THE ROCKSTEADY 7
LES SANS CULOTTES
"When I say they've destroyed New York's old stores, bars, restaurants, hangouts, I'm saying the real estate market has destroyed the sacred watering holes and gathering places
of the 20th century." -author Josh Alan Friedman
#SaveNYC is a grassroots, crowd-sourced D.I.Y. movement to protect and preserve the diversity and uniqueness of the urban fabric in New York City. As our vibrant streetscapes and neighborhoods are turned into bland, suburban-style shopping malls, filled with chain stores and glossy luxury retail, #SaveNYC is fighting for small businesses and cultural institutions to remain in place. Dead Flowers Productions is very proud to be working in solidarity with #SaveNYC to help raise awareness of the growing movement. Through live music we hope to exchange ideas and dance the night away.
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The Rocksteady 7 is an influential American ska and jazz band from NYC. Since the early 90's the group has consisted of tenor saxophonist and band leader David Hillyard as well as percussionist Larry McDonald. In live performances, they are supported by a rotating cast of musicians, including drummer Eddie Ocampo and Dave Wake on keys among others. Given reggae's globally reaching influence, the Rocksteady 7 holds true to the genre's roots and the self-described "Jamaican Jazz" sound combines ska, rocksteady and reggae with extended jazz improvisation, intricate melodies, and complex harmonies. The group incorporates many diverse elements of world music with rocksteady rhythms, including ska, jazz, calypso, as well as early African and American jazz influences.
The "seven-headed beast from the hard-scrabble streets of Menilmontant" and "those frilly Parisian underthings," Les Sans Culottes borrowed their name from the ill-clad (i.e., long-trousered) citizen-soldiers of the French Revolution. The band's sound is a melange of Francophone '60s girl group and the Kinks... "We are the masters of the French rock'n'roll; all others are but the slave!"
Saturday, June 6th at Hank's Saloon
46 Third Avenue (at Atlantic), Brooklyn, U.S.A.
Doors at 8PM. No cover. 21+ with ID.
Photograph by Adam Nelson © 2015
