Jaimeo Brown Transcendence featuring Howard Wiley

Jaimeo Brown, drums & electronics
Howard Wiley, saxophone
Fashion design by Frumiesha Brown
“Brown creates a music that sounds like the past, present and future all at once.” — DownBeat Magazine
In-demand Bay Area drummer and bandleader Jaimeo Brown brings a new duo version of his innovative multi-year project Transcendence to the Jazzschool, an immersive multimedia performance inspired by the remarkable quilts and culture of Gee’s Bend. Gee’s Bend is an African American hamlet in Alabama with a rich quilting and singing tradition that dates to the 19th century. The project reimagines African American spirituals and work songs for percussion, electronics, and saxophone, interwoven with archival field recordings from the Smithsonian.
Brown is an educator, activist, and artist who has performed and collaborated with Liberty Ellman, Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Q-Tip, Bobby Hutcherson, Greg Osby, Joe Locke, and David Murray, among others. Inspired equally by the hip-hop beats and samples of J Dilla, Dr. Dre, and DJ Premier, and the visionary jazz of John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Art Blakey, Brown’s Transcendence project weaves together elements of both traditions into a powerful musical tapestry where jazz history meets its digital future.
August concert series programmed by Oakland saxophonist/composer Howard Wiley.