St. Ann's Warehouse to Kick Off Summer Concerts Tonight with Eli Fola

St. Ann's Warehouse is presenting Get Back! Summer Concerts 2022, a series of free performances presented on four consecutive Wednesday evenings on the panoramic Empire Fulton Ferry Lawn, adjacent to Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Curated by Khadijat Oseni, the 2022 edition of the beloved series begins tonight with the Nigerian-born, New York- and Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary sound artist, saxophonist, DJ, composer, and producer Eli Fola, a joyous favorite of both the 2020 and 2021 Get Back! lineups. Upcoming concerts include the band duendita with Black Feminist DJ nicole misha (July 27); songwriter, bandleader, producer, and flautist Melanie Charles with Zacchae'us Paul (August 3); and Ode to the Black Fiddler, the acclaimed showcase of string players of color (August 10).

Curator Khadijat Oseni said, "One of the major highlights of producing these outdoor concerts with St. Ann's Warehouse has been observing how free access to the arts naturally creates diverse spaces for different communities to come together-especially youth-and find sparks of joy, express themselves, and be present."

GET BACK! SUMMER CONCERTS 2022

Eli Fola, Wednesday, July 20, at 7pm

Eli Fola is the creator and pioneer of the live-hybrid set "Yoruba Tech Soul," an innovative fusion of AfroHouse, techno, jazz, and classical music. He is often regarded as a saxophone genius and branded with the visual art world due to his powerful imagery that showcases Afrohouse and spirituality in a modern context. Eli has shared the stage with icons like ASAP Rocky, Lil Wayne, and 2 Chainz, and has performed alongside other major artists including Black Coffee, Pablo Fierro, and Audiofly. In 2016, he founded Tech Afrique, a growing independent label, events, and cultural platform that promotes Afrofuturist ideas, releases music, and showcases upcoming DJs and producers around the world. With a special focus on the historically underrepresented BIPOC community, the label has successfully released three EPs and curated a sizzling event series across New York City and Tulum, Mexico that highlights the magic of his multicultural artistry. Eli gave a popular 2017 TED Talk focused on how music can be used to reconcile and highlight differences in culture and identity.

duendita + nicole misha, Wednesday, July 27, at 7pm:

​​duendita is a band from Queens, New York. They write and produce their own music, imbuing it with a reverence for their ancestry, community, and faith. Flowing in various shapes and formations, duendita is a living collaborative project made with family and friends across mediums and cities.

nicole misha (she/they) is a Black Feminist DJ, producer, and artist born and based in Brooklyn, NY. nicole "travels the spaceways" in her sets-unbound to genre or category. Some of her favorite bands are Drexciya, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and JPEGMAFIA. On and off the dancefloor, nicole misha uses all media to assert her freedom and the freedom of her people. In her words, "We can only get HIGHER!"

Melanie Charles with Zacchae'us Paul, Wednesday, August 3, at 7pm

Melanie Charles is a Brooklyn-born singer, songwriter, bandleader, producer, actress, and flautist of Haitian descent, with a creative fluidity spanning jazz, soul, experimental and roots music. Charles' genre-bending style has been embraced by a wide range of artists including Wynton Marsalis, SZA, Mach-Hommy, Gorillaz, and The Roots. Throughout her career, she has remained committed to making music that pushes listeners to consider new possibilities, both socially and politically. "Make Jazz Trill Again," a project she launched in 2016, demonstrates her allegiance to everyday people, especially the youth, and is focused on taking jazz from the museum to the streets. Earlier this year, Charles' Tiny Desk (Home) Concert debuted on NPR Music, who proclaimed, "Melanie Charles takes us on a journey that embodies the soul of jazz: exploration."

Ode to the Black Fiddler, Wednesday, August 10, at 7pm

Known for its high-caliber and diverse programs, Ode to the Black Fiddler (OBF) showcases the artistry and versatility of professional string performers of color while engaging the local community and empowering the next generation of music makers.

OBF's Get Back! concert will feature dynamic string performances by Latin Grammy-winning violinist, vocalist, and dancer La Lulu and violinist/multi-instrumentalist Lee England Jr., as well as sounds by DJ Sunny Cheeba.

Sunny Cheeba is a multi-dimensional creative, weaving her passions of DJing, farming, and plant alchemy-her life's work. Liberating the land by day and the dance floor by night, Sunny's mission involves uplifting the mind, body and soul.

Spicy without pepper and hotter than a volcano, La Lulu is a triple threat: vocalist, dancer and Latin Grammy award-winning violinist. Born Luisa Bastidas in Cali, Colombia, La Lulu has played with different ensembles throughout the world and co-founded the Brooklyn-based band, Strings N Skins. La Lulu is constantly breaking barriers in music and proudly representing her beloved Colombia.

Endorsed by Michael Jordan, signed by Quincy Jones, and supported by the likes of Sean "Diddy'' Combs, Lee England Jr. has paved a unique path as a violinist. Although he is classically trained, he is claimed as "The Soul Violinist" because of his stylistic blend of R&B, hip-hop, and soul. In addition to his mastery of this instrument, he adds viola, cello, bass, guitar, drums, piano, and voice to his arsenal of sound.

ABOUT GET BACK!

St. Ann's Warehouse first presented Get Back! in 2020, when all indoor cultural events had been canceled and New Yorkers had been sheltering in place for months. Inspired by the Beatles' iconic 1969 rock event, the series provided an innovative way to bring artists back to work and live music to Brooklyn Bridge Park, entertaining and nurturing people strolling through and sitting in the Park. Musicians lifted their instruments and voices for the first time in six months and performed unannounced shows (to avoid creating crowds) from St. Ann's roof balcony. Featured artists included musicians Bill Frisell, Stephane Wremble, Eli Fola, Bobby Previte, Red Baraat's Sunny Jain, the Arturo O'Farrill Trio, Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, and downtown music theater artists Stew, Oklahoma!'s Damon Daunno, Lance Horne, Joey Arias, Machine Dazzle, Nia Drummond, and Mikaela Bennett.

In response to the series' popularity, and as part of a commitment to free public art presented outside its walls, St. Ann's Warehouse continued Get Back! last year with concerts by musicians and poets including Cyrus Aaron & the BLK HRS, Mach-7 Muzik's The Cypher, Mahogany L. Browne's Rhythm Section, Vuyo Sotashe Quintet, Sunny Jain, and SaaWee & J. Hoard. Beyond Get Back!, the organization has expanded its programming of timely public art with Khadijat Oseni and Julian Alexander's Supremacy Project, currently installed on the exterior walls of St. Ann's Warehouse; Fandango at the Wall, a free concert that reunited Arturo O'Farrill and his 18-piece Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra with son jarocho musicians traveling from Veracruz, Mexico, and a stellar array of guest artists, attracting an audience of over 4,000 to Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier I on July 9; and the upcoming Little Amal Walks New York, a collaboration between St. Ann's Warehouse and The Walk Productions that will bring Amal, the internationally celebrated 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old refugee Syrian girl, to New York City for a three-week walk spanning all five boroughs, September 14 - October 2. Little Amal Walks New York is a celebration of art, hope, and shared humanity that aims to unite communities and refocus attention on the urgent refugee crisis.

CON EDISON'S ARTS AL FRESCO SERIES

The Get Back! Summer Concerts 2022 are part of Con Edison's Arts Al Fresco, a series of free and safe outdoor arts experiences across the five boroughs and Westchester County. Frances A. Resheske, Con Edison's senior vice president, Corporate Affairs, said, "With the diverse neighborhoods, communities and parks of New York as its stage, Con Edison's Arts Al Fresco series is pleased to support an eclectic array of arts and cultural experiences for all to enjoy," said. "Con Edison is a long-standing supporter of the arts, and Arts Al Fresco is another way we can help share and broaden appreciation for the arts again this summer."

ABOUT ST. ANN'S WAREHOUSE

St. Ann's Warehouse plays a vital role on the global cultural landscape as an American artistic home for international companies of distinction, American avant-garde masters and talented emerging artists ready to work on a grand scale. St. Ann's signature flexible, open space allows artists to stretch, both literally and imaginatively, enabling them to approach work with unfettered creativity, knowing that the theater can be adapted in multiple configurations to suit their needs.

In the heart of Brooklyn Bridge Park, St. Ann's Warehouse is a spectacular waterfront theater that opened in October 2015. The new Joseph S. and Diane H. Steinberg Theater offers St. Ann's signature versatility and grandeur on an amplified scale while respecting the walls of an original 1860's Tobacco Warehouse. The building complex includes a Studio for smaller-scale events and community uses, a welcoming foyer/exhibit space, and The Max Family Garden, designed by landscape architects Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and open to Brooklyn Bridge Park visitors during Park hours.

Over four decades of consistently acclaimed landmark productions that found their American heart and home at St. Ann's include Lou Reed's and John Cale's Songs for 'Drella; Marianne Faithfull's Breaking Away and Seven Deadly Sins; Artistic Director Susan Feldman's Band in Berlin; Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers' Theater of the New Ear; The Royal Court and TR Warszawa productions of Sarah Kane's 4:48 Psychosis; The Globe Theatre of London's Measure for Measure with Mark Rylance; Druid Company's The Walworth Farce, The New Electric Ballroom and Penelope by Enda Walsh and the Landmark / Galway International Arts Festival Productions of Walsh's Misterman, featuring Cillian Murphy, Ballyturk and Arlington; Lou Reed's Berlin; the National Theater of Scotland's Black Watch and Let the Right One In; Kneehigh Theatre's Brief Encounter, 946 and Tristan & Yseult; Yael Farber's Mies Julie; Dmitry Krymov Lab's Opus No. 7; The Donmar Warehouse all-female Shakespeare Trilogy directed by Phyllida Lloyd: Julius Caesar, Henry IV, The Tempest; Kate Tempest's Brand New Ancients; Tricycle Theatre's Red Velvet, the Young Vic production of A Streetcar Named Desire with Gillian Anderson; Mark Rylance's Nice Fish, The National Theatre's People, Places & Things, and the World Premiere of the complete Taylor Mac's A 24 Decade History of Popular Music, including the one-time only 24-hour marathon in 2016. St. Ann's has championed such artists as The Wooster Group, Mabou Mines, Jeff Buckley, Cynthia Hopkins, Daniel Kitson, Emma Rice and Kneehigh, Hal Willner's multi-artist tribute concerts, and an historic David Bowie concert in 2002. Prior to the pandemic, St. Ann's produced a reimagined Oklahoma! directed by Daniel Fish, in association with the Bard Fisher Center and co-producer Eva Price, which went on to win the 2019 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical; The Gate Theatre Dublin's acclaimed Hamlet, directed by Yael Farber, featured a knockout performance by Academy Award and Tony nominee Ruth Negga; and an astonishing play about refugees, The Jungle, a Good Chance Theatre co-production with London's National Theatre and The Young Vic will return for a second run next March. During the COVID-19 pandemic, St. Ann's has reconfigured its facade and rooftop balconies for public art presentations of music and visual art, bringing artists back to work and offering its arches, walls and lightboxes to BIPOC artists such as Supremacy Project, committed to ending violence through art.

St. Ann's Warehouse is located in Brooklyn Bridge Park at 45 Water Street|DUMBO|Brooklyn, NY 11201.

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