Rounding off a stellar weekend of music at the Prospect Park Bandshell, New Orleans brass ensemble The Soul Rebels blew into BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Saturday night with a high energy set that blended funk, rock and R&B. Eschewing the traditional sounds of the Preservation Hall or Dirty Dozen Brass Bands, the Soul Rebels have made a name for themselves by collaborating with everyone from Metallica to The String Cheese Incident, along with dozens of hip hop and R&B artists.

On Saturday, the Soul Rebels were joined onstage by a trio of MC's, including Talib Kweli, Kirk Knight, and the mesmerizing Pharoahe Monch, who exhorted everyone to "Get the Fuck up!" and shout at the sky for the recently deceased MC Prodigy. Goapele opened with a sunny set of soul and R&B, followed by a DJ set from Natasha Diggs. 

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The rain came down hard last night in Prospect Park, but that wasn't enough to deter a few thousand devoted fans from sticking around to see tenor legend Pharoah Sanders at BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Taking the stage just a few minutes past his scheduled start time of 9pm, Sanders, a six-decade veteran of everyone from John Coltrane to Sun Ra, played with the energy and deep feeling of a man half his age, bouncing between hard-blowing free jazz and mainstream lyricism. Throughout his 90 minute set, there was an overwhelming reverence to his playing that was completely transfixing, presenting himself like some form of oracle. And, yet, he was also down-to-earth, dancing around the stage while his all-star band (trumpeter Nicholas Payton, pianist William Henderson, bassist Nathaniel Reese and drummer Savion Blake) took their solos. Sanders even engaged the crowd in a bit of playful call-and-response, ending with a reminder that "All is Love." Which felt like nothing short of a commandment.   

More pics on the photo page.