Ethereal R&B goddess Shelby Sol—who released the killer Solstice EP last fall—joins saxophonist-singer Zeta the Babe on Tampa Shuffle’s stacked Juneteenth bill where Mike Mass and J.T. Brown are billed together (which hopefully means the emcee and the space cowboy will be singing the powerful single “Blood in the Water”).
Neo-soul, Jazz, and Funk Venus Bleu band, Tone I.E. and rapper Jay Browne round out the talent. Shuffle’s Saturday menu includes a $25 all-you-can-eat fish fry with collards, black-eyed peas, salt and pepper tofu, and other sides.
And if you want a double dose of Sol, go a mile-and-a-towards historic Ybor City for a Juneteenth celebration outside the essential Best Richardson African Diaspora Literature and Culture Museum. A two-hour block of music from Sol—along with Tampa rapper Jinx, Ghanaian-American rapper and writer Chael Blinya, spoken word artist Dennis Amadeus, plus WMNF 88.5-FM’s DJ Spaceship—kicks off at noon.
And if you don’t know what Juneteenth is, or why it is important to celebrate, please learn. It’s much more than an emancipation day. And these aren’t the only Juneteenth celebrations in the Tampa Bay area.
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This article appears in Jun 17-23, 2021.