![](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/brco-at-vkp-2017-rev2-380x380.jpg)
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2017
Von King Park, Brooklyn, with New York City Parks Department
photos by SeanJamar.com
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3197-corey-gordon-tkali-532x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3150-sylvia-mark-jerome-569x380.jpg)
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![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3057-lessie-569x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3109-jerome-496x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3101-tkali-569x380.jpg)
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![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-2976-gordon-voidwell-cassandra-541x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-2974-we-can-funk-sheet-music-569x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3096-audience-appreciation-531x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-3054-whole-band-526x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-2869-ltanya-547x380.jpg)
![BRC Orchestra - Herbert Von King Park - BK USA - 2017](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/2017-06-09-BRC-Orchestra-Herbert-Von-King-Park-BK-USA-2931-tkali-jerome-512x380.jpg)
photos by LaRonda Davis![*brco prince screening tkali sharief](http://blackrockcoalition.org/wp-content/gallery/brco-prince-screening-tkali-sharief2-519x380.jpg)
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Prince was one of us. A rocker. Black and musically outspoken with depths that plumbed generations. That’s why we celebrate him. For us, he is more than a symbol, more than Purple Rain, more than a pimp rag, tootsie pop, and a cane (thankfully). He was living, breathing possibility. Giant inspiration in a 5-foot-plus frame. A roadmap to a different way.
In celebration of what would have been Prince’s 59th birthday, The Black Rock Coalition Orchestra dipped into the vault for IT’S GONNA BE A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT, a rousing remembrance under the musical direction of lifetime fan and rock-royalty-in-her-own-right, Tamar-kali. This bittersweet reflection, paced out by show-stopping bandleader Jerome Jordan, conjured B-sides, bootlegs and bonuses from over 11 album eras. With a Supergroup-backing band (including Cassandra O’Neal from the New Power Generation, Sylvia Black of Betty Black, Sharief Hobley of Sharief in Burgundy, and Mark Robohm), a parade of top-notch vocalists (such as Corey Glover of Living Colour, and Gordon Voidwell of WILLS, and a full slate of special guests on horns and strings, this soul-satisfying, booty-shaking performance reminded us all of what music can do when the people who make it are free to create outside the lines. Following the performance, there was a screening Purple Rain. All in partnership with New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.