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Although it’s traditionally overshadowed by the Chicago Jazz Festival in Grant Park, the annual African Festival of the Arts in Washington Park remains one of the season’s most interesting events, largely serving the African-American community with a diverse array of music. Jazz, soul, hip-hop, funk, and African music are all amply represented by some of the leading names in each field, even if some of them are well past their peaks. Some of the highlights playing through the long weekend:
Zimbabwe’s two greatest bandleaders play Sunday (Thomas Mapfumo) and Monday (Oliver Mtukudzi), while Puerto Rican plena revivalists Plena Libre and Congolese star Kanda Bongo Man both peform on Saturday. A roll call of local hip-hop talent, as well as some solid out-of-towners, play all weekend long: Detroit’s Slum Village, old-school hero Kool Moe Dee, and Gang Starr MC Guru perform Saturday, Rhymefest headlines Sunday, and North Carolina’s Little Brother closes things out on Monday. If that isn’t enough, George Clinton plays Sunday and the reconstituted Tony Toni Tone play Monday.
