The Harlem state of mind is once again upon us, this time with serious Summer of Soul energy. Harlem Week is once again shining a spotlight on the neighborhood’s unique culture, with an emphasis on style, food and, of course, music.
From legacy community artists like Clean Money Music and Bobby Sanabria to rising stars like Jaay Parks and Shauney, Harlem Summerstage is showcasing something from everybody in 2025 every Thursday night in August.
Harlem Week consists of a series of live entertainment and economic and social development programs, culminating with a six-hour outdoor festival.
Described in press materials as “A Saturday of nonstop fun on the streets of Harlem,” Summer Streets is also participating in the festivities with two block party events. Being watered, grown and rooted in the iconic Manhattan neighborhood, Harlem Week is the moment to show the world the vibrancy of today’s Harlem. Dietrice Bolden spoke about the Harlem Week planning process: “We started organizing Harlem Week for 2025 last year. It takes a lot of work, we have to get sponsors and co-sponsors and everyone: supporters, the music, the artists, making sure we’re all over the court.”
Taking place at the Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. State Office Building, Harlem Summerstage features performances from a wide variety of local artists. Last Thursday’s concert hosted both funk guitarist Keith “The Captain” Gamble and the National Jazz Museum in Harlem House Band led by Christopher McBride.
These performances are a part of the Harlem Music Festival. Jazzmobile and the Central Park Conservancy also presented Great Jazz on the Great Hill last Saturday, featuring performances from internationally acclaimed artists in Central Park.
Yet Thursday’s show was a bittersweet affair. Lloyd Williams, cofounder of Harlem Week, died at 80 years old on Aug. 6. Winston Majette, the Executive Director of the Greater Harlem Chamber Of Commerce, said in a statement, “For more than 50 years, Lloyd has worked tirelessly to improve the quality of life and shape both the cultural and economic identity of not just Harlem but the city as a whole.”
With the Harlem Music Festival initiative, encompassed by Harlem Week’s myriad live performances, the organization’s directors have created something that evokes the same sense of pride in the community that Harlem felt during the original Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969.
“We just want to make sure there is an eclectic mix of music, from R&B to jazz to gospel,” says Bolden. “Jazzmobile, under the direction of the beautiful Robin Bell-Stevens, who has also been a great supporter of Harlem Week and sits on the board of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, puts together Great Jazz on the Great Hill.”
“Jazzmobile was founded in 1964, and we are the oldest not-for-profit organization in the country that was created with a mission just for jazz,” says Bell-Stevens. “We’ve been doing free programming for 60 years. Besides concerts, we have education programs that we do, including workshop programs and a residency in a Title I school in the Bronx, or the Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music.”
This festival is being built by the people who live, work and are from the community; organizers have rolled out a number of events around the city, including Senior Citizens Day, Men in the Arts and Mental Health and National Night Out, an annual community-building campaign that promotes community-police partnerships. This year’s main sponsors include Amazon Access, Chase Bank, Northwell Health, West Harlem Development Corporation, Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement, Mount Sinai, Columbia University and the City College of New York.
A Great Day in Harlem featured emerging entertainment, the Gospel Caravan and a special musical salute to the soul and blues band Kool and The Gang by the Jeff Foxx Band, plus a Concert Under The Stars featuring the Harlem Week All-star Band.
“Personally, for me, one musical moment that stood out to me over the course of my time here is when we honored Kirk Franklin at A Great Day in Harlem,” says Bolden. “He came by himself and we were just giving him an award, but the spirit hit him, and he got on the keyboard and he didn’t have a choir with him, so me being an artist, I grabbed a mic and I was able to join Kirk Franklin on stage. It was a marvelous, wonderful musical moment for me.”
Whether you were at the original 1969 festival or just caught the energy walking past the plaza, Harlem Week is ready to take center stage. And in true Harlem fashion, it’s not just a concert, it’s a movement.
Harlem Week officially began on Aug. 1 and continues through this Sunday, Aug. 17.
