burnt sugar arkestra meets the purple reign

You don’t open your set at AFROPUNK with a gospel-operatic reading of “America, The Beautiful” without attempting to make some kind of statement — or a few of them. Such declarations, whether overt or subtle, are among the core beauties of Burnt Sugar Arkestra, New York City’s beloved funk-jazz, creative music, show tune, big band that was making its belated AFROPUNK debut in 2019. On this day, the key line in that opener, gorgeously performed by the vocalist Lisala, may well have been the one about “purple mountains majesties,” a sly allusion that more “purple” was in store. And so it arrived: nearly half of Burnt Sugar’s Gold Stage set on Sunday was devoted to songs written by Prince Rogers Nelson, a common occurrence for the band’s performances, and always a joyous one. For if you’ve never heard “Computer Blue” performed with three saxophones and three electric guitars, it’s well worth the wait. (Burnt Sugar also did “Darling Nikki,” featuring a masterful wail by Julie Brown, and “The Beautiful Ones,” starring the supreme Shelley Nicole – see, all-Purple.)

But musical analogies and interpretations of legendary Black American musical songbooks are not the Arkestra’s only great tricks. They are a community band conducted by the great cultural critic (and occasional AFROPUNK contributor) Greg Tate; a constantly rotating cast of players and singers (there was fourteen of them in all on Sunday), and wickedly funny, astute commentators on the world falling down all-around them (as I mentioned, declarative). So even if it was the Prince jams that brought the crowd to them, it was songs like the punk-rock blast of “Punanny Politix” or the Sly-like ride of “Everybody Gonna Get Gentrified” that provided a truer sense of Burnt Sugar Arkestra’s purpose at AFROPUNK. Preach, brothers and sisters, preeeeeach.   

Dennis Manuel

Burnt Sugar Arkestra’s Greg Tate (photo: Dennie Manuel)

Dennis Manuel

Burnt Sugar Arkestra saxophonist Moist Paula and bassist Jared Michael Nickerson (photo: Dennie Manuel)

Dennis Manuel

Burnt Sugar Arkestra’s Avran Fefer (photo: Dennie Manuel)

Dennis Manuel

Burnt Sugar Arkestra singers (L-R): Shelley Nicole, Julie Brown, Mikel Banks, Bruce Mack, Lisala (photo: Dennie Manuel)