NYC Free: Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival Starts July 24

One of the most popular of the FREE New York City summer season, the annual Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival of music, dance and spoken word performances, starts next week.

The 2018 schedule includes Wu-Tang Clan, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and the Roots of American Music Weekend festival of blues and jazz, a Family Day of music and dance, and a special FREE performance of Latin music in The Bronx.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors is July 24 to August 2, 2018 with performances and events, mostly at the Damrosch Park Band Shell.

All Lincoln Center Out of Doors performances are FREE, and no tickets are required. Seating is first come-first served.

Here’s a sample of what’s on the schedule –

Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA presents new live score to Shaw Brothers’ classic martial arts film The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.  This epic epic audio-visual film experience opens the festival on July 24. It’s  live re-score of the 1978 Shaw Brothers’ martial arts classic The 36th Chamber of Shaolin, using Wu-Tang’s incredible discography and beyond. The movie’s story of oppressed Chinese villagers and the rule of a ruthless authority has long resonated with RZA, and influenced the carefully crafted philosophy of one of hip-hop’s seminal rap groups.

Grammy award-winning musician, songwriter, and producer Raphael Saadiq

Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band reimagines Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story

• Leonard Bernstein’s revolutionary West Side Story score is reimagined steps from the original filming locations, and in the maestro’s centennial year, with the Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band taking modern jazz, funk, rock, and traditional Dominican, Brazilian, and Afro-Puerto Rican rhythms to the timeless masterpiece.

NPR Music’s Turning the Tables Live spotlights 21st-century female artists, with music and conversation from Carly Rae Jepsen, Jamila Woods, I’m With Her, and more

• Last summer, NPR Music and Lincoln Center radically changed how we talk about the history of popular music with the publication of the 150 Greatest Albums Made By Women list and the Out of Doors live show. This year, NPR’s Turning the Tables Live: 21st-Century Edition shifts focus toward a new generation of artists claiming center stage. To celebrate, this year’s schedule includes  a night of music and conversation with Grammy nominated, multiplatinum recording artist and singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, visionary Chicago R&B artist and poet Jamila Woods, Americana supergroup I’m With Her, and more.

Dynamic rhythm and blues, rock ‘n’ roll vocalist and songwriter Peter Wolf

• Peter Wolf, best known as lead singer and songwriter of the J. Geils Band, brings his high-energy, front man antics and mix of rock, blues, and soul to the Bandshell stage.

Tribute to late Tejano music icon Selena Quintanilla-Pérez with rising Latinx artists Mon Laferte, Cuco, Nina Diaz, and more

New York City premiere of Hal Willner’s Amarcord Nino Rota, a thrilling tribute to Italian film composer Nino Rota

• Hal Willner’s Amarcord Nino Rota (“I Remember Nino Rota”) makes its New York City premiere, taking the sounds of Italian film composer Nino Rota—best known for The Godfather Part I and II, and numerous Federico Fellini film scores—to new musical heights with creative, multi-genre arrangements.

Dance and international musical performances with Dance Theatre of Harlem, all ages and abilities dance class with Mark Morris Dance Group, Janis Claxton’s POP-UP Duets (fragments of love), and 50th anniversary celebration of Center for Traditional Music and Dance

Sun Ra Arkestra live score of 1970s film Space Is the Place, José James Celebrates Bill Withers, and Samora Pinderhughes, presented as part of (le) poisson rouge’s 10th-anniversary season, LPR X

OkayAfrica’s Mzani Heat & Naija Beats with Afrobeats queen Yemi Alade, DJ Maphorisa, and DJ Tunez

Annual Roots of American Music Weekend, in collaboration with Americana Music Association, closes the Lincoln Center Out of Dors season on the final weekend, August 11–12.

Prolific old-school R&B musician and producer, revered for his Grammy-nominated albums and collaborations with artists like Solange, D’Angelo, and The Roots, Raphael Saadiq showcases his deep catalog of treasures and vintage sounds at the Damrosch Park Bandshell.

Tamar-kali: PyschoChamber Ensemble, a string sextet and voice project from multi-instrumentalist and Mudbound film composer. As part of the venue (le) poisson rouge’s 10th-anniversary celebration, LPR X presents the 1970s Afrofuturist sci-fi film Space Is the Place with a unique live score from Sun Ra Arkestra;

Lean on Me: José James Celebrates Bill Withers combines James’s contemporary jazz and R&B sound with the pure, soulful melodies that catapulted Withers into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame;

Jazz pianist and composer Samora Pinderhughes performs The Transformations Suite, painting a musical picture of the past and current state of social injustice in the U.S. and beyond.

Selena for Sanctuary celebrates the legacy of Tejano music’s brightest star, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, and the generation of young artists inspired by her songs and presence as a Latinx icon in popular culture. Rising Latinx performers headline this special night of tribute, with Selena’s famous melodies interpreted by Chilean singer-songwriter Mon Laferte

Dreamy SoCal indie-pop wunderkind Cuco; fierce, magnetic vocalist and musician Nina Diaz; soulful, alternative R&B artist Omar Apollo; and accomplished songwriter and creative August Eve. Brownout’s Adrian Quesada , formerly of Grammy Award–winning ensemble Grupo Fantasma, assembles a special house band to accompany this talented group of guest vocalists.

On Heritage Sunday, Hearst Plaza hosts Made in NYC: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance. Captivating performances from an eclectic group of dancers and musicians includes Grammy-nominated clarinetist and mandolinist Andy Statman, Irish-American supergroup Cherish the Ladies, Afro-Colombian musical ensemble Grupo Rebolu, and West African dancer, drummer, and singer Sidiki Conde and Tokounou Dance Company.

OkayAfrica’s Mzansi Heat & Naija Beats brings Nigerian Afropop superstar Yemi Alade, as well as multiplatinum Afropop-house producer DJ Maphorisa, and NYC local DJ Tunez with his seamless fusion of old and new school Afrobeats. Iranian pop will be in full force in Damrosch Park with a lineup of three unique performances: legendary singer-songwriter and musician Faramarz Aslani, setting classical Persian poetry and original lyrics to pop melodies; KIOSK, the innovative champions of Iranian rock, blues, and folk; and Habibi, the Brooklyn-based girl group praised for its psych-rock guitars, Detroit garage style, and smooth lyrics.

On Family Day, the Mark Morris Dance Group leads a free, all-ages and abilities dance class highlighting excerpts from the group’s Love Song Waltzes, also performed as a part of Mostly Mozart Festival. With performances at the 2014 Super Bowl, the Times Square NYE celebration, and an appearance in Academy Award–winning movie Birdman, the Marching Cobras after-school drumline and dance team take over Josie Robertson Plaza for an energetic afternoon. Soul Science Lab closes the Family Day activities on Hearst Plaza with their explosive energy and positive messages, blended with hip-hop, jazz, funk, and showmanship to match.

Lincoln Center Out of Doors in the Bronx
La Casita provides a platform to a powerful group of artists and activists with performances of poems, music, and stories—at Lincoln Center on August 4 and Teatro Pregones in the Bronx on August 5.