Support is provided by: All kinds of festivals across the state of Utah including history and heritage, horse shows, science shows, outdoor festivals, jamborees, and more. Over six weekends in the summer of 1969, the Harlem Cultural Festival drew more than 300,000 people. Reverend Jesse Jackson reflects back on that crucial time and is also seen in original stage footage with Ben Branch and the Operation Breadbasket Orchestra and Choir. This speaks to a larger truth about Black people standing and advocating for ourselves when others refuse to do it. July 13, 1969. Harlem Cultural Festival 1969 Setlists Jun 29 1969 Date Sunday, June 29, 1969 - Sunday, August 24, 1969 Venue Mount Morris Park, New York, NY, USA Report festival So far there are setlists of 27 gigs. That sentiment would be eloquently conveyed the followed year with Gil Scott-Heron's "Whitey on the Moon" (a song and sentiment that was put to good use in the HBO series "Lovecraft Country"). Questloves Summer of Soul documentary is revealing this event to the world. King, the avant-garde jazz activists Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, the South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela, the groovy black pop ambassadors The 5th Dimension, the Motown up-and-comers Gladys Knight and the Pips and the youthful Stevie Wonder. Lindsay and his advisors walked the streets of Harlem the night after King died. At the 1967 festival, a group of children give their rapt attention to Tony Lawrences band. The nonprofit organization will provide mentoring, apprenticeship opportunities and curriculum to high school students to further foster Harlems next generation of leaders in music, media, art, fashion, science, technology, and entertainment. Drummer Max Roach appears with vocalist Abbey Lincoln interpreting John Coltranes Africa. "The fact that 40 hours of footage was kept from the public," he says, "is living proof that revisionist history exists. ", Hal Tulchin, a longtime television producer, was the only one filming any of itmostly on spec. By most accounts, aside from certain festival excerpts aired early on by WNEW TV and much later the licensing of a few concert clips to record labels like Sony for archival video projects, most of the Harlem Festival footage sat unseen for decades. Where the history of chattel slavery (and its socioeconomic aftermath) sought to permanently elevate European nations over the non-European people they exploited, the history of Pan-Africanism recognized no race or ethnic origin as inherently superior to any other. Questlove Discusses His Must-See New Doc, 'Summer Of Soul', 'Summer Of Soul' Celebrates A 1969 Black Cultural Festival Eclipsed By Woodstock. Get to Know These Black Gamer Characters in TV, Film, and Comics, DC POWER: A CELEBRATION Anthology Honors Black Comic Heroes and Creatives, What It Means to Be Black in the SCREAM Universe, 14 Black Women to Celebrate During Black History Month, A Nerdy Christmas Playlist for Great Holiday Songs You Wont Hear on the Radio, Rihanna Releases Lift Me Up Single for BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER, Nick Lutsko Is a Specter Haunted by a Worse Terror in New Song A Ghost Story. in Entertainment, Music. The film reminds us that the festival came after America had witnessed the murders of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert Kennedy, and Malcolm X. And we want our people, we want our people lifting us up.. After the summer of 1969, the summer concert series did not happen again, even though it had been announced for the following summer. Staged in Harlem's Mount Morris Park in summer 1969, weeks before Woodstock festival in upstate New York, the event attracted trailblazing Black artists including Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone,. The music scene of the late sixties and early seventies was a zenith for these styles, and African Americans were a vital part of it all. The 1969 edition of the festival was a carefully coordinated reaction to these cumulative losses. What do you wonder about that youd like us to investigate? King, David Ruffin, the Chambers Brothers, Mongo Santamara, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, and a nineteen-year-old Stevie Wonder, who masters the drums in addition to the keyboards. The comic legends Pigmeat Markham and Moms Mabley made appearances, and the final show included a Miss Harlem pageant. He resides in Johnstown, Pa., but considers the world as his neighborhood. Related Some Good News from Oscar Season: How Big Studios Supported Questlove and Hamaguchi (Column) Summer of Soul Producer Calls Out Chris Rock for Labeling Him One of Four White Guys Related New Movies: Release Calendar for December 23, Plus Where to Watch the Latest Films Oscars 2023: Best Original Score PredictionsThe original event featured performances from Nina Simone, B.B. Iterations of the Harlem Cultural Festival were held in 1967 and 1968, but the 1969 events were the apex. Cookie Settings, Courtesy Historic Films, copyright 2006 The Tulchin Group, Dried Lake Reveals New Statue on Easter Island. It's time for the exciting 4th annual RedStone - Highland Games & Festival in sunny St George, Utah! Gladys Knight, reflecting emotionally, provides new commentary about her feelings of being a part of the Harlem Cultural Festival. Mavis Staples helped gospel legend Mahalia Jackson sing Precious Lord, Take My Hand, Martin Luther King Jr.s favorite song. ITS BACK! The comic vets Moms Mabley and Pigmeat Markham supplied the standup relief. Excerpts from the TV producer Hal Tulchins 40 hours of footage of the 1969 festival (which remain largely unseen) show a reverential crowd, keeping time with Nina Simone, the High Priestess of Soul, as she opened her four-song set on Aug. 17 with a new single, Revolution. It was a country-meets-Tin Pan Alley protest jam informing white folks that The only way that we can stand in fact/Is when you get your foot off our back bluntly capturing the sentiment of the moment. It wasnt just about the music. Then, after the 1968 Festival, Lawrence worked during the off-season to secure funding to help expand it for 1969, and he planned to have it broadcast on national television. Gospel highlights include Mahalia Jackson singing Precious Lord Take My Hand, along with Mavis Staples (who shares heartfelt memories of her experience). The swell of emotion we see is simply beautiful and says more about the meaning and importance of the event than mere words could convey. The Harlem Cultural Festival, also known as "Black Woodstock", was a series of music concerts held in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City during the summer of 1969 to celebrate African American music and culture and to promote the continued politics of Black pride. June 27, 1967. Over the course of six weeks in 1969, veteran TV producer Hal Tulchin filmed the Harlem Cultural Festival. (801) 576-9019. May we celebrate and honor the Harlem Cultural Festival across America from this point forward. By. At this concert, Nina Simone sang about being young, gifted, and Black while encouraging people to fight hard for their rights. This is a feast for both ears and eyes, as the fashions and wardrobes of the era are on full, colorful display. Mayor John Lindsay with the gospel singer Mahalia Jackson outside her dressing room. In 1969, during the same summer as Woodstock, another music festival took place 100 miles away. July 13, 1969. This was Harlems sonic playground, and it featured the likes of the gospel crossover sensation Edwin Hawkins, the blues icon B.B. The photos and video certainly tell the truth about Woodstocks crowds having been overwhelmingly white. In 1969, a glorious summer celebration of music and culture took place in New York. Harlem Cultural Festival Of 1969 Fuels Summer Of Soul. July 13, 1969. King, The Staple Singers, Nina Simone, Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, Moms Mabley, and Gladys Knight & the Pips. The Harlem Cultural Festival took place on six Sundays beginning June 29 and ending August 24, 1969, in Mount Morris Park (now named Marcus Garvey Park). Cookie Policy Musically, culturally, and yes, politically, there is much to learn here. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their black-gloved fists in silent protest at the Olympics later that year. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. The crowd gets moving, at the first Harlem Cultural Festival. Director Hal Tulchin Stars The 5th Dimension Gladys Knight & The Pips Jesse Jackson The Civil Rights movement continued to expand with Freedom Riders facing violence for protesting bus segregation and nationwide sit-ins at restaurants. This heartbreaking sentiment that poses a major question: How much Black history is still buried or completely lost because the majority didnt think it was worth acknowledgement nor preservation? HFC is also set to run A Harlem Jones open mic night at the Museum of the City of New York in tribute to the 25th anniversary of Love Jones on April 15. To Morgan, the center of community is a marketplace, a business, and a way for people to trade, which is why his concerts, like the Harlem event half a century ago, place so much emphasis on not just music but black business and socio-economic empowerment.. A weekly series of six concerts put on in Harlem's Mt. I myself would benefit from these programs once I came of age. Swinging evangelical combos delivered encouraging yet sardonic sermons over funky backbeats. I am interested in going behind the scenes to explore the creative process; seeing how pop culture reflects social issues; and providing a context for art and entertainment. The total attendance was some 300,000 people strong. It is likely that Questlove studied these 1970s concert films because of the ways in which Summer of Soul similarly intersperses diverse styles of live music with trenchant observations from participants. The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festivals success speaks to how this specific time is a significant snapshot of Black history. No charge for contestants. Thankfully, the long wait is over, and the world can now view and understand how essential and historic these concerts were in relation to the changing times. Aug. 8, 1969. One articulate interviewee declares that the moon landing is in no way more important than the speakers and musicians celebrating black unity at Mount Morris Park. The Harlem Cultural Festival was arguably one of the first of its kind to promote black pop as transformative urban event, as a site to be inhabited as well as a sound to be experienced, and the key to new neighborhood connections and collaborations. This event saw thousands of people flock to Harlem in New York to celebrate black history, culture, music and fashion. Any Black event always doubles as a fashion show, with attendees showing off an array of clothing and hair styles. "As opposed to, say, Wattstax, where you see a kitschy funkifying of 70s America. In 1967, Lindsay became Vice Chair of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, established by President Johnson during the Detroit riots to investigate how best to prevent further urban unrest. Summer of Soul contains an abundance of awe-inspiring material. hide caption. Advance preparations for the event were so elaborate that a corporate sponsor was required to guarantee musicians would be paid and the event could be filmed. A lone review of this film may not do justice in attempting to describe the raw energy and magic of the performers. The sheer volume of talent at the time was overwhelming. "It was a peanuts operation, because nobody really cared about Black shows," said Tulchin, now 80, from his home in Bronxville, New York. Presented by Dragonfly Wellness at Dragonfly Wellness, Salt Lake City UT. South African musician Hugh Masekela joined African American performers in the 3rd edition of the Harlem Cultural Festival's celebration of Black creativity and international solidarity. Lindsays belief that We can lick the problems of the ghetto, if we care, morphed into the concert posters slogan, Do you care? Lindsay was introduced as the blue-eyed soul brother, and the gospel great Mahalia Jackson who would join the newly solo vocal powerhouse Mavis Staples for a duet spoke confidently of his impending victory. The Harlem Cultural Festival could have easily been lost in time outside of those who are still alive to recall the event and Harlem residents who celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019. The white interviewees all express pride and excitement but the Black interviewees point out how that money could have been better spent helping African American communities. For specifics about any event please see contact info provided with event listing or contact the host organization directly. And who knows? See production, box office & company info, Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) (2021). Having lost Medgar Evers in 1963, Malcolm X in 1965, then both the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968, ordinary Black citizens were tired of counting martyrs. There is no record of his car being blown up, and Poitier has said he has no recollection of Lawrence. However, he was unable to sell it to any film or television outlet, although New York's WNEW-TV Metromedia Channel 5 broadcast footage on Saturday evenings at 10:30, from June-August 1969. Non-violent and legislative attempts to dismantle institutionalized racism had led to a devastating series of political assassinations during the 1960s, most attributed to arcane conspiracy theories. (Simone closed out her performance by reading the fiery poem Are You Ready, Black People? The Last Poets David Nelsons spoken-word call-to-action, asking of the crowd, Are you ready to smash white things, to burn buildings?). The six shows had a combined attendance of close to 300,000, rivaling that of Woodstock. Tensions had been running high in the city from spring into summer as the first anniversary of the Rev. For 50 years, 45 hours worth of footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in New York sat in a basement, remaining unseen by the public. Privacy Statement So it came as little surprise when the NYPD refused to provide security for the festival. Some of the headliners included B.B. Soul, gospel, blues, jazz, R & B, funk, and rock. In America, this goes back to enslaved people encoding their songs with plans of escaping towards freedom. Sixteen months before the festival, John Lindsay, a progressive Republican was elected mayor of New York. Sly and the Family Stone's set included "Everyday People," a number-one hit at the time, and. Then as now, they witnessed money being wasted on wars and frivolous space flights that would be better spent solving critical ecological problems on earth. King, Nina Simone, Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, the Fifth Dimension, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Moms Mabley, Pigmeat Markham and more. We wanted progress. In addition to the performances, the festival provided a stage for issues. People were sitting in the trees. The International Folk Festival celebrates its 10TH anniversary at the Sandy Amphitheater bringing local folk groups together from across Utah to perform dances . Summer of Soul (Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) is showing in both theatres and on Hulu streaming. Because it is a part of history.. Advance preparations for the event were so elaborate that a. Later in the film The Fifth Dimension's Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. also watch footage with a similar response and it is moving. April 14 - 15, 2023. kd @ gmail.com. Total attendance for the concert series was over 300,000. Sly and the Family Stone in Summer of Soul. Tony Lawrence invited the 200 people who had protested the construction of an office building instead of a school. July 13, 1969. "This was before DVDs, before VCRs, when you can just soak in it whenever you want," she said. Hal Tulchin managed to capture the entire event on film, as he thought that the music and the setting could be made into a feature-length film. Held in Harlem at Mount Morris (what is now Marcus Garvey) Park, it was a self-consciously urban affair, a concert series rather than a one-off, and already in its third year. Both Jesse Jackson and Ben Branch were in Memphis with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the time of the assassination on April 4, 1968, and Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke, and Nina Simone read a black nationalist poem by David Nelson, which contrasted with the tones of Jesse Jacksons speech. Publication of festival information does not imply endorsement by or affiliation with Festivival. Theres an inexplicable power and comfort in being in a sea of Black faces and enjoying a freeing experience together. Oscar, Grammy, and Peabody award-winning documentary Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) has sparked a reimagining of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which the film explores. Mayor Lindsay is introduced onstage by Tony Lawrence as our blue-eyed soul brother and is seen having a good time with the audience. You are now being logged in using your Facebook credentials. The Harlem Cultural Festival enveloped New York Citys Mount Morris Park in Black Pride with a series of live music concerts spanning six weekends from June 29 through August 24. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it." Its not the same for the Harlem Cultural Festival. The police even refused to provide security for the event, and the Panthers stepped in to fill the void. Contact International Folk Festival [email protected]. Questlove, drummer for the Roots, the in-house band for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, flawlessly combines never-before-seen footage of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival with new commentaries, creating a truly essential and entertaining viewing experience. The Harlem Cultural Festival was a series of events, mainly music concerts, held annually in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, between 1967 and 1969 which celebrated African American music and culture and promoted Black pride. Your Privacy Rights Presented by Heritage Center Theater at Festival Hall and Heritage Theater - Cedar City, Cedar City UT. John Lindsay, New York City mayor from 1966 to 1973, fully supported the festival. Mavis Staples and Mahalia Jackson perform at the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival in Summer of Soul. The year of Kings death was undoubtedly a major breaking point for Black people. King Cal Tjader Chuck Jackson David Ruffin Edwin Hawkins Singers George Kirby Gladys Knight and The Pips Ethel Beaty-Barnes, then an 18-year-old fresh from her high-school graduation, still remembers what she wore to the Sly & The Family Stone concert in Harlem in 1969: a floral halter top and matching bellbottoms, her hair in a sidebun. I couldnt think of a better person to charge through than Musa, whose devoted roots in the community make him the perfect person to represent for Harlem. And you know the reason why. Perhaps mainstream gatekeepers hoped posterity would forget the Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969, even though other redemptive celebrations of Black Pride staged in Ghana, in Zaire, and in Los Angeles, were filmed and released theatrically during the 1970s. Summer of Soul, the new documentary from Questlove, spotlights 1969's Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that entertainer turned promoter Tony Lawrence presented in Harlem's Mount . The Edwin Hawkins Singers, stately in their choir gowns, offered the triumphant promise of "Oh Happy Day." The citys new mayor, John Lindsay, felt the initiative could help ease some racial tensions and appease Black residents. The Harlem Cultural Festival took place on six Sundays beginning June 29 and ending August 24, 1969, in Mount Morris Park (now named Marcus Garvey Park). Max Roachs son, Raoul Roach adds, My dad and Abbey just didnt see the civil rights struggle as an American thing, they saw the struggles in the Caribbean, South America, and in Africa all as part of a common struggle. Hugh Masekela commands the stage, as the film describes how the South African musician always supported oppressed citizens worldwide. Of course, racism tried to rear its ugly head with NYPD refusing to provide security during the concerts debut weekend. Free to the public Scottish fun for the whole family! Date Sun Jun 29, 1969 - Sun Aug 24, 1969 Map Mount Morris Park 18 Mt Morris Park W Harlem New York 10027 United States AlsoKnownAs The Black Woodstock Years active 1969 Founded by Tony Lawrence Official Links Arts & Acts Abbey Lincoln B.B. Jackson also noted what an impact it was to see 50,000 Black people gathered in one place celebrating Black culture. The concert she attended, what some now call the Black Woodstock, came on the heels of two of Malcolm X's former aides being shotone fatally. Then the footage sat in his basement for 50 years because he couldnt get anyone interested in turning it into a documentary. In fact, Dr. Kings friend and fellow activist Jesse Jackson spoke at the Harlem Cultural Festival. Tears flow and emotions stir in these segments, as the Harlem Cultural Festival was such an important and timely event in their lives. Black America's acute sense of being forcibly denied both altruistic leadership and hope made the Harlem Cultural Festival about more than mere music. Questlove has said that he believes the fact that no one bought and compiled these landmark performances into a music documentary before now represents an attempt to deliberately ignore or erase important Black cultural activity. We want to authentically encapsulate the full scope: the energy, the music, the culture. The stage featured extraordinary artists from the sisterly harmonies of The Staple Singers to headlining sets by B.B. The success of Summer of Soul has proved the tapes to be just that, with the movie grossing over $1 million dollars so far. With vocalist Abbey Lincoln interpreting John Coltranes Africa that year musician always oppressed! For ourselves when others refuse to do it. a part of history.. Advance preparations the! When the NYPD refused to provide security for the Harlem Cultural Festival were in. 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