Opens Friday: Maurice James Jr.’s New Negro at Art of Noize Graphic artist Maurice James Jr . is reimagining Black history through art.
Although his career only started in 2021, he’s become quite prolific during those three years. By March of 2023, he was displaying his work at three overlapping exhibits , and this year he was the first artist to be featured in Homme Gallery’s new location inside Union Station; he even did a show earlier this month in Oakland, California. Much of James’ previous work has focused on imagining a Black utopia by portraying Black people in mediums they’ve been excluded from in the past—from comic book covers and movie posters to old-time propaganda.
Now James plans to build on his earlier themes in his third showing at Petworth gallery Art of Noize. The New Negro: Manifest Destiny focuses on the architecture of James’ Black Utopia. The idea behind this exhibit came from his observation that, though Black architects have been recognized for their work in the past, they weren’t “necessarily building anything that added to the efforts of Black liberation.
” By pairing figures from the Harlem Renaissance and portraits drawn by Winold Reiss with architectural designs, James says the exhibit shows what “true Reconstruction” would’ve meant to Black people after slavery. One such piece that captures this vision is a depiction of educator Elise Johnson McDougald with a sketching of a building meant to be the imaginary “Department of Negro Education.” James’ art is a blend of history and imagination that he describes as “AfroFuturism from the 1920s,” and a blueprint of Pan-African and Black Nationalist ideas woven into society.
New Negro: Manifest Destiny opens on July 26 with an opening presentation from 6 to 10 p.m. The exhibit runs through Aug.
31 at Art of Noize, 821 Upshur St. NW. artofnoizedmv.
com . Free. — Dorvall Bedford Friday: The Pointer Sisters at MGM National Harbor When Beyoncé released Cowboy Carter earlier this year, much fuss was made about a Black woman singing country music.
But anyone with the slightest knowledge of popular music would know that R&B singers have delved into country long before Beyoncé with great success. Most notably, the Pointer Sisters , who won the Grammy for Best Country Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group for their 1974 song “Fairytales,” and were nominated in the same category the following year for “Live Your Life Before You Die.” The Pointer Sisters were so busy in their career at the time they failed to realize they had reached a milestone.
“I was in shock when they said, ‘You won a Grammy,’” says Ruth Pointer . “We were like ‘For what?! We were on the road and we didn’t even go to the ceremony.” This marked the start of an extensive run of hits and accolades for the group who will be performing alongside the Commodores and the Spinners at MGM National Harbor on Friday (though her sisters, Anita , June , and Bonnie —who left the group to go solo in 1977—have passed, Ruth continues performing with her daughter Issa Pointer and granddaughter Sadako Pointer ).
Contrary to the belief that girl groups don’t write their own songs, the Pointer Sisters wrote several of their hits throughout their career including “Fairytales” and “I’m So Excited.” Not that producers in the industry thought these songs should automatically be included on their albums. “I remember my sister Anita fighting to get songs that she wrote, that she and me and June wrote together, on the album,” says Ruth.
“Even ‘I’m So Excited’ was on the album before Break Out and it just kind of went unnoticed. Anita fought and said, ‘No! We’ve got to rerelease this song. I know it’s a hit and I’m insisting,’ and she got it back on there.
” (Rereleased as part of the 1984 pressing of Break Out , “I’m So Excited,” along with the hits “Automatic,” “Neutron Dance,” and “Jump (For My Love),” helped the album go triple-platinum). And while the Pointer Sisters will perform hit after hit at their show at MGM, Ruth is most looking forward to seeing the other acts perform. “I’m a fan of all of those guys,” she says.
“I’ll probably run out there and watch them before we go on.” The Pointer Sisters play at 7:30 p.m.
on July 26 at MGM National Harbor, 101 MGM National Ave., Oxon Hill. mgmnationalharbor.
mgmresorts.com $93.37–$235.
70. —Christina Smart Friday: Previous Industries at Songbyrd Does Open Mike Eagle belong in the best albums about divorce? While Marvin Gaye ’s Here, My Dear and Frank Sinatra’s In the Wee Small Hours pack an emotional punch both sonically and lyrically, they’re not exactly fun. Bob Dylan ’s Blood on the Tracks is a bit more relatable with songs like “Tangled Up in Blue” and “Idiot Wind,” but it’s a little much sometimes—how do you top Dylan? Richard and Linda Thompson ’s Shoot Out the Lights was the best of the best of the breakup records—not too heavy, a classic on par with Blood on the Tracks without the weight of Dylan.
But it may now be the second best divorce album. Open Mike Eagle’s 2020 opus Anime, Trauma and Divorce is the best entry in his catalog, though it’s not the most streamed. I get it.
Who wants to listen to a concept album about the end of a marriage when you can listen to more universal songs about social anxiety? If you’re not 100 percent comfortable in your relationship status, it is a good idea to stay the hell away from songs like “The Black Mirror Episode.” But if you’re not afraid of Netflix and not-at-all-chilling with your significant other, it’s the best breakup song of the decade. It’s heavy, obviously, but it’s also fun.
It is possible to see the humor at the end of the road! Open Mike Eagle is not touring behind a 2020 record. This appearance is part of the new Previous Industries , a project featuring Mike and two fellow former Chicagoans/current Los Angelenos : Video Dave and Still Rift . If you like Mike’s solo stuff, this new trio’s work is in the same wheelhouse.
Video Dave is on the aforementioned Anime, Trauma and Divorce and all three musicians are on the excellent 2022 single “Circuit City” and 2023 single “WFLD 32.” Previous Industries play at 8 p.m.
on July 26 at Songbyrd, 540 Penn St. NE. songbyrddc.
com $20–$22 . —Brandon Wetherbee Wednesday: Joan Baez at Sixth & I Iconic folk musician and activist Joan Baez has added a new title to her illustrious resume: poet. While she played her final concert in 2019, she’ll hit the Sixth & I Stage Wednesday as an author to discuss her recently released debut book of poetry, When You See My Mother, Ask Her to Dance .
Despite decades of making her voice heard on some of the world’s biggest stages (the March on Washington, Kennedy Center Honors, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, and the inaugural Newport Folk Festival, just to name a few), the book marks the first time Baez has publicly shared her poetry with the world. Baez told Vanity Fair earlier this year that her creativity “just exploded as soon as I quit touring.” The autobiographical poems vulnerably reflect on critical moments, people, and places from her long and impactful life in the public eye.
Baez will be joined in conversation by NPR’s Ari Shapiro . The conversation with Joan Baez starts at 7 p.m.
on July 31 at Sixth & I, 600 I St. NW. sixthandi.
org . $12–$45. — Serena Zets Wednesday: Plena Libre at Strathmore’s Gudelsky Gazebo You don’t have to be familiar with the folkloric origins of plena, a Puerto Rican musical genre, or even speak Spanish to appreciate the rhythms and fast-tempoed flow of the Grammy-nominated band Plena Libre .
Formed in 1994, the Puerto Rico-based group have modernized the way plena is sung and combined their take with the barrel-shaped conga drums of bomba with touches of salsa and jazz via horns, bass, and a keyboard. Plena Libre were founded by bassist Gary Núñez , who died of cancer in 2023. Under Nunez, Plena Libre released 15 albums and brought their lively sound to concert stages around the world.
Now his son LuisGa Núñez has assumed his late father’s role as bassist and bandleader. While the unit’s music has always been rooted in traditional Puerto Rican folk styles, that doesn’t mean it’s sedate. Live, some of the frontline vocalists, who also hit handheld drums or maracas, do choreographed dance moves, and harmonize behind a lead vocalist while the horn section expertly comes in and out with riffs, and the bomba and timbales drummer pound away.
There’s a lot going on, but it’s well coordinated and not atonal. Audience members can both admire the musicians chops and dance. Plena Libre play at 7:30 p.
m. on July 31 at Strathmore’s Gudelsky Gazebo, 10701 Rockville Pk., Rockville.
strathmore.org . Free.
—Steve Kiviat Wednesday: Reyna Tropical at Songbyrd If you combine the Spanish words for “bad” and “happy,” you get a portmanteau that rolls off the tongue: malegría . Over two decades ago, Manu Chao used the word to name a song on his seminal 1998 album, Clandestino . This year, it serves as the title of an entire album: the debut from Reyna Tropical .
In one of the many interludes sprinkled throughout Malegría , Reyna Tropical co-founder Nectali “ Sumohair ” Díaz says the duo’s music seeks to encapsulate that bad-happy feeling. “Being able to dance it off, it’s very important,” he once said. “When constructing a track, I think about, like, how can people move, even though the song is not the happiest song in terms of lyrics?” That question took on heightened meaning for Fabi Reyna , the other founder of Reyna Tropical, following Díaz’s tragic death in an e-scooter accident in downtown Los Angeles in 2022.
“For several months I didn’t know how to perform on stage without him, or how to write music without him,” she told Rolling Stone last year. “It left me with the question of, ‘How is this going to continue? Is this fair, is this what he wants?’ But the answer was always a resounding yes.” Although he’s gone, Reyna invoked Díaz all over Malegría —in intimate interludes made of old voice memos, in lyrics tinged with grief and depression, and in its bittersweet, malegría spirit.
Despite its inherent heaviness, Reyna Tropical’s stellar debut album overflows with joyful, tropical rhythms that will make you want to dance. Reyna, now a solo project, weaves together sounds from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Puerto Rico, and other cultures in Latin America, with special attention and reverence paid to Afro-Latine and Indigenous traditions. The result is an expertly crafted statement about creative partnership and diasporic living that doesn’t shy away from the ugly (say, colorism within the Latine community, or the harmful effects of ecotourism), but also staunchly celebrates the beautiful.
Reyna’s soft, enchanting voice swings between sophisticated lyrics and simple mantras, giving certain songs an almost prayer-like effect—if prayers were something you sprung up and swayed your hips to. Reyna Tropical plays at 8 p.m.
on July 31 at Songbyrd, 540 Penn St. NE. songbyrddc.
com . $15–$22. —Ella Feldman.
