Headlining the 8th Annual Sugar Hill Music Festival is Harlem’s own Allan Harris, a renowned jazz vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter. Described by The New York Times as having a “formidable baritone with husky edges and deep resonant low notes,” Harris has received numerous accolades, including the Down Beat “Rising Star Jazz Vocalist” award, the prestigious 2022 Sarah Vaughan International Vocal Competition, and three New York Nightlife Awards for “Outstanding Jazz Vocalist.”
The festival will also honor the memory of Greg Tate, the esteemed African American writer, musician, and producer who passed away in December 2021. A long-time resident of the Harlem community, Tate was a critic for The Village Voice, focusing on Black music and culture. He was also a guitarist and founded and co-led with Jared Michael Nickerson the improvisational band Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber in 1999. Tate was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize for “Excellence in Journalism and the Arts” earlier this year.
One of the Festival’s highlights will be a tribute to Tate’s “FlyBoy in the Buttermilk.” Burnt Sugar will accompany excerpted readings by Nelson George, an author, columnist, music culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker; Harlem native, LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, a renowned poet and sound artist; and Carl Hancock Rux, a historian, social activist, writer, and multidisciplinary artist.
The festival lineup also includes:
The Steven Oquendo Latin Jazz Orchestra, performing danceable Afro-Cuban, salsa, and mambo classics. This big band has shared the stage with Latin luminaries such as Rubén Blades, Eddie Palmieri, and the late great Celia Cruz, la Reina de la Salsa.
Marcus Persiani and the Uptown Hi-Tones, led by the world-renowned musician Marcus Persiani, who has shared the stage with greats such as Dizzy Gillespie, Max Roach, and Tito Puente.
Jennifer Jade Ledesna, a jazz vocalist who has graced New York’s top-tier venues like Carnegie Hall, Minton’s Playhouse, and Jazz@Lincoln Center, as well as stages across Europe, including Switzerland’s Chorus Jazz Club and Norway’s “Silda Jazz Fest.”
The 8th Annual Sugar Hill Festival will be presented at the Sugar hill Luminaries Lawn, Edgecombe Aveune and 155th Street. Bring your chairs and blankets. This event is free and open to the public. While We Are Still Here welcomes donations to help support their public programming. Suggested donations are $25.00.
For more information, visit www.harlemnyc.org.