Louder: Finally Celebrating the ‘Summer of Soul’

July 2, 2021

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

The Harlem Cultural Festival took place over six weeks from June 29 to Aug. 24, 1969, drew more than 300,000 people total, and featured performances by an incredible lineup that included Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone and Sly and the Family Stone. Though most of the festival was captured on film, the bulk of the footage sat unprocessed for decades. Enter Questlove. The Roots musician’s directorial debut, the remarkable “Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised),” is in theaters now and premieres on Hulu tonight. Salamishah Tillet spoke with him about a project that had our critic in tears.

Another music film caught our attention this week, too: Jim Farber profiled the extremely quotable Lydia Lunch as a documentary about her life and career arrives. “It’s the problems that are nihilistic, not me,” she told him. “I’m the most positive person I know. To me, pleasure and joy are the ultimate rebellion. For some reason, few people seem to know that.”

And Bruce Springsteen returned to Broadway. Lindsay Zoladz and Jesse Green discussed, Nick Corasaniti reported from the scene and Michael Paulson profiled an usher at the theater who was very happy to return to work.

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With ‘Summer of Soul,’ Questlove Wants to Fill a Cultural Void

“This just sat in a basement and no one cared,” Questlove said about the Harlem Cultural Festival footage he watched on loop for months to make his new, acclaimed documentary.

By Salamishah Tillet

THE CRITICS

The Playlist

Taylor Swift Rejoins Her ‘Folklore’ Crew, and 8 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Brent Faiyaz featuring Drake, J. Balvin and Skrillex, Chicano Batman and others.

By Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica and Isabelia Herrera

Springsteen on Broadway: Showing Us How Many Lives We Contain

Two critics on the show’s return — a turning point in live theater and another stage in the rock star’s lifelong evolution.

By Jesse Green and Lindsay Zoladz

Critic’s Pick

‘Lydia Lunch: The War Is Never Over’ Review: A Punk Provocateur Endures

Beth B’s documentary tells the story of an iconic underground New York City misfit and her durable career.

By Glenn Kenny

Touring American Pop Music by Way of the Writers Who Have Addressed It

In “Songbooks,” the scholar and critic Eric Weisbard surveys music writing from the 1700s to today, with special attention to voices on the margins.

By Dwight Garner

FEATURES

Krista Schlueter for The New York Times

Lydia Lunch’s Infinite Rebellion

“Good luck figuring me out,” the 62-year-old artist said. A new documentary called “The War Is Never Over” does its best.

By Jim Farber

Brian Overend for The New York Times

Whistling as an Art Almost Died Off. Can Molly Lewis Keep It Alive?

The 31-year-old has whistled at tournaments, in the studio for Dr. Dre and at her Los Angeles lounge show, Café Molly. Now she’s releasing her debut EP.

By Nate Rogers

Si Jay Gould

Hiatus Kaiyote’s Life-Affirming, Genre-Defying Cosmic Soul

In the six years between the Australian band’s albums, its singer and guitarist, Naomi Saalfield, was treated for breast cancer, and recovered.

By Marcus J. Moore

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‘It Taunts the Eye’: Footwork’s Fast Moves Loom Over Chicago

Projected onto the Merchandise Mart, “Footnotes” honors a style that’s become popular around the world but isn’t always given recognition in its hometown.

By Brian Seibert

The Boss Is Back on Broadway. The Workers Are Coming Back, Too.

Broadway took its first steps back with the return of Bruce Springsteen’s show, and no one is happier than Jim Barry, an usher at the St. James Theater for 20 years.

By Michael Paulson

BRITNEY SPEARS

Britney Spears Takes On Her Conservatorship

An exploration of how the arrangement has intersected with her work, the latest legal updates and what might come next.

Company Set to Manage Britney Spears’s Estate Asks to Withdraw

Bessemer Trust, a professional wealth management firm, said in its filing that it had not known of Ms. Spears’s objection to the conservatorship that governs her life.

By Liz Day, Samantha Stark and Joe Coscarelli

Britney Spears’s Father Calls for Inquiry Into Singer’s Control Claims

A week after the singer’s impassioned courtroom speech, the man who has long overseen her conservatorship called for an investigation into her claims that she had been abused under it.

By Joe Coscarelli, Liz Day and Samantha Stark

Britney Spears’s case leads 2 senators to question the country’s conservatorship systems.

The move could signal the beginning of a legislative effort to overhaul the system.

By Chris Cameron

TV

50 Years Later, ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’ Still Charms and Challenges

The long-running variety show went off the air a half-century ago this month. But much of it is officially available on YouTube. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting moments.

By Elisabeth Vincentelli

‘We the People’ Updates the Sound of Schoolhouse Rock With Rap and R&B

The new animated Netflix series, which counts the Obamas as executive producers, fuses civics lessons with musical contributions from Cordae, Adam Lambert, H.E.R., Lin-Manuel Miranda and many others.

By Robert Ito

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Bruce Springsteen, Jennifer Hudson Set for Central Park ‘Homecoming’

Paul Simon will also perform at this summer’s concert on the Great Lawn as part of a weeklong celebration of the city’s reopening.

By Ben Sisario

The Charts

Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Sour’ Returns to No. 1, Four Weeks Later

The Disney star’s debut album circles back to the top of the Billboard 200 with the equivalent of 105,000 sales in the United States.

By Ben Sisario

Bruce Springsteen Reopens Broadway, Ushering In Theater’s Return

On Saturday, “Springsteen on Broadway” became the first full-length show to take the stage since the Covid-19 pandemic forced performances to shut down in March 2020.

By Nick Corasaniti