TYRONE BIRKETT: TURNING THE WORLD UPSIDE DOWN

A Juneteenth Celebration with composer and saxophonist Tyrone Birkett and his band Emancipation! This performance will feature a program entitled “Turning the World Upside Down”. Inspired by the notion of an alternative world where “the first will be the last, and the last will be the first.”

All are welcome into an ecstatic & curative space, as performances go from jazz club to black church, to funky freedom atmospheres and electronic music interludes.

The music is informed by the Postmodern Spirituals concept. An approach that re-imagines and revives the Negro Spiritual & the Freedom Songs of the civil rights era. An organic fusion of jazz language, Pentecostal fervor, soul/r&b and hints of contemporary classical music. Influences range from diverse artists such as Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, The Clark Sisters, Meshell Ndegeocello, Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Steve Reich. Resulting in an aesthetic expression that is transcending, empowering, and restorative music.

In this time of upheaval and uncertainty, we must continue to envision and struggle for a better world. Principles that motivated Martin Luther King Jr. in his vision of the Beloved Community. To move to an equitable society for all.

“another world is possible, she is on her way, on a quiet day I can hear her, breathing” - Arundhati Roy

Tyrone Birkett Emancipation has supported the work of Anna Deavere Smith and Nikki Giovanni. Performed at the Apollo Theater, WNYC/Greene Space, Schomburg Center for Black Culture, Riverside Theatre at Riverside Church, Storm King Arts Center, Flushing Town Hall, and the Harlem Arts Festival.

This performance is made possible by The Bronx Council of the Arts/Howard Gilman Foundation. Funding has been made possible by The Puffin Foundation, Ltd, and New York State Council on the Arts.