Downtown Brooklyn Presents Willoughby Plaza Lunchtime Music
July 29, 2021
This summer, Tuesdays in August come with live music on Willoughby Plaza, featuring a different artist every week! Here’s the schedule:
• August 3: Jorge Glem & Cesar Orozco: Stringwise
Virtuoso Venezuelan cuatro player Jorge Glem has joined forces with Cuban/Venezuelan pianist, composer and arranger César Orozco, to create an original duo in which both performers explore their instruments to the fullest by mixing the rhythmic richness and energy of traditional Latin American genres such as Venezuelan joropo, merengue, and Cuban son with a repertoire of worldwide renowned masterpieces from pop and jazz.
• August 10: Erica Mancini + Smokey Hormel
Erica Mancini is an accordionist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist based in New York City. She can be found performing at Lincoln Center, DIY art parties, accordion festivals, avant garde theater productions, and circus shows. Her versatile use of accordion allows her to explore many genres and styles, spanning from American folk music, polka, rock, cumbia, jazz, experimental and beyond.
Guitarist Smokey Hormel’s touring and recording career includes work with Tom Waits, Beck, Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Neil Diamond, Norah Jones and Adele, among many others. He explores American Roots music, Western Swing, Bossa Nova, and African music in both his work as a sideman as well as with his own musical endeavors Smokey’s Secret Family and Smokey’s Round-up.
• August 17: Noe Socha Duet
Brooklyn-based guitar and harmonica player Noé Socha has created his own signature sound, pairing fiery guitar technique with virtuosic harmonica playing. He is influenced by folk artists such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Delta blues musicians such as Mississippi John Hurt, Muddy Waters, and Lightnin’ Hopkins plus a hint of Hendrix-esque flavor. Noé has had the great honor of touring, performing, and recording with artists such as Nona Hendrix (Labelle), Vernon Reid (Living Color), and GRAMMY Award-Winners Javier Limón and Paula Cole. In 2017, as half of Likho Duo, he released Blues and the World Beyond. He is part of The Blues and Beyond music program.
• August 24: Dahlia Dumont - The Blue Dahlia
Brooklyn-born singer-songwriter and ukulele player Dahlia Dumont, currently living in Paris, France, returns home to perform with her transatlantic project The Blue Dahlia: where waltz and chanson française meet reggae, soul, Americana, dancehall, punk-klezmer and tango-ska, for a high-energy, international musical joyride, featuring French-Portuguese accordionist Loïc da Silva and Japanese bassist Yoshiki Yamada.
The Blue Dahlia, led by singer Dahlia Dumont, switch from reggae to klezmer, Americana to a French-Mexican waltz, on a cheerfully easygoing global fusion set, La Tradition Américaine. (The Guardian)
• August 31: Yasser Tejeda Trio
Guitarist, vocalist, composer and producer Yasser Tejeda writes new music to preserve and celebrate Dominican roots. Yasser gives traditional folkloric music a new spin with jazz, rock, and Caribbean rhythms in a “frenzied celebration of ancestral union” (Billboard). A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, Yasser has released two commercial albums Kijombo (2019) which received six awards from Dominican Republic’s Indie awards including Best Album and Mezclansa (2009), dubbed one of the “100 essential recordings of Dominican music” (Acroarte). He recently released a new acoustic EP Interior.
