The New Bedford Historical Society presents an evening of jazz and poetry in celebration of Juneteenth, Freedom Day with the Makanda Project and the music of legendary saxophonist Ricky Ford.
Ford has composed a series of compositions and arrangements based on the poems of Langston Huges. The timelessness of Mr. Hughes’ work is very evident. The performance includes poems that especially resonate in the current political climate including I too Sing America, Let America Be America Again, Dreams, and The Negro Speaks of Rivers are evocative of the Black struggle for freedom.
In 2022, Ford burst out with a strong new album The Wailing Sound of Ricky Ford, produced by New Bedford’s own Whaling City Sound. Ford never ceases to create music of the highest caliber.
The members of the Makanda Project ensemble led by John Kordalewski, includes several noted Boston-area band leaders as well as top-level musicians from New York and elsewhere in New England.
Legendary Askia Toure will be reading the poems inside the musical arrangements.
Partners for the concert include:
New Bedford Cultural Council
New Bedford Human Rights Commission
Langston Hughes Community Poetry Project
Steeple Playhouse
Whaling City Sound
