LIVE: Jody Watley & SRL @ Empire State Plaza, 8/5/17

Photograph by Stan Johnson

Apparently sometime between when Jody Watley & Shalamar Reloaded were booked to headline Albany’s Black Arts & Cultural Festival and the time they hit the stage last Saturday afternoon, the group changed their name to SRL.

But as a famous bard once said, “a band by any other name would sound as sweet,” and it didn’t really matter what the name of the band was as long as Grammy Award-winning singer Jody Watley was at the microphone bangin’ out the hits.

In addition to Jody Watley & SRL, the free fest on the Empire State Plaza also featured performances by the Brooklyn United Marching Band, Dr. Ferguson & the Capital District Youth Mass Choir, Kay Hollywood, Young Paris and Wassa Pan Afrika.

UPCOMING: Next up at the Empire State Plaza is the New York State Food Festival on Wednesday (August 9). The fest runs from 11am-9pm with dozens of food vendors including New York producers and specialty products, New York State beers and the Empire State Plaza Farmers Market. In addition there’s plenty of free music – the Soul Rebels (12noon) beneath The Egg, and main stage performances by the Kyle Bourgault Band (5pm), the Scooter Brown Band (6:15pm) and the Charlie Daniels Band (7:45pm).