New Yorkers are accustomed to not having much space, but we're a month into sheltering in place and our notoriously SUV-friendly mayor isn't interested in following the lead of other cities to close a few streets and let us out. So there's no place to go but up, as some of our favorite artists have done.
Yasser Tejeda and Palotré took to a Bushwick roof to rip through “Del Otro Lado” off their latest album, the fantastic Kijombo. As someone trying to channel the daily anxiety of waking up to a body count into practicing guitar, I found this video very cathartic. Tejeda has also been posting videos on Facebook of him practicing classic bachata and merengue tunes, and tells me he's considering setting up a Patreon and giving lessons. I think I could get into that.
One neighborhood across the borough lines, Lollise Mbi, who plays with Underground System, and Morgan Greenstreet, one of Afropop's freelance producers extraordinaire, have been recording together in their Ridgewood apartment. The two had just gotten back from a trip to Botswana before everything shut down. I don't know enough about Botswanan music to hear the influence—but that could all turn around when Greenstreet's program comes out on Afropop next month. You can check out another of their videos here.
As the weather takes a turn to the beautiful and then, inevitably, into the sweltering, we can only hope that the city leadership follows the lead of cities like Oakland or Milan and shuts down a few streets to give people space to get out of their houses while still observing social distancing guidelines. If not...well....I'll wave to you on your roof from mine.
