Listening Parties: Moor Mother

On Wednesday, May 28th at Monk Space, Black futurist artist and musician Moor Mother (Camae Ayewa) joins for an evening, consisting of two public seatings, featuring work from  The Film, her new album in collaboration with post-metal supergroup, SUMAC, selections of which are newly scored as drones for string quartet in a live performance here.

Also presenting recorded portions of The Film, Moor Mother will speak with The Industry’s Tim Griffin on her inspirations from Nigerian theatre where, as she says, the “opera is in the community”—with a special focus on the music of Black composer Edmond Dédé, including his “Morgiane, ou Le Sultan d’Ispahan,” 1887. The evening concludes with a performance with Aaron Turner from SUMAC.

Much acclaimed since her emergence roughly a decade ago, Moor Mother regularly moves across genres from jazz and spoken word to artful noise, with her 2017 debut, Irreversible Entanglements, called “one of the best jazz albums of the 2010s” by Stereogum. She is currently assistant professor at USC’s Thornton School of Music.