State of the City Music Moves Within Ocala

Music Moves Within Ocala

BY ASHLEY DOBBS

Music is powerful. It can change your outlook, your mood and your mind. It ranges from light-hearted to heart-thumping to creating a social consciousness and everything in between. No matter what your definition is, we can all agree that music unites us in a small way. For the past seven years, the musical experience known as the Levitt AMP Ocala Concert Series has transformed our Friday nights in Ocala into a cultural and musical journey over the course of ten weeks.

Beginning in 2015, the City of Ocala, in partnership with the Marion Cultural Alliance (MCA), has been one of the only Florida recipients to be awarded the grant from the foundation. Designed to help elevate underutilized areas within a community, the free concert series has quickly become a citywide staple that residents have come to know and love each year. The diverse line-up of talent has spanned every musical genre possible and allows concert-goers to experience music they may have never heard before. It also helps showcase the diverse recreational areas within the city limits and encourages residents to experience a new location (metaphorically) within their back yard.

Each year the music series features every kind of music, including jazz, salsa, Celtic, blues, rock, soul, and patriotic. To further enhance the musical celebration this year, the series will highlight Black Music Month in June, a nationally established event that began in 1979 under President Jimmy Carter. This month is an opportunity for music lovers to discover new black musicians or revisit their favorites from throughout history.

The Levitt AMP Ocala Music Series will celebrate these musicians who have contributed their talents and sounds to the movement by partnering with Ocala’s Juneteenth Celebration. Usher in the holiday weekend by enjoying the sights and sounds of the University of Florida (UF) Afropop Ensemble Friday, June 17 beginning at 7 p.m. This group will be the opening act for the evening concert and specializes in the popular music of the African continent, focusing on Afrobeat, highlife, soukous, and African jazz. Founded in 2021, the musical group will perform a variety of Afrocentric music that will highlight the Black Music experience. Headlining artist Natu Camara will round out the night by bringing her influential style of West African heritage and music to the Ocala stage.

Just as June signifies the importance of Black Music, it also brings to light the Juneteenth holiday. Nationally recognized as a federal holiday in June 2021, this annual holiday celebrates the freedom of enslaved people in the United States at the end of the Civil War. The second annual Juneteenth celebration will take place the same weekend at Webb Field and is organized by the Ocala Juneteenth Celebration Commission. Recently, the Ocala City Council implemented this as a holiday, with business offices being closed June 20 in observance.

Ocala residents and visitors are encouraged to take part in the weekly Levitt AMP concerts and experience the variety of music available within our community. As a city, we are proud to coordinate and implement music and cultural experiences that our citizens can enjoy, especially events that are at no cost. Being able to partake in shared experiences helps shape and grow our community. Please come out and support this concert series throughout the month of June, every Friday night from 7 to 9 p.m. For more information about upcoming events within our community, visit www.ocalafl.org.

Ashley Dobbs is the Marketing and Communications Manager for the City Of Ocala.