From the New Sounds Live concert series at Kaufman Music Center, the songwriter, composer, vocalist, poet, activist, and educator Camae Ayewa, better known by her stage name, Moor Mother, performs the premiere of "Six Movements". The new work folds in jazz, blues, electronics, spoken word, and features multiple collaborators - some of her mates from Irreversible Entanglements, plus Henry Threadgill on flute and saxophone, tap dancers Vitche-Baul Ra & Melissa Almaguer, and many others, and was recorded in April of 2023.
Moor Mother's Bandcamp describes her music as “Low fi/dark rap/chill step/ blk girl blues/witch rap/coffee shop riot gurl songs/southern girl dittys/black ghost songs/”. Ayewa spent years organizing and performing in Philadelphia's underground music community before moving to Los Angeles to teach composition at the University of Southern California's Thornton School of Music.
She released her debut album as Moor Mother, Fetish Bones, in 2016, and has released multiple albums each year, working with frequent collaborators, Olof Melander, Mental Jewelry, and billy woods. She has performed and recorded with the free jazz groups Irreversible Entanglements and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and appears on records with Lonnie Holley, Divide and Dissolve, Sons of Kemet, and Pink Siifu; her 2022 album, Jazz Codes, was released to stunning reviews, and explores music ranging from ragtime to free jazz. Her latest, The Great Bailout, is due out in March of 2024.
Hear some of "Six Movements", recorded live at Kaufman Music Center's Merkin Hall.
ARTIST: Moor Mother feat Black Quantum Futurism / Mary Lattimore
WORK: Umzanzi [2:41]
RECORDING: Jazz Codes
SOURCE: Anti/Epitaph
INFO: https://moormother.ffm.to/jazzcodes
ARTIST: Moor Mother, voice; Eddy Kwan & Olga Tytarenko, violins; Kyle Kidd, vocals; Trae Crudup & Tcheser Holmes, drums
WORK: Six Movements: excerpt [8:05]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://moormother.net/
ARTIST: Moor Mother, voice, electronics; Vitche-Baul Ra & Melissa Almaguer, dancers, Eddy Kwan & Olga Tytarenko, violins; and Luke Stewart, double bass
WORK: Six Movements: excerpt [7:10]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://moormother.net/
ARTIST: Moor Mother, voice, electronics; Aquiles Navarro, trumpet; Keir Neuringer, clarinet; Henry Threadgill, saxophone; Luke Stewart, bass; Trae Crudup & Tcheser Holmes, drums; Kyle Kidd, vocals; Joe Jordan, electric guitar
WORK: Six Movements: excerpts [10:05]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://moormother.net/
ARTIST: Moor Mother voice; Sovei, vocals, percussion; Kyle Kidd, vocals; Aquiles Navarro, trumpet; Keir Neuringer, saxophone; Henry Threadgill, saxophone; Eddy Kwan, violin; Olga Tytarenko, violin; Joe Jordan, electric guitar; Luke Stewart, double bass; Melissa Almaguer, tap dancer; Trae Crudup & Tcheser Holmes, drums
WORK: Six Movements: 6 [13:35]
RECORDING: New Sounds Live at Merkin Hall, April 2023
SOURCE: This performance not commercially available.
INFO: https://moormother.net/
ARTIST: Jake Blount
WORK: Didn't It Rain [3:05]
RECORDING: The New Faith
SOURCE: Smithsonian Folkways
INFO: https://jakeblount.com/the-new-faith