Sonorous Present at Getty Center LA 3/16-17

Los Angeles! I’ll be performing at the Getty Center on March 16-17 as part of a beautiful musical project called Sonorous Present, composed and performed by my dear friend, musician/scholar Alex E. Chávez with musical direction by Grammy-award winning producer/musician Quetzal Flores. The event is FREE. Yes FREE. You have to sign up to reserve your tickets HERE.

From the Getty Museum:

“Sounds of LA 2024 launches with an exclusive performance of immersive, poetic music from Alex E. Chávez’s forthcoming album SONOROUS PRESENT. What began as an experimental, collaborative, and improvised performance in Chicago—inspired by the music and poetics of Chávez’s award-winning book Sounds of Crossing—has been subsequently reimagined as a studio album in collaboration with Grammy Award-winning producer Quetzal Flores. SONOROUS PRESENT offers a never-before-heard blend of Mexican and Latin American folk elements with progressive jazz, poetry, dance, field recordings, and ethnographic songwriting that crosses the sunburst surrealism of America's musical and cultural borderlands.”

The main band will be composed of Alex Chávez (pictured below), and members of the group Quetzal. I’ll be doing my horn thing, flying down from the Bay with a few armloads of saxophones and flutes and percussion and getting in where I fit in. The music is so beautiful. It is an honor to be a part of this, and to be part of the maiden voyage of bringing this to the stage and public. Hope to see you there.

I first met Alex in Southeast Austin in 2003 when I was on a roadtrip from Brooklyn to Michoacan. My friend Adrian Quesada, on one of our many runs around the city, took me to his apartment one day to meet him. Little did I know then that I would be relocating two years later to Austin, and that we’d cross paths many times, whether it was a University of Texas grad student circles that he and my wife ran in, double bills with my Ocote Soul Sounds and his Maneja Beto, or guest appearances on album’s by his group Mitote. The friendship lasted after we both left Austin. He continued on to Chicago to teach and start another great musical project, Dos Santos, which I’ve had the pleasure of making cameo appearances. And now this.

New Music: Martez "Shattered" (Lamentos Vol. 3)

Over the past two years, I’ve continued a practice of sonic mourning rituals in a musical container called LAMENTOS. Here is the latest in the series called “Shattered”, a collection of melancholy, raw and plaintive pieces on woodwinds, piano and other assorted instruments. Recorded February-April 2022 in Oakland, California.

New song: Ocote Soul Sounds "Blues for Ukraine"

How to fully express the deep grief in watching the slow motion buildup of aggression, the growing carnage, the racism that seems to emerge even within crises that should unite? Sometimes peace feels like further away than ever. Yet we persist.

New album: Martez "Shadow Work"

The second in a series of works initiated in the beginning of the pandemic to sonify the overwhelming feeling of loss. Let the grief wash over you.

New Music: Martez

Once upon a time a young man would walk along on the bayou. He followed a princess to the cold north, where he was trapped in a barn. The princess cast a spell and released him. He followed the sun to where it swims in the water.

I had a lot of time to myself during the pandemic, away from the musical mobs I have worked with for the past 25 years. I’ll be back with them for more, but in the meantime, enjoy these sounds.

New Music: Ocote Soul Sounds "Sal Si Puedes"

“Get out if you can”, is the best translation. A lot of things to get out of, a lot of things to get into. I wrote this and played the instruments, drums, bass, clarinets, flute, saxophones. My inspirations on this were Yusuf Lateef, Cymande, and RZA. Enjoy the vibe, and stay safe.

Fourth of July narrated by Daveed Diggs

I was honored to be a part of this piece (music, sound effects) in solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives for this piece that came out July 2, 2020. It is building momentum with over 10 million views and an airing on CBS This Morning with Gayle King.

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Honored to be a part of this. Words by: @wkamaubell, @safiamafia, @camonghne, @idrisgoodwin, @illuminatemics, @pharoahemonch, @anaffy, @danez_smif, @lady_whitehead Inspired by Frederick Douglass’ historic speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Directed by: @iskracine Creative Director: @adammansbach Executive Produced by: @offsidesproductions & Colehouse Walker Political Outcomes Executive Produced by: @mrjoshhealey and @iskracine Concept: @calvinwilliams3 and @mrjoshhealey DP & Sound: @gonflow Editor: @mekomw Music: @martinperna YouTube link in bio

A post shared by Daveed Diggs (@daveeddiggs) on Jul 2, 2020 at 1:26pm PDT

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Our talented friend dropping gems and sharing truths. "As we reflect on the moment on the Fourth of July and what we're celebrating, this idea of independence, it's complicated for Americans of color to figure out how we fit in that celebration,"

A post shared by Offsides Productions (@offsidesproductions) on Jul 3, 2020 at 2:29pm PDT

Daveed Diggs demands we ask: ‘What to My People is the Fourth of July?’

‘Hamilton’ Actor Launches Provocative New Video with the Movement for Black Lives

Oakland, CA – Amidst the growing national uprising against police brutality and racist violence, Tony award-winning actor Daveed Diggs (“Hamilton”) is launching a bold new video that asks a simple, provocative question:  what does the Fourth of July mean to Black people in America right now?

Inspired by Frederick Douglass’ historic speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”, Diggs’ new video asks poignant questions and radical truths, naming and reframing America's claim of “liberty and justice for all.” Written by a national collective of Black artists including Emmy Award winner W. Kamau Bell, National Book Award finalist Danez Smith, legendary emcee Pharoahe Monch, and award-winning writers Safia Elhillo, Lauren A. Whitehead, Angel Nafis, Nate Marshall, Idris Goodwin and Camonghne Felix, the video pairs Diggs’ powerful performance with images that juxtapose America’s ideals of freedom with the realities of police violence, economic exploitation, and public health devastation.

The full video “What to My People is the Fourth of July?” will be launched this Thursday, July 2 in the leadup to the national holiday this weekend.

"When I heard that some of my favorite writers were remixing the original Frederick Douglass speech -- a piece that has always meant a lot to me -- and that they would like me to perform it, I jumped at the opportunity,” said Diggs, who is in the public eye this week as “Hamilton” premieres on Disney+ on July 3rd. He also stars as Frederick Douglass himself in the John Brown epic “The Good Lord Bird” this fall on Showtime. “This piece captures the spirit of the original and adds to it the frustration of nearly 170 years of American refusal to value Black life while still expecting Black "citizens" to celebrate America. I'm honored to get to say these words. I hope people hear them. I hope we have contributed something to this very necessary moment of reckoning that maybe helps it last beyond just the moment.” 

“Every year we are asked to celebrate this nation’s independence day, its freedom, and every year we are faced with the irony and cruelty as Black people who have never gotten to partake in that freedom,” says video co-writer Safia Elhillo. “This piece is the product of that mourning and that anger, honoring the original Douglass speech and responding to how little, ultimately, has changed for us since then. Real change comes from the people on the ground, not a government’s empty promises. That’s who I put my faith in – the people.”  

Produced by Offsides Productions and Colehouse Walker Political Outcomes, the project is partnering with the national Movement for Black Lives and amplifying their call to “defend Black lives, fight voter suppression, and defund police.”

“This brilliant artistic offering places the current iteration of the Black liberation struggle in its right historical context, while tapping into our people's power and ability to find hope and harness beauty during each step of our journey to freedom,” says Karissa Lewis, National Field Director for the Movement for Black Lives. “As we continue the fight to defend Black lives and defund the police this Fourth of July and beyond, we invite everybody who watches the video to join this national movement for justice -- because when Black people get free, everybody gets free."

NPR Weekend Edition Interview →

My bandmate Amayo and I were interviewed by NPR’s Scott Simon of Weekend Edition to discuss our latest Antibalas album “Fu Chronicles.” LISTEN: