July 2, 2025: Red Beats

Two artists, two continents, and two endeavors to bring more awareness to each of their peoples. At Springfield Museums, a collection of paintings aimed at raising awareness and honoring the many missing and murdered Indigenous women across the Americas is currently on display. Nayana LaFond’s Portraits in RED melds realism with Indigenous belief as it puts faces to the ongoing issue, and we hear more about the projects online origins in the pandemic, its impact on folx everywhere, and the reasons for and hows of the project's upcoming end. And tonight at the Iron Horse, an afrobeat legend plays to close out the Secret Planet Music CSA’s second season. Gyedu-Blay Ambolley has a storied career spanning 5 decades and 30 albums, including being a pioneer and innovator for two, possibly three musical genres. We speak with the musical ambassador and veteran about music in Ghana, the rhythmic diaspora he works with, and the importance of playing his debut album July 2nd in Northampton.