Tanya Tucker, Juanes, Regina Spektor, Many More to Perform at New York’s SummerStage 2023

Tanya Tucker, Juanes, Regina Spektor, Jason Moran, Grandmaster Flash and many more will perform during the 2023 season of Capital One City Parks Foundation SummerStage, which brings 80 free and benefit shows to Central Park and 12 neighborhood parks across the five boroughs. The full lineup appears below.

Neighborhood parks and outdoor spaces hosting SummerStage this season include Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem, Tompkins Square Park in the East Village, Von King Park and The Coney Island Amphitheater in Brooklyn, Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, Crotona Park in the Bronx, Stapleton Waterfront Park in Staten Island, and SummerStage’s flagship venue at Rumsey Playfield in Central Park. Performances will be free and open to the public, with the exception of some ticketed benefit concerts in Central Park. More information is available at www.SummerStage.org.

Opening the 2023 season on Saturday, June 10 in Central Park will be rollicking free performances by the acclaimed eight-piece soul band St. Paul and The Broken Bones, with opening sets by Brooklyn soul band Say She She, and Harlem based jazz/soul/blues band Mwenso and The Shakes, with DJ sets by WFUV’s Alisa Ali.  The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene/Museum of Jewish Heritage will welcome New York Sings Yiddish! The Klezmatics and Special Guests on June 14. The Aussie BBQ will return on June 17 highlighting the sounds of Australia with a six artist bill ranging from art-rock to pop and rap. Blue Note Jazz Festival will present a free show on June 24with Stanley Clarke N 4Ever and Kenny Garrett, joined by the dynamic young jazz harpist Brandee Younger.

Canada Day will bring together a showcase of singer-songwriters featuring Andy Shauf, Leith Ross and Yves Jarvis on July 1.Brazilian music fans will enjoy a rare free performance by the legendary singer and instrumentalist Marisa Monte on July 2, while Catalan Sounds on Tour will return to Central ParkonJuly 8 with singer/songwriter Queralt Lahoz.  The annual Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC) will bring major star power to SummerStage on July 12 with Colombian music icon and Grammy award-winner Juanes. Australian indie pop/folk singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin and Pacific Northwest indigenous indie rock singer/songwriter Black Belt Eagle Scout will perform on July 16.  Taiwanese Waves returns for a day of contemporary music and hip-hop including Waa Wei and Dinosaur’s Head on July 23.  The captivating Niger-born guitar virtuoso and songwriter Mdou Moctar and his band will perform their unique brand of modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar sounds onJuly 29.  Electronica-jazz project The Comet is Coming will take over SummerStageon August 2, along with Afro-Cuban/French electronic jazz duo Ibeyi. Show Dem Camp will make the U.S. debut of the Palmwine Music Festival on August 27, showcasing the best in Nigeria’s burgeoning alternative music scene. On September 3, acclaimed Brazilian hip-hop artist Emicida and Afro-Colombian star Goyo will perform as part of a special film screening event for the “AmarElo: It’s All For Yesterday.”  Closing out our free Central Park season on September 14 is one of the reigning queens of country music and recent Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Tanya Tucker.

The season will celebrate the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. MIKE will return to SummerStage with his Young World festival at Von King Park in Brooklyn on July 15, while the legendary Grandmaster Flash will mark the “Birth of a Culture” on August 2with a hometown showin Crotona Park in the Bronx – the borough that started it all. A Hip-Hop 50 Special Edition Showcase will take over Coney Island on August 6 featuring artists Special Ed and more hosted by Ralph McDaniels. Frankie Cutlass and Black Sheep’s Dres will celebrate hip-hop on August 12 at Stapleton Waterfront Park in Staten Island, and DJ Funk Flex will bring his birthday celebration to Brooklyn’s Coney Islandon August 13.

Argentina’s Trueno andPuerto Rico’s Villano Antillano will celebrate the Caribbean and reggaetón influence of hip-hop performing as part of the LAMC festival in Central Parkon July 15. DJ Rekha will spin the fusion of Indian bhangra with hip-hop and dance beats they made famous at their Basement Bhangra parties in Queens at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park onJuly 23, and Ghanafest-NY brings Stonebwoy – one of Accra’s biggest Afro-pop stars – to Crotona Park in the BronxonAugust 5.

Brooklyn-based artist Nick Hakim will bring his soulful R&B to Von King Park on July 14, R&B legends Kool & The Gang will return to SummerStage on July 22 in Queens’Flushing Meadows Corona Park, salsa legend Eddie Palmieri performs on August 14 in Crotona Park and fans of New York City’s Latin -infused freestyle sound will enjoy performances by DJ Frankie Cutlass and The Cover Girls on August 12in Staten Island’s Stapleton Waterfront Park. Jazz virtuoso Jason Moran will bring his project the Harlem Hellfighters to Marcus Garvey Park on August 18 for its Harlem debut.  

Dance shows will kick off with The Masterz at Work Dance Family with Courtney Washington, the Black trans femme choreographer who is a legend in the ballroom community on July 13 in Von King Park in Brooklyn.  Central Park will host award-winning, New York-based tap dance company, Dorrance Dance onJuly 26. Additionally, Works and Process will feature a dance residency with Ladies of Hip-Hop Dance Collective.

SummerStage is also thrilled to return for six free shows at The Coney Island Amphitheater at the Coney Island Boardwalk in Brooklyn. These free performances will include a reggae show with with Skip Marley on July 9; Golden Oldies on the Boardwalkfeaturing The Duprees, The Coasters, Charlie Thomas’ Drifters with Jeff Hall, Bobby Wilson and many more on July 16; and Jose Alberto “El Canario” will perform with The Big 3 Palladium Orchestra including The Music of Machito, Tito Rodriguez and Tito Puente on August 20. Additional shows will be announced at a later date.

The 2023 SummerStage festival will feature ticketed benefit shows in Central Park to help support City Parks Foundation’s free performances. Live Nation, this season’s official provider of benefit concerts, will present indie rock band Hippo Campus with Gus Dapperton on June 3; folk rock duo Indigo Girls on June 4; Hip-Hop Started Out In The Park – A Juneteenth Celebration of Hip-Hop presented by Google Pixelon June 19; Dreamland Pride will present German disco and house DJ Purple Disco Machine on June 25; alt-rockers Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Garbage will perform on July 10; Haitian electronic DJ Michael Brun presents BAYO on July 22; Mexican rock band Cafe Tacvba onJuly 24; indie pop singer Cavetown on August 3; alt-rock band Mt. Joy onAugust 9 and 10; a celebration of New York’s Dominican Day Parade with Orgullo Dominicano with Prince Royce, Vicente García, and YEИDRY on August 13; R&B and soul singer Cautious Clay on August 19; American rock bands Manchester Orchestra and Jimmy Eat World on August 23; singer-songwriter Regina Spektor on August 24; Australian indie folk singer Vance Joy on August 30; and British techno and dance DJ Carl Cox on September 30. In addition to these ticketed shows, Bowery Presents will produce two ticketed concerts this season including jazz rock singer Sammy Rae & The Friends on June 15and musical band Michael Franti & Spearhead onJune 28. Blue Note Jazz Festival will also present a ticketed show with jazz and blues icon Buddy Guy on June 18. More benefit shows will be announced throughout the season.

The Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, New York City’s annual salute to the eponymous late saxophonist, will return in its 31st year for a three-day celebration of live jazz in the neighborhoods near where Parker worked and lived, including Harlem’s historic Marcus Garvey Park and Tompkins Square Park in the East Village. Running August 25 to August 27, this year’s lineup will bring together storied, veteran players and the next generation of jazz artists including Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band featuring Dianne Reeves in association with Jazzmobile; groundbreaking jazz supergroup The Cookers; rising jazz bassist Endea Owens & The Cookout; legendary jazz saxophonist Charles McPherson; and the celebrated Vincent Herring Septet performing Something Else! among others. Additional jazz events will also be held across the city to celebrate the festival, with more details to be announced on www.SummerStage.org.

As a women-run festival with a mission of diversity and inclusion, since 2019 SummerStage has helped to transform the future of the music industry by participating in the PRS Foundation’s international Keychange pledge, presenting an annual lineup that features a 50:50 gender balance. SummerStage is one of the few local festivals that has achieved this goal. SummerStage is committed to gender and racial equity in its programming, and in 2022, 85% of artists identified as BIPOC, and 84% of groups presented were led by or included women.

SummerStage 2023 Schedule