Saturday, September 24, 2016 @ BAMcafe Live, 9p, FREE

Luv n’ Haight: The BRC Salutes Sly & The Family Stone’s There’s A Riot Goin’ On

There’s A Riot Goin’ On was created during turbulent times. Its resonance with the current political climate helps us make a statement, through the music, that reflects our solidarity with today’s Black Lives Matter movement as well as other social-minded, action-based organizations. This performance also continued our Million Man Mosh initiative of bringing artists, activists, and fans together to move the needle for social change.

Hosted by Miles Marshall Lewis, author of There’s A Riot Goin’ On from the 33 1/3 book series

with words shared by Carmen Dixon, a representative of Black Lives Matter, New York Chapter

Saturday, July 2 was the world premiere of the BRC Get-Down Revue. MD Luqman Brown assembled a killer crew of crack cats who to make booties shake to hits from the Atlantic Rhythm & Blues Box Set—celebrating the genius of Ray Charles, Ruth Brown, Big Joe Turner, The Coasters, and more. With DJ Monica Sharp at the famous Midsummer Night Swing at Lincoln Center.

On Mon Apr 4 @ Webster Hall, NYC, we threw a benefit funkraiser to show our love for Bernie Worrell. Not only is he a member of the BRC Board of Directors, he’s been at the forefront of funk from jump. With a little help from our friends (most notably Nona Hendryx and Rob Max of Sweet Relief), we raised over $50,000 to help pay Bernie’s health and living expenses as he fights Stage 4 lung cancer and liver and prostate cancer. Many of his biggest supporters, oldest friends, and most notorious collaborators were there—Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Living Colour, Paul Shaffer and the World’s Most Dangerous Band, Meryl Streep, Rick Springfield, Jonathan Demme, Mudbone, Leo Nocentelli, Questlove, Buckethead, Mike Hampton, Sarah Dash, Fred Schneider, Marc Ribler, Screaming Headless Torsos, and of course, The BRC Orchestra.

You can still donate directly to Bernie’s health and living expenses at sweetrelief.org.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL REPARATIONS, V3: MILLION MAN MOSH EDITION

– For a free digital download code, send an email to BRC30@blackrockcoalition.org with ‘code’ in the subject.

– For a free copy of the CD, come see us at the next BRC event (send an email to BRCmembersinfo@gmail.com to be added to our weekly newsletter, ‘This Week in Black Rock’ for updates).

A FREE compilation of socially-aware tracks by over 30 Black rockers to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Black Rock Coalition. This 3rd installment of our Rock ‘n’ Roll Reparations series is themed for our Million Man Mosh initiative and features conscious tracks by the following:

– Fantastic Negrito (LA)

– Fishbone (LA)

– Sananda Maitreya (Milano)

– Three5Human (ATL)

– Sewer Rats BK (Brooklyn)

– The Negro Problem (Brooklyn)

– Tamar-kali (Brooklyn)

– M. Lamar (Brooklyn)

– GhettoMetal (LA)

– Imani Coppola (Brooklyn)

– Cole Williams (New Orleans)

– SATE (Toronto)

– Thaylobleu (Washington DC)

– Militia Vox (NYC)

– GKA (Brooklyn)

– Year of the Dragon (LA)

– The Family Stand (NJ/LA/Netherlands)

– Pussy Story (Santa Monica/Brooklyn)

– Suburban Dog (NJ)

– Black Angel Down (Baltimore)

– Omega Sirius Moon (OSM) (Brooklyn)

PLUS an extended, digital download featuring additional new classics from:

– Angelo Moore & The Brand New Step (LA)

– Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber (NYC)

– Sugar Fly (LA)

– GhettoSongBird (Philly)

– McRad (Philly)

– The Ki Ki Experience (NYC)

– Drue Davis (Brooklyn)

– Nikolitsa (Santa Monica)

– Blackbird/Shane Smith (LA)

– Angela Johnson (NJ)

It’s our most geographically- and musically-diverse collection. Representing Black rockers and progressive musicians from around the world on a socially-poignant journey from outrage to reflection to action to progress.

Another BLACK ROCK COALITION RECORDS release…

FREE PARTY. FREE MUSIC. FREE NEGROES MAKING REAL MUSIC.

Shout out to compilation artists Imani Coppola, Jason BK (of Sewer Rats BK), M. Lamar, GKA, Militia Vox, Omega Sirius Moon, Drue Davis, GhettoSongBird (all the way from Philly!), and Luqman Brown (of BuddhaBug Records) for coming out and helping us blast this important music all throughout the LES. Also, thanks to all the BRC fam who was in the house and to The Black Rose for showing us another good time.

More to come…

We continue our commanding ROCK ‘N’ ROLL REPARATIONS series with Volume 3: The Million Man Mosh Edition. It features songs by some of our most dynamic outsider voices as they express sonic social commentary on the world we’re living in today. Discover new favorites from Fantastic Negrito, Fishbone, Sananda Maitreya, Three5Human, GKA, Stew and The Negro Problem, Tamar-kali, Imani Coppola, The Family Stand, Suburban Dog, M. Lamar, GhettoMetal, Year Of The Dragon, Omega Sirius Moon, Sewer Rats BK, Militia Vox, SATE, Thaylobleu, Pussy Story, Black Angel Down, and Cole Williams. The extended digital download also includes culturally-conscious tracks from such talents as Burnt Sugar The Arkestra Chamber, The Ki Ki Experience, Angelo Moore and The Brand New Step, Nikolitsa, McRad, Blackbird/Shane Smith, GhettoSongBird, Sugar Fly, Angela Johnson, and Drue Davis.   It’s all to continue the celebration of 30 years of the BRC doing what we do to support artists who are reclaiming their birthright to rock.

Rocking Since Birth: The BRC Celebrates 30 Years of Reclaiming & Correcting the Rock Aesthetic

Exhibited from Oct 8-Nov 27, 2015

In 1986, BRC Co-Founder Vernon Reid told John Lelund of Spin Magazine, “Blond, long hair, white. Our organization is a direct challenge to that mentality, that imagery. Because FIRST, ROCK IS BLACK MUSIC. Rock is everyone’s music, but the origins of rock are Black. And there’s no way you can get around that.”

For this exhibit, hosted at ImageNation’s RAW Space, we put together our largest collection of images from recent BRC events…and we barely scratched the surface. The images covered just a handful of shows from 2006-2015, but many of our heaviest hitters are front and center, seen through the eyes of some of the best live photographers out there (Earl Douglas, Jr., Petra Richterova, Scott Ellison Smith, Ed Marshall, Nivea Castro, Radcliffe Roye, and Joe Conzo).

Keep an eye out for where this exhibit may go next…

For the 30th Anniversary, we spent the 30 days of September in praise of the BLACK ROCK COALITION and our members. Check it out (most of) what we did:

Every Monday: On Membership Mondays, we featured (and will continue to feature) members through our social networks. Members, please don’t forget to fill out your member questionnaire.

Every Tuesday: We offered free rehearsal space for BRC members and our friends at Funkadelic Studios. Thanks Dawn! Folks like Unlocking The Truth, Omega Moon & T-Bone Motta, King Aswad, Jared Nickerson, Burnt Sugar, and Dope Sagittarius blessed the space.

Every Wednesday: We looked back on the 30 years since the BRC was founded and socially shared some milestones in the culture, in the music, in the organization, and in our lives. Thanks Lady Elix and LT for the fact-gathering and Wednesday night chuckles.

Other highlights: Th3     BRC Happy Hour (at Duff’s Brooklyn, 168 Marcy Ave btw S5th and Broadway, Brooklyn), 5-9p

F4     Launched a Booster.org Campaign for Limited Edition BRC 30th Anniversary T-Shirts

Su6      BRC 30^th Anniversary Kick-Off Party, The Bell House (149 7th St, Brooklyn), w/ Corey Glover & Vernon Reid, our youngest member-band Unlocking The Truth, Betty Black, and DJ SugarFreeBK. Concert from 7-10p, $15. Free after-party with performances by BRC family band Burnt Sugar, The Veldt and DJ CX KiDTRONiK. FREE (with food) from 10p-1a.

Th10    30 Years of BRC, Part 2 on Musical Chairs, WBAI-NY 99.5fm, 10p-12a

F11       National Support Black Rock Night (all members in Chicago went to Riot Fest to see Living Colour, Fishbone and Death; all members in NYC went to see 24/7 Spyz with Dope Sagittarius at The Living Room; other shows to be announced)

Sa12     BRC Team (The Riotous Guttersnipes) at Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls‘ Bowl-A-Thon raised money for our Original Rocker Scholarships

Su13     BRC Open Ears Listening and Archiving Party, The Black Rose (117 Avenue A, NYC), 7-10p

Th17    Black Rock & Reel: BRC Performance Highlights (1985-2015), Imagenation‘s RAW Space (2031 Adam Clayton Powell btw 121st and 122nd), 6-11p

F18      BRC Orchestra plays Band Of Gypsys @ BAMcafe (30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn), featured special guests Vernon Reid, Corey Glover, Ronny Drayton, Stew, Michael Hill, Maritri Garrett, Kelsey Warren, Andre Lassalle, Wayne Livingston, Marcus Machado, and more, FREE, 9p

Sa19    BRC Orchestra plays Band Of Gypsys @ BAMcafe (30 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn), featured special guests Vernon Reid, Corey Glover, Ronny Drayton, Stew, Michael Hill, Maritri Garrett, Kelsey Warren, Andre Lassalle, Wayne Livingston, Marcus Machado, and more, FREE, 9p

Su20    BRC Vocal Clinic @ Metrosonic Showroom (143 Roebling, Williamsburg BK), 4-7p with Corey Glover of Living Colour, Free for members of the BRC and WMRC communities, $10 for everyone else.

F25      Opened submissions for Rock ‘n’ Roll Reparations, V. 3: The Million Man Mosh Edition. All songs submitted must address political and/or social issues that are affecting our community today. Fill out the SUBMISSION KIT here:

blackrockcoalition.com/submissions/music

Su27    Million Man Mosh 3 @ The Wind Up Space, Baltimore, 2-7p with Tamar-kali, Thaylo Bleu, and Throwdown Syndicate. With generous support from Oyin Handmade and Exit The Apple.

Will you join us?