Giant Step and Central Park SummerStage present Gilles Peterson, Jamie Lidell, and More on August 3, 2008

From Giant Step:

We are back for our annual Central Park Summerstage event with vocal maestro Jamie Lidell, P Diddy's latest signing Janelle Monáe, Imani Coppola's Little Jackie, soul singer José James of Brownswood Recordings and BBC Radio 1 DJ Gilles Peterson. It is sure to be a splendid summer Sunday in the sun - not to be missed.

After establishing himself as an underground sonic scientist with an electronica pedigree, Jamie Lidell's second album, Multiply, awakened even the most cynical critics of blue-eyed soul. Lidell's voice has been compared to a blended cocktail of Little Richard, Jimi Hendrix, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, Prince and Stevie Wonder. His recently released record, Jim, places Lidell's vocal excellence at the center of a soulful journey through Motown ballads and urban funk to the electronic peripheries of modern sound.

Janelle Monáe was recently signed by Sean "Diddy" Combs to Bad Boy Records, and her upcoming album Metropolis, co-produced by Big Boi, promises to be an exciting debut. A charismatic performer, Monáe has an innovative style that cannot be classified, crossing the genres of R&B, funk, and rock ‘n' roll. She collaborated with OutKast for the movie soundtrack Idlewild.

Channeling the voice of Gil Scott Heron, Jose James brings a fresh voice to jazz with his debut album, The Dreamer. As a potent composer and songwriter, he has adroitly mastered re-interpretations like "Park Bench People," from 90's rap collective, Freestyle Fellowship, as well as his own compositions.

Imani Coppola and Adam Pallin are Little Jackie. With a blend of old-school R & B, a quirky injection of hip-hop and Cyndi Lauper-esque pop, the duo takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to social absurdities.

Record label owner, music enthusiast and DJ, Gilles Peterson's notoriety stems from his global acclaim as one of the music industry's leading tastemakers. Known for blending various music genres such as jazz, funk, hip-hop, soul, and latin, Gilles airs weekly on BBC's Radio 1. He continues to support and promote artists through his popular broadcasts and the newly formed record label, Brownswood Records.

*****3 PM - 6 PM // FREE*****


SummerStage Website

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If I'm not at Lollapalooza that weekend, I'll definitely be hitting this up.