Modern Griots Reviews: Futurology the Musical

“What these women become is what we will be,” Captain Larnyce Gaines gives the purpose of not only the three travelers from the future, but the underlying message of Futurology the Musical. The women finding power in themselves theme throughout this musical is its driving force and compelling feature. The Paper to Pen production, which […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Films at the Crossroads – Revolutionaries and Outsiders

Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, Toussaint, Boneshaker and Alaskaland may seem like distinct films on the surface, but underneath they all have similar themes of people who feel as if they don’t fully fit as if in a state of in-betweenness, and trying to find a place to belong, whether it’s a community, a […]

Modern Griots Interviews: RebelMatic

RebelMatic, a New York City punk/hardcore band with a hip-hop twist, are coming out with their album, Elephant Amnesia, the next one after Prey for the Vulture. I asked them a few questions about the inspiration for the album and it’s cover: 1) In the wake of police brutality and killings of people like Kimani […]

Modern Griots Reviews: Nick Cave’s Magical Horses in Heard.NY

As Ebony celebrated Katherine Dunham, Nick Cave was featuring dozens of Alvin Ailey dancers wearing 30 colorful horse “soundsuits” in his public performance piece at Grand Central station, HEARD•NY. Presented by Creative Time and MTA Arts, the 30 minute performances included a grazing pastoral music and dance sequence followed by a rhythmic choreographed dance, “crossings” […]

Modern Griots Reviews: The Burning Bush by Kenya Wright

“Motherpounder!” That left me speechless! And by speechless, I am talking about Kenya Wright’s sequel to Fire Baptized, The Burning Bush. In this novel, Wright takes readers deeper into the fantasy world of the Santeria Habitat and main character, Lanore Vesta, expanding on the history and relationships of the beings who live there. Opening with […]

Modern Griots Spotlight: Nino

Last weekend, I attended the Africa Now! concert at The Apollo, which featured performances from FreshlyGround, Lokua Kanza, Nneka and Blitz the Ambassador. While all the performances were great (FreshlyGround’s silly, energetic dancing, Lokua Kanza tender singing and Nneka’s fierce honesty), the standout performance of the night was Blitz the Ambassador’s with his simulation of […]

Modern Griots Review: Arin Maya and The Imagination

“Drifting on a memory/Don”t give a care whoever sees me” is how Arin Maya and The Imagination begin Her Imaginings and that is how the album sounds — like a soulful drifting on a jagged, dislocating yet transformative electronic sonic journey. For example, the space traveling track “Get Outta Here,” Arin Maya sings in a […]

Modern Griots Review: MUV’s “Sankofa”

If you can keep dancing especially when no one thought you would survive, then you have traveled to a region beyond death. Last weekend, Movement for the Urban Village‘s (MUV) Sankofa performance showed how our expressions (dance, music, words, names and silence) transcend boundaries and even death. As George Clinton says in “Mothership Connection,” “You […]

Modern Griots Review: The United States of Hoodoo

Darius James and Oliver Hardt’s film The United States of Hoodoo has a deceptive quietness with a hidden power underneath it. But then again, it is just another variation of the film’s themes of the trickster and the crossroads. Returning home to Connecticut, the film follows James’ coping with his father’s recent death and his […]

Modern Griots Review: Pegasus Warning’s “Woof Ticket”

The songs on Pegasus Warning’s latest EP, Woof Ticket, has a yearning to them. Just like the title of the first track “Acoustic,” his voice and the music desire a sensual, acoustic feel, but the electronic format of the music simultaneously dismembers and distorts singer, Guillermo E. Brown, taking him away from it. Like double […]