Sound Series: Amirtha Kidambi & Darius Jones: Angels & Demons

The duo formed to honor the intellectual, literary, and spiritual contribution of Sun Ra, as a philosopher and teacher. Dancing between Ra’s prophetic poetic verse, abstract phonemes and syllables, sound, noise, tone, melody, and rhythmic interplay, Jones and Kidambi use their unique compositional and improvisatory voices to amplify Ra’s poetry to contemporary audiences.

Amirtha Kidambi is an educator, activist, and organizer, informed by anti-racism, decolonization, and anti-capitalism, and is co-founder and co-organizer of South Asian Artists in Diaspora and Musicians Against Police Brutality. She is the creative force behind Elder Ones and topped the categories of “Rising Star Vocalist”, “Rising Star Composer”, and “Rising Star Jazz Group” in the Downbeat Critics Poll for 2019.

Darius Jones has created a recognizable voice as a critically acclaimed saxophonist and composer by embracing individuality and innovation in the tradition of Black music. He has been awarded the Van Lier Fellowship, Jerome Foundation Artist-in-Residence and commission, French-American Jazz Exchange Award, and a Fromm Music Foundation commission from Harvard University. Jones has received acclaim for not only his studio albums featuring music and images evocative of Black Futurism, but also for his commissioned work as a composer throughout the United States and Canada.