Locks, Damon - Black Monument Ensemble - Where Future Unfolds [CD]

Where Future Unfolds is a new work spirited by Chicago-based sound & visual artist Damon Locks. Starting as a solo sound collage piece (where Locks pulled samples from Civil Rights era speeches and recordings to create an improvisational pallet for performance on his drum machine), over 4 years the project has blossomed into a 15-piece Black Monument Ensemble – featuring musicians (including Angel Bat Dawid on clarinets and Dana Hall on drums), dancers (members of Chicago youth dance company Move Me Soul), and singers (alumni of the Chicago Children's Choir). A live capture of the ensemble's epic debut at the Garfield Park Botanical Conservatory on the West Side of Chicago, Where Future Unfolds recalls the spirits of Phil Cohran's Artistic Heritage Ensemble, Eddie Gale's Ghetto Music, Archie Shepp's Attica Blues, and Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back in an inspired & utterly immediate contemporary intersection of gospel, jazz, activism & 808 breaks.