"TAKE ME TO HARLEM"
The SoapBox Presents "Stoop Sessions
Imagine driving down Malcolm X Blvd. with the windows down. All of a sudden a deep baritone voice sounding like Gregory Porter sings out at the top of his lungs, “Take me to Harlem where everybody knows your name.” He continues with “the feeling is always the same…” The closer you get to 120th street it’s sounding more and more like Porter.
But as I arrived at that corner it took a minute to collect my thoughts and realize it was an outdoor concert on a corner stoop in Harlem. How amazing! Live music on the streets of Harlem, which is not uncommon, because on any given day there are musicians playing trumpets, trombones, plastic tubs, violins or even congas. But they are usually a one-man band.
But once month in this Harlem neighborhood a visitor or Harlemite will find themselves in for a treat of professional artists such as singers, musicians, dancers and poets.
“We all know what May 2020 was like when we were hearing sirens every other minute and marching and protesting day after day. My partner and I were sitting on the couch one day after the George Floyd murder and you could feel the tension, the devastation of the neighborhood, and the need for relief and a kind of collective breathing.”
Abney, a go-getter at 16, uprooted from South Carolina and moved to New York to pursue a BFA from the Alvin Ailey School. From there she went on to do Lion King (Chetah). “I was lucky to start my career telling a story that was bigger than myself, a story that I believed in for two and a half years.” She also did other shows on Broadway, as well as Marvel Universe. “I knew what I wanted to do with my life and I knew where I wanted to get it done.”
Her partner, Mike See, got commissioned for a piece we collaborated on for a restaurant not far away from her stoop on 120th and Malcolm X.
From there we decided to make a moment of it. “So I said why not just start at an art piece.” Let’s make a moment for community to gather, let’s make a moment for community to breathe, to practice and protest through voice.”
“Artists found themselves in a very interesting predicament; there were no gigs, no venues, no theaters, everything was shut down.” “I wasn’t the only one that felt the impetus in our community. There were other community activities that revolved around art. It’s about celebrating the greatness of black and brown people.”
“Our first year we began a format called ‘community tour’. We started in Harlem and performed 3 sets in a single day, lasting about 45 minutes each. The showcase also included the Bronx, and Brooklyn. In 2021 we focused on Harlem.
In its third season The Soapbox Presents’ “Stoop Sessions”, a series of outdoor musical concerts originating on the stoops of Harlem’s classic brownstone buildings with professional performing artists.
“I curate everything so in terms of content I wanted something that would celebrate us and something that would capture the historic nature of Harlem. Like we played Duke Ellington on the streets where Duke Ellington walked. That to me is really amazing and to have 14 black musicians on the stoop playing big band when big band hadn’t been played in Harlem in decades is historic!” “We did all of that.”
Bernard Dove, 81, who made an impromptu appearance, dances with Barbara Adeola. Dove was so glad that Adeola asked him to come. “We do a lot of swing dancing and Latin jazz from the Apollo and Madison Square Garden. It was a pleasure to get out there and let it go and dance the way you feel it,” Dove said.
Dove teaches senior line dancing at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center and has been dancing since the early 1960’s.
“We did ‘Funk of July’ last year but this year is a new playlist,” Abney said. It’s something interesting about being black Americans and celebrating the Fourth of July. This is our holiday too, this is our country too, it’s our flag too.
I wanted something that would celebrate that and I wanted to take space in that way, take space in the way that we don’t always…that’s my flag. that’s your Flag.”
The set started off with Parliament’s “P.Funk (I Wants To Get Funked Up)” with hostess Fionne Liggins, who came in with her Harlem version and accidentally missed the E in “Welcome to radio station W-_F-U-N-K ”, in her opening monologue, ad-libbing, better known as We-Funk got the crowd funked up along with the band with lead, bass, keys, three horns, drums, a lead singer and two awesome background vocalists Yahzarah Oburo and Chris Robb, who kept the funkateers funked, never missing a beat yeah!
The playlist continued with Patti Labelle, Carl Carlton’ Kool and the Gang, James Brown and other classic songs, but when EW&F dropped, so did the Soul-Jahs, popping, freestyling, and breaking. The breakdancers threw down for about 15 minutes, spinning and locking on the floor.
Despite the everyday sirens rolling past the stoop along with youngsters popping wheelies on motorcycles, Liggins reminded the passing youth to be careful. Not long after that musical libation, a mysterious green van stopped by for a visit, holding up traffic. But again Liggins looked over the crowd and said to the green van, “Hey, you gotta move” over and over again, at least a half a dozen times before the crowd chimed in with the chant as well.
Abney’s partner, Lee, kept the pedestrians and concert goers safe behind the barricades while traffic passed by taking a glimpse of this unbelievable Harlem sight to see.
The night ended with a Jimi Hendrix version of the National Anthem and followed up by Black America’s traditional line dance “The Electric Slide” across 120th and Malcolm X.
The third season started on Mother’s day with Soul Edition and a tribute to The Duke and swing on Juneteenth. The August session will focus on a 1990-2000 Throw Back. September will end the outdoor season and will feature Black Joy Freedom Songs, along with three spoken-word performances. You can connect with Marija (Mar-ee-ah) Abney, founder of The SoapBox Presents and hosts Jared Wayne Gladly and the gang @thesoapboxpresents on Instagram or word of mouth.
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