Afropop Worldwide

Central Park SummerStage was the scene of an ecstatic summer blowout on Sun., July 16, when New York turned out in force for a tribute to Fela Kuti. New York’s own Underground System kicked off with a hard-hitting, female-fronted take on Afrobeat. Idiosyncratic jazzman Roy Ayers, who once toured with Fela in Nigeria and made an album with Egypt 80, came next with a blissfully meandering set, and he joined headliner Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 for the final set. It was a perfect summer day, just hot enough to let everyone know it was July. Summer in New York doesn’t get any better. Here are some images from the day… [caption id="attachment_37765" align="aligncenter" width="601"] Underground System. Photos by Banning Eyre[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37772" align="alignnone" width="594"] Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37800" align="aligncenter" width="612"] Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 with Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37801" align="aligncenter" width="601"] Seun Kuti and Spike Lee (Eyre 2017)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37802" align="aligncenter" width="605"] Nenim Iwebuke and Akornefa Akyea at the Afropop Worldwide SummerStage table.[/caption]