Volume III, Issue I Available for Order Now
OPENING WITH HUGH MASEKELA’S MASTERPIECE “STIMELA (THE COAL TRAIN),” a song about the exploitation of South African miners, the train suddenly becomes a vehicle transporting us through a portal into a Black dreamland: Alice Coltrane’s “Journey to Satchidananda.” Irreversible Entanglements completes the transition with “Open the Gates,” on the other side of which we are greeted by a percussive welcome from Egyptian composer Hossam Ramzy.
The rest of the journey is one of political education, liberation, self-love, and dance, spanning diasporic flavors of jazz, funk, disco, house, soul, and R&B. It concludes with an edit of Fela Kuti’s song “2000 Black”, a vision of a world in which Black people are organized, nourished, and liberated.
This set is designed to move the listener from a state of sedentary dissociation to embodied connection; from the mindless toil of racial capitalism to decisive, kinetic action toward liberation. From the coal mines to 2000 Black.
Listen to this set when you can’t get out of bed in the morning, when you need to dance away the weight of intersecting oppressions on your back, or when you just can’t see how we get free in this time of systemic collapse. Trust the drums to show your body the path.
These rhythms are inspired by the spirit of Groove Salon, an event I host in Chicago: a pop-up vendor fair, restaurant, and, above all else, a dance party meant to connect people with one another, their bodies, and the land. The energy slowly rises with the intention of helping us hold grief and transmute it into action, allowing our feet to sing praises to the soil. Enjoy.
