8, 7:00 P.M.
Bud Light Music Series
CHRONIXX | CHOP & QUENCH | LAOLU NYC
FREE

Chronixx is one of Kingston's hottest new artists, "modernizing reggae staples and breathing new life into the roots reggae movement" (The Guardian). His style recalls the Rastafarian golden age of the 1970s, with uplifting, consciousness-raising lyrics set to deep, swooning rhythms. New York's all-star ensemble Chop & Quench formed as the cast and band of FELA! The Musical and continue to bring us the city's rowdiest Afrobeat. Nigerian-born artist, musician, and activist Laolu will perform with his band Afromysterics and then will engage in the Sacred Art of the Ori Ritual (body-painting).

THURSDAY, JULY 13, 7:30 P.M.
Bud Light Music Series
Robert Randolph & THE FAMILY BAND | ERIC KRASNO
FREE

Robert Randolph spent his childhood in the House of God Church in Orange, New Jersey, a young pedal steel player steeped in gospel music. And as an adult he has become one of the greatest living guitarists, with "howling melodies and perpetually cresting, lightning-fast explorations" (Rolling Stone) that have earned him admiration from the likes of Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Derek Trucks. His funk-and-soul quintet will fill the park with mellifluous sounds, and GRAMMY-winning artist Eric Krasno, best known as the guitarist in Soulive and Lettuce, sets the tone of the evening.

FRIDAY, JULY 14, 7:00 P.M.
Bud Light Music Series
QUANTIC (LIVE) | TEI SHI | ÁLEX ANWANDTER
FREE

British producer Quantic has traveled the world synthesizing the sounds of dance. A recent chapter living in Colombia brought us the cumbia-tinged 2014 record Magnetica, "a fine slice of mellow grooves, zesty vocals, and full-bodied percussion" (PopMatters). Chilean pop maestro New York City's Tei Shi "creates waves with nothing but her voice and loops," (Pitchfork) and Álex Anwandter visits Brooklyn behind his latest album, Amiga, which was ranked #1 in Rolling Stone's list of the best Latin albums of 2016. Presented in association with the Latin Alternative Music Conference.

SATURDAY, JULY 15, 7:30 P.M.
BEN L'ONCLE SOUL | SWEET CRUDE
FREE

Ben l'Oncle Soul is a French songwriter with an uncanny knack for the sounds and sights of Stax-era soul. His 2010 debut on Motown Records captured his retro stylings to a T, with intricate arrangements and soaring melodies that are "sweet, smooth ... and immediately impressive" (BBC), in a blend of English and French. Sweet Crude, an "extremely exciting New Group with haunting and mesmerizing vocals" (PopMatters), begins the night.

TUESDAY, JULY 18, 7:00 P.M.
SUFJAN STEVENS, Nico Muhly, BRYCE DESSNER & JAMES MCALISTER:
PLANETARIUM
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival Benefit Concert
$50 advance / $55 day of
Tickets can be purchased by visiting BRICArtsMedia.org or AXS.com

THURSDAY, JULY 20, 7:00 P.M.
CONOR OBERST | HOP ALONG | BIG THIEF
BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival Benefit Concert
$40.50 advance / $46 day of show
Tickets can be purchased by visiting BRICArtsMedia.org or AXS.com

FRIDAY, JULY 21, 7:30 P.M.
AMADOU & MARIAM | INNOV GNAWA | AHMEd GallAB DJ SET
FREE

Amadou & Mariam's 2012 album, Folila, which featured guest spots by Santigold and TV On The Radio, among others, was hailed by NME as "a great chuffing masterstroke of genre mixing." But amid the experimentalism, their music still sparkles with the Afro-blues sound that has made this blind husband-and-wife duo one of West Africa's finest musical exports. The thunderous New York City collective Innov Gnawa builds upon Morocco's gnawa tradition with clattering, hypnotic rhythms, and Sinkane's AhmEd Gallab spins to kick things off. Additional sponsorship provided by Ethiopian Airlines.

SATURDAY, JULY 22, 7:00 P.M.
MASHROU' LEILA | DAWN OF MIDI | DJ KHATIR
FREE

Beirut-based indie rockers Mashrou' Leila are breaking boundaries and courting controversy in their home country with lyrics that are by turns satirical and sexual, crooned by frontman Hamed Sinno. Their "deeply layered, darkly textured, and sonically innovative" (NPR) music has been compared to the likes of Radiohead, The Strokes and the Arctic Monkeys. In the current political climate, BRIC is proud to invite to their stage an intercontinental voice of tolerance and gender equality. Experimental acoustic ensemble Dawn of Midi "dismantles jazz with the tools that built it" (Pitchfork), and Lebanon's DJ Khatir opens the night spinning records.

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