Amplified Sundays featuring Dawn Drake and the ZapOte

Live music accompanied by spectacular sunsets over the Hudson River.

• July 5: Wayne Tucker and the Bad Mothas / energetic, improvisational jazz
• July 12: Gentleman Brawlers / psychedelic Afro-soul revival and indie dance
• July 19: Dawn Drake and ZapOte / genre-defying pop, funk, and groove
• July 26: Chispa / love songs for the land rooted in the musical
  traditions of Latin America

Dawn Drake & ZapOte is a female “Global South” ensemble which celebrates women in world music by incorporating Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms, pop and funk into a mix that is meant to make you move!  With original lyrics that focus on love, empathy, environmental and social justice themes, the band offers a chance to celebrate life and create community through shared experience. A genre bender, ZapOte has a unique sound based on Dawn’s musical influences which draw from Cuban salsa and timba, Haitian kompa as well as Congolese ndombolo and Nigerian Afro-beat. You’ll find some of New York’s finest female musicians playing in this band!

Originally from Virginia, Dawn started playing piano at age five. Her mother was a church organist and singer and North Carolina shag dancer and Dawn grew up listening to everything from Slovenian polka (from her father’s side), gospel, funk and classic rock.

Dawn chose to leave Virginia after high school, heading out in a 1977 Ford Pickup truck to attend college at UC Berkeley on a scholarship and a Pell Grant. Looking for something beyond her experiences, she found joy in music, education and learning about other cultures. She spent a year studying abroad in Ghana, West Africa through UC Berkeley and started playing percussion there.

After further travels, New York City became her home where she found a job cocktail waitressing on Bleecker street upon arrival. She quickly began to pursue writing, art, dance and music and landed herself in the eclectic NYC music scene. She went on to pursue Afro-Cuban batá (sacred drums of the Yoruba people) and Latin percussion in Cuba and NYC, as well as samba percussion in Brazil and NYC. She also achieved a Masters degree in Ethnomusicology and an MFA in Composition and Performance from California Institute of the Arts.

Dawn moved to Brooklyn permanently in 2003. Currently, she continues to play electric bass and percussion with artists from around the globe in addition to leading her band ZapOte. You can find her original music on all platforms under the artist name “Dawn Drake” as well as on her website and music page: https://www.dawndrake.com.

Summer on the Hudson events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, unreserved, and available on a first-come, first-served basis. If there is heavy rain at the time of the event, the event will be canceled. For weather updates, check nyc.gov/parks/soh 2 hours before the event.