JASON “TIMBUKTU” DIAKITÉ’S
A DROP OF MIDNIGHT
Tuesday–Saturday, June 7–11, 2022, 7:30PM Saturday, June 11, 2022, 2PM Harlem Stage Gatehouse Address: 150 Convent Avenue at West 135 Street, New York, NY 10031 Phone: 212.281.9240 ext. 19 | Website: www.harlemstage.org
@harlemstage
@myharlemstage
ABOUT THE EVENING Welcome to the highly anticipated U.S. premiere of Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité’s A Drop of Midnight. Jason’s roots originate right here in Harlem. His parents moved to Sweden, before he was born, in hopes of escaping the racism they faced as an interracial couple. Jason grew up dealing with the racism his parents hoped to get away from. He was able to overcome this as well as issues around his identity to become one of Sweden’s biggest hip hop artists and best-selling authors. A Drop of Midnight is his story. Get ready for a powerful memoir brought to life. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Harlem Stage
PERFORMERS
Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité Author, Actor, Emcee Erik Hjärpe Music Director, Compositions, Piano Rakiem Walker Bandleader, Saxophone Gloria Ry’ann Vocals DR King Vocals Benjamin Seacrist Trumpet Gemaal Brown Keys Criston Oates Bass Donald “DonJay” James Drums
CREATIVE TEAM
Jonathan McCrory Director DeShon Elem Costume Design & Styling David Giese Illustration, Animation, Video Design Dean Lloyd Sound Engineer Belynda M’Baye Production Stage Manager Amanda K. Ringger Lighting Design Desne Wharton Video Programming
JASON DIAKITÉ MANAGEMENT: BAD TASTE EMPIRE Björn Barnekow Martin Svensson
COVID COMPLIANCE OFFICERS
Zachary Diamond Hans Friedrichs Daisy Phillips
OUR SUPPORTERS Support for A Drop of Midnight, part of Harlem Stage’s WaterWorks Established Artists commissioning program, is provided by Mellon Foundation The Ford Foundation Black Seed The Leonard & Robert Weintraub Family Fund Mosaic Network and Fund Ed Bradley Family Foundation
Bloomberg Philanthropies Warner Bros. Discovery The National Endowment for the Arts The Hearst Foundations Consulate General of Sweden The Embassy of Sweden
Thanks to Monique Martin and James King for shepherding A Drop of Midnight during its earlier journey at Harlem Stage.
Photo by Therese Öhrvall
BIOGRAPHIES JASON “TIMBUKTU” DIAKITÉ AUTHOR, ACTOR, EMCEE
Photo by Therese Öhrvall
Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité is Sweden’s most well-known and respected hip-hop artist. He released his first music in 1996 and has since released eight solo albums and numerous singles of which the vast majority have reached Gold or Platinum status. His accolades also include eight Swedish Grammy awards, and four P3 Guld (Swedish radio) awards. Timbuktu has hosted several shows on national Swedish radio, received a Nordic language award and performed for audiences all over the world, from various corners of Africa to Svalbard, from the legendary Apollo in NYC to the Roxy in LA, at the Polar Music Prize and at the Nobel Peace Prize. Together with the organization Plan, he also built a studio (Studio Timbuktu) in Senegal, to give kids the opportunity to make music. In 2016 Jason released the acclaimed book A Drop of Midnight, later developed into a captivating stage performance.
ARTIST STATEMENT I also felt a sorrow over having to leave these histories and these conversations with my ancestors. I ached to find a way to prolong my presence in that world. But let me take you back to the beginning, before I even knew I was working on a memoir, before these conversations with my ancestors and their histories, their stories. One dreary winter afternoon in January 2015, I was sitting down having a cup of coffee with my father. For some reason he started to tell me story of how he drove from Harlem, New York on his way to Harlem, Georgia in 1965. He was moving there, to be with his then girlfriend whose people came from there. I had never heard of this ‘other’ Harlem before. Before my father left New York, his car was broken into, thus when he finally drove south, his side window in the back was smashed. My father was in a suit, and he was very specific to point out that he was wearing a pair of fifty-dollar shoes. Church’s. My grandfather thought the price way too high to pay for a pair of shoes. My father dismissed him as not knowing what fly fashion of the day was. Outside of Lexington, South Carolina my Dad was stopped by the cops who then drove him to the Sheriff’s station and decided to keep the car. My Dad was told to spend the night in a motel. My father’s very real fear of being lynched in the middle of the night caused him to, ironically, climb up a tree to be safe. He spent the night sitting high up in the branches in his expensive shoes. I found this story so tragic and comical I decided to write it down verbatim. That story was how I started on the multipronged project that is A Drop of Midnight. A Drop of Midnight is and has been by far the most meaningful work I have done to date. From January 2015 when I penned the first words that would later become my family memoir, until today. This work has resulted in a book published in the Swedish, Norwegian language and English, a stage performance in Swedish, an album of original music, a documentary film in the making, and now finally an adaptation for the stage in English. The journey that this work has taken me on is a testament to
the unexpected nature of creativity. Initially it was the need to connect my roots and draw a map of my heritage and origins that started me on this project. My identity is a mosaic, a patchwork of countries and cultures and as far back as I can remember I have been asking myself: where do I belong, where is my home? While writing it became very clear to me how migration is a family tradition and for each generation a new piece has been added to our family tapestry. While earlier iterations of this work where focused on summoning my ancestors, connecting myself to them and being in conversation with them, the American adaptation that Jonathan McCrory and I have worked on also passes that legacy forward to my children and beyond. Above all this work is a matter of personal healing and meaning. When I hold the jar of cotton I picked on a field where my ancestors may have slaved and in my other, I hold my daughter’s hand, progress and legacy become physical, opening up a dimension of gratitude and understanding for gift that was given to me and that I am now passing on. I turn to the ancestors and say thank you and then to the future and say go forth. —Jason “Timbuktu” Diakité
BIOGRAPHIES JONATHAN MCCRORY DIRECTOR
Jonathan McCrory is a two Obie Award-winning, Harlem-based artist who has served as Executive Artistic Director (Creative Doula) at National Black Theatre since 2012 under the leadership of CEO, Sade Lythcott. He has directed numerous professional productions and concerts which include: The Gathering: A Sonic Ringshout, How the Light Gets In (NYMF), Klook and Iron John (NAMT), Dead and Breathing, HandsUp, Hope Speaks, Blacken The Bubble, Asking for More, Last Laugh, and Enter Your Sleep. He has worked at ETW at TISCH NYU with Emergence: A Communion and evoking him: Baldwin and at Suny Purchase directing Exit Strategy, & A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes. As an artist-in-residence at AllArts created a short film called The Roll Call: The Roots To Strange Fruit. He has been acknowledged as an exceptional leader additionally through Craine’s New York Business 2020 Notable LGBTQ Leaders and Executives. In 2013, he was awarded the Emerging Producer Award by the National Black Theatre Festival in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and the Torch Bearer Award by theatrical legend Woodie King Jr. He is a founding member of the collaborative producing organizations Harlem9, Black Theatre Commons, The Jubilee, Next Generation National Network and The Movement Theatre Company. McCrory sits on the National Advisory Committee for Howlround.com and was a member of the original cohort for ArtEquity. A Washington, DC native, McCrory attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and New York University’s TISCH School of the Arts. To learn more, please visit www.jonathanmccrory.com.
ARTIST STATEMENT Our relationship to race has been a divisive one historically. One that has separated, divided and minimized our rich cultural heritage, and lineage to be divorced from many indigenous practices, communities and commodified into monolithic boxes to be checked. Yet, is that who we really are? People defined by race? A powerful concept made by humans that ignited one of the most forced migrations that has ever happened on this planet for bodies whose heritage originate from the shores of Africa. Putting generations of people in perpetual flight charting paths to navigate and find out what home really looks like, as the embers of their legacy are scattered to the four winds. Looking for where home allows for their exhale to truly feel the best and living in a consistent space of an itinerant life. We, Black people, have been searching for where the body is liberated and not bound by western/anti-black tensions. To work on this piece A Drop Of Midnight has been one of my deepest pleasures. It has allowed me to collaborate with a joy filled, energized and exemplary artist, Jason Diakité, before and through a pandemic to illuminate his soul in searching for that home. Jason is gracefully sharing a consciousness that is searching to live beyond the racial binary, culminating in sharing his unique yet universal story with you tonight. The conversation that we have collectively crafted is a universal because of the vulnerability of his telling in the hopes to help us to interrogate this notion of home and race. Intertwined within the intersection of ones legacy and heritage that reveals the roots/foundation to ones existence. We all have a rich vibrant inheritance that we are connected to and Jason is asking us to tap into that inheritance and see our wealth in various new perspectives. So with that we invite you to lean forward in your seats to awaken your ears to open your hearts and be guided into understanding his story. A story held in powerful melody and music that is stirring and raises the vibration. A deeply personal and universal experience that may invite us to be so courageous to find our own space of belonging.
BIOGRAPHIES ERIK HJÄRPE
MUSIC DIRECTOR, COMPOSITIONS, PIANO Erik Hjärpe began making compositions inspired by Jason writing his book 2016, which led to the two first embryotic recitals with the RWP. This developed into a full live show in Sweden 2017 with the funk band Damn!. As keyboardist in this group, Erik has been touring with Jason for 20 years from Cape Town to Svalbard. (Timbuktu & Damn!) Erik writes music mainly for TV and theater in Sweden, with several nominations and prizes for best hiphop, best children’s album, best educational program etc. Erik is also a choir leader, remixer, music video editor and occational actor. The last two years, Erik has been the MD, as the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm produced the musical Cabaret, with enthusiastic reviews. In A Drop of Midnight at Harlem Stage, Erik is composer, pianist, and shares musical directing with Rakiem.
RAKIEM WALKER BANDLEADER, SAXOPHONE
Rakiem Walker is an accomplished saxophonist and musical director born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He started playing the saxophone at age 14 and has studied under Jazz legends at Jazzmobile workshops in Harlem, New York including Max Roach, Donald Byrd, and Milt Hinton. He has toured the world playing for independent band Bluesyde, R&B group Soul 4 Real (Uptown Records), and hip-hop group The Spooks (Sony Records). Rakiem has also recorded with legendary hip-hop rapper and producer the RZA as a saxophonist for several Wu-Tang Clan recordings including albums Only Built 4 Cuban Linx (Raekwon) and
Tical 2000 (Method Man). He was also a featured saxophonist appearing in televised commercials for the Olympic Games in 1996 and 2000, as well as, in the feature film Friends with Benefits (2010). As a musical director, he has toured with Lisa Simone Kelly (daughter of legendary soul singer and songwriter Nina Simone). He was previously the musical director of Red Rooster Harlem and Ginny’s Supper Club owned by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. In this capacity, he was responsible for booking and managing all weekly live music performances and concert events and has worked directly with local, independent and major jazz, R&B, and legendary hit-making producers including DJ Premier, Patrick Adams, Norman Connors, and the RZA and Wu-Tang Clan. He is also the musical director for his band The Rakiem Walker Project (RWP) and international Afro-beat band The Earthman Experience. Rakiem has worked/performed with legendary R&B recording artists Freddie Jackson, Melba Moore, Tito Jackson, Atlantic Starr; R&B/soul artist Eric Benet, UK soul singer/ musician Omar Lye-Fook, producer legend Teddy Riley to Nashville singer-songwriter Maren Morris. He is also the main house band and music director for world- renowned chef Marcus Samuelsson and all of his major events and appearances. In addition, to live performances, RWP can be heard delivering an original remix to the classic Christmas carol Deck the Halls from the Lifetime Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Merry Liddle Christmas starring Kelly Rowland, on the Lifetime Movie Series compilation album Its a Wonderful Lifetime: The Songs (Lifetime Television), How High The Moon for Swedish game developers (Three Gates in conjunction with Viacom), plus the RWP original arrangement of Inside My Love was featured on the Audible.com project ‘Our Harlem: Seven Days of Cooking, Music, and Soul at Red Rooster with acclaimed celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. In summer 2019, Rakiem released, with his band, the self-titled debut album The Rakiem Walker Project (RWP). Rakiem, as the album’s arranger and co-producer, created a listening experience seamlessly combining Hip-Hop, Jazz, and R&B featuring RWP frontwoman Gloria Ry’ann, rapper Christopher Swift, and popular
BIOGRAPHIES Swedish recording artist Timbuktu. Currently, the album is getting radio spins in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Detroit, Montreal, Canada, Dominican Republic, England, Africa, and Germany with more cities and countries on the horizon. To learn more about Rakiem Walker visit rakiemwalker.com.
GLORIA RY’ANN VOCALS
Gloria Ry’ann is a 4 1⁄2 octave range vocalist who possesses perfect pitch. Gloria has honed her skills as a lead singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer during her career. Her vocal abilities categorize her vocal style as limitless. Listening to this seductive vocal powerhouse, Gloria resonates a mixture of R&B soulful calm, clarity, sultriness, and ease that exudes confidence. Lyor Cohen, Global Head of YouTube Music and Co-Founder of 300 Entertainment, when asked about Gloria’s vocal talent, replied, Gloria is amazing! Gloria Ry’ann studied classical voice under the tutelage of renowned music educator, composer and author Lena McLin, who helped shape the vocal successes of Chaka Khan and Mandy Patinkin. Gloria’s first studio session was at the age of seven. The experience began to divinely design her musical path allowing her to sing background vocals for a diverse group of Grammy Nominated & Grammy Award winning artists that included Deborah Cox, Rihanna, Usher, Jennifer Hudson, Jon Bon Jovi, Teddy Riley, and the The Isley Brothers, as well as for legendary artists Paul McCartney, Ashford and Simpson, and Patti Labelle. Artists that had a large impact on influencing and inspiring Gloria were: Aretha Franklin, Teena Marie, Whitney Houston, Ashford and Simpson, Stevie Nicks, Heart, Jimi Hendrix, Luther Vandross, Marvin Gaye, Ella Fitzgerald, Chaka Khan and Stevie Wonder.
In 2010, Gloria released her single Divine. In 2012 she released her debut EP, Just Glow. Gloria performed on two of Kanye West’s Grammy Nominated Albums: 2013 The Life of Pablo and 2016 Yeezus. In 2018, Gloria found herself back in the studio, as a featured vocalist on The Rakiem Walker Project, Good Life, released in Melbourne, Australia, and she also performed the song, It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year, on the Lifetime Movie Series compilation album It’s a Wonderful Lifetime: The Songs, followed by providing lead vocals on the RWP remix to popular holiday song Deck the Halls from the Lifetime Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Merry Liddle Christmas starring Kelly Rowland in 2020. Glorias radio and television appearances include The Today Show, Showtime at the Apollo, 106th & Park, The MoNique, Show, The Tom Joyner Morning Show, The Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony and as a soloist on MTV’s European Music Awards. Gloria’s talent is on full display as a featured vocalist with The Rakiem Walker Project (RWP) during Unplugged Mondays, a rousing live music experience, at chef/restaurateur Marcus Samuelsson’s Harlem dining destination, Red Rooster Harlem. Gloria also exhibited her skills as songwriter and producer for multiple tracks on the much anticipated The Rakiem Walker Project (RWP) debut album. Follow Gloria on Instagram, @gloriaryann.
RAKIEM WALKER PROJECT BAND
DR KING VOCALS
GEMAAL BROWN KEYS
DONALD “DONJAY” JAMES DRUMS
BENJAMIN SEACRIST TRUMPET
CRISTON OATES BASS
Photo by Therese Öhrvall
BIOGRAPHIES DESHON ELEM
COSTUME DESIGN & STYLING ith a BA in Theatre Arts ‘17 CUNY W Hunter College DeShon is an Afrofuturist artist and designer from The Bronx, by way of Harlem. Her passion is working on shows that center, highlight and uplift the stories of BIPOC. They are honored to be a part of Jason’s and The Harlem Stage family.
DAVID GIESE
ILLUSTRATION, ANIMATION, VIDEO DESIGN MA graphic design and illustration at the University College of Arts and Design (Konstfack).
DEAN LLOYD SOUND ENGINEER
BELYNDA M’BAYE
PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER Is a New York based stage manager with experience working with mainly new development plays. Delighted to have worked with playwrights, Mfoniso Udofia, Lee Edward Colton II, Liza Jessie Peterson and Aurin Squire to name a few. New Plays with Producing Teams like Harlem 9, The New Black Fest, Now Africa, and Springboard @ Lincoln Center Stage Manager for Festivals; NYMF , NAMT Festivals, Going Down To The River Festival. Belynda is Program Manager of the Soul Series L.A.B I Am Soul Residency Program for Playwrights, Directors and Producers at The National Black Theatre.
AMANDA K. RINGGER
LIGHTING DESIGNER / DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION, HARLEM STAGE
DESNE P. WHARTON VIDEO PROGRAMMER
Desne P. Wharton is a projection designer and filmmaker from Washington, DC. She received her BFA in Theatre Design & Technology and minored in Film Studies at The Pennsylvania State University, graduating in 2019. She is also a graduate of The Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Some theater credits include The Peculiar Patriot, Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, Song from the Uproar, and American Idiot. Some TV credits include Insecure, True Story, and Dollface. www.desnepwharton.com
ABOUT HARLEM STAGE Harlem Stage is the performing arts center that bridges Harlem’s cultural legacy to contemporary artists of color and dares to provide the artistic freedom that gives birth to new ideas. For nearly 40 years our singular mission has been to perpetuate and celebrate the unique and diverse artistic legacy of Harlem and the indelible impression it has made on American culture. We provide opportunity, commissioning, and support for artists of color, make performances easily accessible to all audiences, and introduce children to the rich diversity, excitement, and inspiration of the performing arts. We fulfill our mission through commissioning, incubating, and presenting innovative and vital work that responds to the historical and contemporary conditions that shape our lives and the communities we serve.
Board of Directors Courtney F. Lee-Mitchell, President Jamie Cannon, Vice President Michael Young, Secretary Mark Thomas, Treasurer Stefany Bergson Angela Glover Blackwell Jamila Ponton Bragg
JoAnn K. Chase Patricia Cruz Hugh Dancy and Claire Danes Trevor Gale Jenette Kahn LaChanze Sapp-Gooding Tamara Tunie
Administration Staff Patricia Cruz, Artistic Director & CEO MANAGEMENT Eric Oberstein, Managing Director DEVELOPMENT Shamar Hill, Director of Development Shanté Skyers, Associate Director of Development Julia Marrero, Development Associate PROGRAMMING Carl Hancock Rux, Associate Artistic Director/Curator-in-Residence Yunie Mojica, Programming Manager MARKETING Deirdre May, Senior Director of Digital Content and Marketing Andre Padayhag, Marketing Manager and Graphic Designer BOX OFFICE Daniel Im, Box Office Manager PRODUCTION Amanda K. Ringger, Director of Production Clarence Taylor, Lighting Operator Orlando Alvarado, Audio Engineer Gabriel Fequiere Jr., Video Operator David Barrett, Julio Collado, Lighting & Audio Deck Crew OPERATIONS Rodney Bissessar, Director of Operations Lamont Askins, Operations Assistant Acey Anderson Sr., Maintenance
ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Ncheng LLC, Accountants/Advisors Michelle Blankenship, Principal Aaron Lam, Supervising Senior Accountant CONSULTANTS Aon/Albert G. Rubin Company (NY) Claudia Kaufman, Insurance Digital Video Services—BriGuel Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, P.C. — Lisa Davis Itelagen, IT Consultant Lutz & Carr/Chris Bellando, Accountants Madison Consulting Group, — Matt Laurence Manchester Benefits — Greg Martin Marc Millman Photography Digital Video Services — Jess Medenbach PR Canvas Public Relations & Marketing RL Stein Group—Robyn L. Stein Development Consultant The Whelan Group Incorporated —Charles Whelan USHERS Miriam Hernandez, Chloe Wilson, Robert Gibbins, Brenda Hernandez, Nobar Deleon, Toma Carthens, Andy Garcia