Blacktronika (Part 2)

Inventor | Pioneer | Musician
 
Electronic engineer turned electronic musician Don Lewis pioneered  the revolutionary instrument, the LEO (Live Electronic Orchestra) – an  invention ahead of its time in terms of its innovative cohesion of  synthesizers & sound modules. His groundbreaking contributions to the Yamaha DX7 & Roland TR808 cemented his rightful place in electronic  music history. His work w/ Quincy Jones, Michael Jackson and his touring  w/ the Beach Boys, makes him one of the icons of the genre! 

Poet | Activist | Sound Artist  Philadelphia-based, international performance artist Camae Ayewa aka  Moor Mother is leading the way utilizing her liberation technology. In her many disciplines, her actions and words speak with true intention by  revealing the truth of shattered histories. Her music is informed by her research theories on manipulating time and space, with her compositions  utilizing sampling as a form of time travel. 

Producer | Composer | Educator 

Having a 30+ year career producing and remixing everyone from Miles  Davis and Solange to Calvin Harris and Meredith Monk, his eclectic  style has made vital contributions to the advancement of many facets of  electronic music. As a professor at UCSD, his new course Blacktronika :  Afrofuturism in Electronic Music explores all the pioneers of color whose innovative music in response to socio-political discourse changed the way we listen and consume.

Music Polymath | Sonic Explorer | Academic
As a graduate of both Harvard and Manhattan School of Music, she has  collaborated and performed globally with a beautiful array of talented  geniuses including the Art Ensemble of Chicago, David Byrne and  Ryuichi Sakamoto, using her voice and electronic sound manipulations to enhance their shows. Her solo work has been featured in such legendary  venues as Lincoln Center, MoMA PS1 and The Kitchen NYC.

Theorist | Journalist | Producer

DeForrest Brown Jr. produces digital audio and extended media as  Speaker Music, and is a representative of the Make Techno Black Again  campaign. His most recent writing can be found in Afropunk, Artforum and Hyperallergic. Primary Information will publish his book Assembling a Black Counter Culture in 2020. His music compositions, writing and  theories are compelling, thought provoking and push you out of the limiting mental structures.

Improvisors | Composers | Hip Hop Legends
NYC's Beans, High Priest, M.Sayyid and Earl Blaize make up the  boundary crossing group known as Antipop Consortium. Their innovative  jazz-influenced improvisation techniques in electronic music has placed  them as authorities on spontaneous creative composing and performance. Their sound continues to inform the shaping of blackness in electronic  music and hop hop experimentation.

Synthesist | Producer | Engineer 
As a child shaped by theremins and eerie horror movie music, Jason  Taylor aka Computer Jay’s aesthetic splits the difference between mad  sound scientist and a groove-rich keyboardist. His performances using his  patented designs, including the legendary Moogodore 2600 and his  ‘rapping Supercomputer, have been met worldwide with jaw dropping  audiences, showing the power between man and machine.

Innovator | Author | Multi-Media Artist
Eschewing the collection of traditional titles that describe single elements  of her body of work, Elizabeth refers to herself as a ‘New Renaissance Artist’ that embraces a constant stream of change and rebirth in practice.  This methodology/approach expands into a variety of philosophies and principles both tangible as well as intangible.

Legends | Musicians | Educators
The intersection where Ghana, Nigeria and Egypt meet with one of the  most innovative bands to lead the forefront of the ‘trip hop scene’,is Attica  Blues. Charlie Dark, Roba El-Essaway & Tony Nwachuchu came  together as like-minded experimentalists who wanted to infuse their love of hip hop with
their love of traditional African rhythms. Utilizing a plethora of  synths, drum machines and Roba’s extraordinary vocals, their sound went  on to influence a generation.