Fela Kuti Tribute: Seun Kuti, Roy Ayers, Underground System

Blog July 18, 2017

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… [caption id="attachment_37765" align="aligncenter" width="601"]<a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-6-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-37765" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-6-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="601" height="401" /></a> Underground System. Photos by Banning Eyre[/caption] <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-10.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37767" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-10-1024x683.jpg" alt="Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="603" height="402" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-8-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37766" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-8-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="603" height="402" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-34.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37768" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/UndrgndSystm-34-1024x683.jpg" alt="Underground System at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="602" height="402" /></a> [caption id="attachment_37772" align="alignnone" width="594"]<a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-17.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-37772" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-17-1024x672.jpg" alt="Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="594" height="390" /></a> Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption] <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-13.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37770" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-13-1024x680.jpg" alt="Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="604" height="401" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-4-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37769" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-4-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="609" height="405" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-41.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37773" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-41-665x1024.jpg" alt="" width="587" height="903" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-47.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37774" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-47-1024x683.jpg" alt="Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="604" height="403" /></a> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37775" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/RoyAyers-55-760x1024.jpg" alt="Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="598" height="806" /> [caption id="attachment_37800" align="aligncenter" width="612"]<a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-196.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-37800" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-196-1024x660.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="612" height="394" /></a> Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 with Roy Ayers at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)[/caption] <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-95.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37791" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-95-1024x683.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="601" height="401" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-77.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37787" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-77-1024x723.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="603" height="426" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-16-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37777" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-16-2-836x1024.jpg" alt="" width="611" height="748" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-184.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37799" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-184-1024x729.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="603" height="429" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-176.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37798" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-176-803x1024.jpg" alt="" width="555" height="708" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-24-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37778" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-24-2-1024x677.jpg" alt="" width="602" height="398" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-78.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37788" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-78-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="603" height="402" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-115.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37793" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-115-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="603" height="402" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-145.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-37795 alignright" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-145-1024x693.jpg" alt="" width="599" height="405" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-132.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37794" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-132-1024x730.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Egypt 80 at Central Park SummerStage (Eyre 2017)" width="598" height="426" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-36-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37781" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-36-2-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-28-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37779" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-28-2-683x1024.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="842" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-32-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37780" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-32-2-1024x676.jpg" alt="" width="601" height="397" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-173.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37797" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-173-696x1024.jpg" alt="" width="571" height="840" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-159.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37796" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-159-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="601" height="401" /></a> <a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-81.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-37789" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/SKuti-81-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="603" height="402" /></a> [caption id="attachment_37801" align="aligncenter" width="601"]<a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-2.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-37801" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-2-1024x768.jpg" alt="Seun Kuti and Spike Lee (Eyre 2017)" width="601" height="451" /></a> Seun Kuti and Spike Lee (Eyre 2017)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_37802" align="aligncenter" width="605"]<a href="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-13.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-37802" src="https://afropop.test.ejaedesign.com/migrated-uploads/2017/07/Skuti-13-1024x768.jpg" alt="" width="605" height="454" /></a> Nenim Iwebuke and Akornefa Akyea at the Afropop Worldwide SummerStage table.[/caption]