Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite
The Urban Art Ensemble
Scott Woods - Poet
Edwin Bayard - Tenor & Soprano Saxophone
Dr. William Menefield - Piano
Dean Hulett - Bass
Dr. Mark Lomax, II - Drum Set, Composer
DJ Krate Digga - Turntables
Devin Copfer - Violin I
Elizabeth Fisher - Violin II
Jessica Pasternak Ingersoll - Viola
Dr. Sam Johnson - Cello
Duarte Brown - Visual Artist
For booking, contact
Lisa Cave
Lisa@evermintmusic.com
Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite
The Story
What is Black Odes?
In the 19th century, Black Codes were laws designed to restrict the liberty of Black people. Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite is a passionate celebration away from that reality and into another; a musical, poetic and visual celebration of a world in which the values of beauty, joy and liberty are not only a goal, but the starting point for existence. This performance is a multi-disciplinary expression of what it would be like to actually live fully in America!s promise while being unapologetically Black.
This is not a mere vision of what it might be like to experience Black liberty, but an attempt to strip away all negative associations with blackness and then create from that space. The world of Black Odes isn!t merely aspirational, but an occasional and achievable state of being.
Creation of the music, poetry and visual art required each creator strip away existing weight and gazes, then reconstruct new, original views of Blackness devoid of negative connotation, while maintaining that what we are – what we look like, what we think, and what we find beautiful – remains a source of pride and worthy of celebration. We do not have to time travel or edit history or otherwise qualify what we are. At our core, what we are is worthy of joy as a goal unto itself.
What is an ode?
The ode was originally an ancient Greek poetry form used to celebrate athletic victories. It was later adopted by English romantic poets who used them to distill emotional expression. The modern ode is a form of praise, of holding something or someone up in high regard. Odes are written in three parts: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. The arrangement of Black Odes subscribes mainly, but loosely to the Horatian tradition.
The Work
BLACK ODES: A RECLAMATION SUITE
THEME
In the 19th century, Black Codes were laws designed to restrict the liberty of Black people. They were heavily enforced shortly after the American Civil War, and ran the gamut of social and cultural wrongdoings: voter suppression, banning access to education, planting the seeds for the prison industrial complex, and worse. The effects of such laws still resonate through the lives of every American today.
Black Odes: A Reclamation Suite is a passionate and antithetical shift in worldview from that reality; a musical, poetic and visual celebration of a world in which the values of beauty, joy and liberty are not only a goal, but a living reality. It is a multi-disciplinary expression of what it would be like to actually live fully in America’s promise.