Blog July 18, 2017
Fela Kuti Tribute: Seun Kuti, Roy Ayers, Underground System
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…
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Underground System. Photos by Banning Eyre[/caption]
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Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption]
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Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 with Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption]
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Seun Kuti and Spike Lee (Eyre 2017)[/caption]
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Nenim Iwebuke and Akornefa Akyea at the Afropop Worldwide SummerStage table.[/caption]
![Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-6-2-1024x683.jpg)
![Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-10-1024x683.jpg)
![Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-8-2-1024x683.jpg)
![Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-34-1024x683.jpg)
![Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-17-1024x672.jpg)
![Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-13-1024x680.jpg)
![Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-4-2-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-41-665x1024.jpg)
![Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-47-1024x683.jpg)
![Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-55-760x1024.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-196-1024x660.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-95-1024x683.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-77-1024x723.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-16-2-836x1024.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-184-1024x729.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-176-803x1024.jpg)
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![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-145-1024x693.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-132-1024x730.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-36-2-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-28-2-683x1024.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-32-2-1024x676.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-173-696x1024.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-159-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-81-1024x683.jpg)
![Seun Kuti and Spike Lee (Eyre 2017)](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-2-1024x768.jpg)
![](https://afropop.org/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-13-1024x768.jpg)