Few art forms are more American than the blues, and SummerStage’s opening night in Central Park will showcase three very different—but equally soulful—takes on the genre. Paul Janeway’s Alabama eight-piece St. Paul and the Broken Bones updates the classic soul of the 1960s with strings, a choir, and synthesizers. They’ve spent the last decade winning over fans one club at a time with an infectious energy that led NPR to name them “one of the nation’s best live bands.” Their latest LP, last year’s The Alient Coast, adds a bit more grit to their sound and introduces new psychedelic and stoner-rock influences. Brooklyn’s Say She She is a seven-piece band led by three women, named in homage to the Nile Rodgers band Chic. They’re adding a modern twist to girl groups and three-part harmonies, like in their latest disco-flavored single “Reeling” released earlier this spring. The bill is rounded out by Mwenso and the Shakes, a joyful Harlem-based jazz, soul, and blues band that draws from a wide spectrum of Black ancestral diasporic music with an afro-futuristic lens.

Date and Time: Saturday, June 10, 2023, 05:00 PM – 10:00 PM

Location: SummerStage, Central Park  Rumsey Playfield, Manhattan, 10021