Visions of Afro-Futurism from the 1970s
Join Damon Locks and members of the Black Monument Ensemble for a discussion and performance exploring Afro-Futurism in the 1970s through a genre-bending fusion of jazz and funk. Tickets: $15
Join us for a very special event with Damon Locks and members of the Black Monument Ensemble at the Art Institute of Chicago.
Damon Locks has conducted research in the archives of Sun Ra and other legendary African American musicians to recreate and sample the performance styles, costumes, and sounds of music from the 1970s. In this extraordinary talk, Locks will explain the work process that has inspired these recreations.
He will explore how Afro-Futurism reflected Black liberation movements, and explain the relevance of those movements today. The lyrics of these songs often describe fantastic journeys into outer space or transformative experiences and are accompanied by music that seems to lift the audience into a transcendent state through repetition, chord changes that suggest “rising,” and futuristic sound effects.
In the talk that begins this program, Damon Locks will discuss his creative practice and use of music from the past. Afterwards, a performance by members of the Black Monument Ensemble will demonstrate the recreated music. Tickets: $15.
Event Details
15 November 2024 at 7:00pm
Art Institute of Chicago
Rubloff Auditorium
111 S. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60603
Featuring
Damon Locks is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, and vocalist/musician. Since 2014 he has been working with the Prison and Neighborhood Arts Project at Stateville Correctional Center teaching art. He currently teaches improvisation in the Sound Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, leads the Black Monument Ensemble, is a member of New Future City Radio and Exploding Star Orchestra, and co-founded the band The Eternals.
Black Monument Ensemble is a vibrant collective of artists, musicans, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s vision, the contributors represent the richness and diversity of Black artistic excellence in Chicago.
“Locks’s Ensemble work — with all its spiritual jazz arrangements, vibrant drum breaks and esoteric movie clips — feels overtly communal, like a private conversation between those who understand the nuances of Black culture.”
–The New York Times
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The 2024 AMS Annual Meeting is in Chicago!
“Visions of Afro-Futurism in the 1970s” is part of the 2024 AMS Annual Meeting, the leading international conference on the study of music.
Save 10% on non-member registration with code: ManyMusics2024