Shelia E and Bombino come to the BAM R&B Festival at MetroTech Commons in Brooklyn. Bombino performs on Thursday, July 25 and Sheila E on Thursday, Aug. 1. This is the 19th year of the BAM R&B Festival at MetroTech. Each summer for the past 19 years audiences have been entertained by great bands on MetroTech Commons at lunch time, from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. starting in June and concluding in August. The concerts are free, open to the public and performed on a stage in the grass on the MetroTech Commons.
Thousand have attended these wonderful free concerts over its 19 years. Each year events producer, Danny Kapilian has brought top bands to perform in this festival, Ruth Brown, George Clinton, Booker T & the MG’s, Billy Paul, Geri Allen, JD Allen, Shameka Copeland, Fishbone, Larry Graham, India Arie, Zapp Mama, Kindred the Family Soul, Rokia Traore, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Toshi Reagan, Simone, Lakeside, and many more.
This year the acts have included: Mint Condition on June 6, Kaleta & Zozo Afrobeats, June 20, Stooges Brass Band, Avery Sunshine on Wednesday, July 3r the only Wednesday concert of the series (due to 4th of July holiday on Thursday) Sly & Robbie, and Fatoumata Diawara, Malian singer musician. Next Thursday’s concert, July 25 will feature Omara “Bombino” Moctar, Tuareg guitarist and singer who has a newly released album, Nomad on Nonesuch Records.
Shelia E, American singer, bandleader, drummer, and percussionist, who has performed and toured with Prince, George Duke, Ringo Star and Gloria Estefan will take the stage on Thursday, Aug. 1 in what is guaranteed to be a fantastic concert. Sheila comes from a family of Latin music legends. Her father is Latin jazz legend and timbalero, Pete Escovedo, her uncles are acclaimed rock singer- songwriter, Alejandro Escovedo, and original Santana band member Coke Escovedo, and her godfather is “El Rey de los Timbales” (King of the Timbales) Tito Puente. She is a multiple Grammy and American Music Award nominated music director.
The final concert of this season will be on Thursday, Aug. 8, and featuring Shuggie Otis the son of R&B bandleader, legend, Johnny Otis who taught Shuggie to play guitar, bass, harmonica, and organ. Shuggie has been compared to Jimi Hendrix and the great kings of the blues guitar B.B. King, Albert King.
For additional information on the BAM R&B Festival, please contact Monica Ortiz Rossi at mrossi@BAM.org or 718-636-4129 ext 8.
