*Los Angeles – Los Angeles City Councilmember Curren D. Price and The New 9th, presented the annual 4th of July Community Festival and Fireworks Show, Wednesday, July 4, 2018.
This extremely popular Independence Day Celebration was held on the South Lawn of Exposition Park. All attendees were able to enjoy and experience a day of engaging fun with delectable food, games and activities for all ages, followed by an awesome over-the-top fireworks extravaganza around 9:00pm.
Greg Johnson, Marketing and Promotion Director, 102.3FM Radio Free KJLH served as Master of Ceremonies and welcomed early arrivals to the celebration. The live entertainment got underway at 12noon, presented by The City of Los Angeles and KJLH Radio with a stellar line-up of R&B, Soul and Latin music.
This year’s celebration featured an eclectic world music showcase allowing attendees to visually and musically travel to various countries on the 4th of July.
Our first trip found us in the mist of Carnival, or better yet, World Cup fever in Brazil. Guadalupae D’Lushus & Sambalushus Dancers visually captivating performance was one of many highlights throughout the afternoon. The leader sang and danced to the tunes “Brazilian Funk Ain’t Got No Color,” Mas Que Nada” by Sergio Mendes and concluded with “Conga” by Gloria Estefan.
prilFoolChild is a rising star in the making. The crowd and I were pleased to be vibing with her throughout her set, along with her back dancers Luis and Coco and DJ Marco Dash. Her set featured the songs “Mangos,” “Forever,” “Highs and Lows,” and “Hear Me.”
The show continued with another crowd favorite from Los Angeles. Iman Europe dazzled the crowd with her set of original tunes accompanied by DJ Wavy Baby on the ones and twos. Iman Europe were vibing on the tunes “Let’s Ride,” “Studio,” “Blessing,” and concluded her set with “Westside.”
Tropi Corrilo aspires to preserve Afro-Tropical music and culture by honoring their roots as they write and perform innovative music that will transcend those traditions into today’s times. Throughout their set they fused sounds of Colombia (Cumbia), Puerto Rico (Bomba), and rhythms of Cuba, Trinidad Y Tabagos and Dominican Republic. Their set featured the tunes “Oye Mi Ritmo,” “Ay Morena,” “Descarga de la Selva” which allowed everyone to stretch out. They continued with “Selva de Cemento,” “Negro Yo Soy” and concluded their set with “Capital.” The band is led by Richard Hererra-congas/vocals, Amber Morse-guitar/vocals, Hector Torres-guitar, Fermin Sifontes-keyboards, Fredirico Zuniga-bass and Caityn Moss on drum. Check out their latest CD Tropi Corillo de Los Angeles on Cambio Colores Records, and/or check them out in person performing around town.
Vocalist Maurice Smith rocked the stag beginning with “Let’s Go Crazy,” followed by “Do You Remember the Time,” and “She’s Always in my Head” to name a few.
Lady KeishaCali and Guy Black introduced characters from Teen’s Titans Go! To the Movies onstage to promote the upcoming release of the movie at the end of the month.
Singer, songwriter, guitarist Tyler Conti is another person deserving of greater recognition. He held his own during his time in the spotlight on the following tunes “Like the Way You Work It,” “I Want to Rock With you,” “Time Today” and concluded his set with What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye.
Conganas took the crowd and I on our final global journey musically. They opened their set with “Azucar,” “Scheherezada,” and Vampiro Tropical” to name a few. Conganas which means “with passion” features some of the most talented and experienced players in the Los Angeles music scene today. Band members not only perform with their own bands, they are also touring musicians with some of the greatest bands and musicians in the Latin Jazz, R&B, Pop ans Soul Music genres. The musicians on this gig consisted of Christian Moraga-leader, drums/percussions, from Chile, Fermin Sifontes-keyboards, from Cuba, Juan Carlos Portillo-bass, and Joel Nunes on Eiwi, from Cuba.
The stage was LIT before the first explosive fireworks was set off with a fantastic performance by Jade Novah followed by the headlining set by YOYO.
The 4th of July Community Festival and Fireworks Show was sponsored by The Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles, 102.3FM Radio Free KJLH, Exposition Park California, University of Southern California, USC Civic Engagement, Arrowhead Water and McDonald’s.
Ricky Richardson is a Southern California based writer, music reviewer and photographer. Contact him via: liltampared@netzero.net
Comments