The Need to Be

This was originally intended to be all contemporary black avant-garde music but I realized I went back to 1996. Oh well. Several of these are live performances, I’ve put links to the videos if you’d like to watch. The image used is a detail from Bequest by Ulysses Jenkins (full image is here).

Songs Played

  • Pamela Z with Ethel “Ethel Dreams of Temporal Disturbances (for ETHEL)” [Light] 2006
  • Matana Roberts “Kersaia” [Coin Coin Chapter One: Gens De Couleur Libres] 2011
  • DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid “Hologrammic Dub” [Songs Of A Dead Dreamer] 1996
  • Heroes Are Gang Leaders “Hurt Cult” [Hurt Cult] 2016
  • Fay Victor’s Mutations for Justice “Propaganda” [Performed Live at Freedom Square in Troy, New York for the Spirit of the Suffragettes concert series] 2019
    • You can see a video of this performance here.
  • Moor Mother “By the Light” [Fetish Bones] 2016
  • Daniel Bernard Roumain “The Need to Be” [Etudes4Violin&Electronix] 2007
  • Tyondai Braxton “The Violent Light Through Falling Shards” [History That Has No Effect] 2002
  • Elizabeth A. Baker “Temporal Landscapes – Improvisation II” [Performed live] 2013
    • You can see a video of this performance here.
Jessica Mays
  • Jessica Mays “BEAR” [Performed Live at Roxbury Community College] 2019
    • You can see a video of this performance here.

If you’re interested in reading more about black avant-garde, here are a few options:

Listen

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