This summer I helped organize a new afrobeat/funk/world band for a series of outdoor performances out on the street in a busy intersection in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. It’s been great fun seeing the diverse audience that shows up or discovers us playing – from little kids who dance around wildly, to teenagers who start out skeptical but end up getting into us, to the Nigerian guy who got unbelievably excited to hear us play a Fela tune, to the drunken Caribbean guy who shouted along happily when we struck up a reggae tune but loudly showed his disapproval whenever we played something in any other style!
It’s been wonderful to be in a funky band again and get the people up and dancing. Everyone in the group is having lots of fun so we’ll be continuing with the project in the fall.
