听
If you鈥檝e ever been moved by Gil Scott-Heron鈥檚 music, be prepared for Western Front鈥檚 new exhibit to move through you and awaken a deep, tonal tenderness. Another time, this time, one time is an audio-visual exploration of Scott-Heron鈥檚 1977 song 鈥淲e Almost Lost Detroit.鈥� Created and conceived by a Brooklyn-based duo, Steffani Jemison and Justin Hicks, the artists will kick off the month-long exhibit with a live musical performance at Western Front on Thursday, Sept. 21.
Speaking to Westender by phone while travelling on the train from New Jersey to Penn Station, New York City, Jemison explained the intricate structure of their show. Another time, this time, one time is part of a series called Mikrokosmos, in which she and Hicks pick apart a song, and build new material with it.
With their investigation into 鈥淲e Almost Lost Detroit,鈥� they focus on one particular vocal phenomenon called melisma. A melisma is 鈥渨hat happens when someone sings a single syllable that spans multiple notes,鈥� Jemison says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one of the foundational elements of R&B music鈥� (for a contemporary example, think Mariah Carey).
The performance is structured around the performers learning each melisma 鈥� or melismatic gesture, and performing them in sequence, several times, and then creating new songs with the segments. Accompanying the audio is a video, partly animated and partly filmed in Brooklyn.
The installation, which will remain on display at Western Front until Oct. 28, includes an audio component, and a series of photographic prints with mixed media elements, including text pieces and velvet.
听
Although Jemison says the performance is 鈥渧ery simple,鈥� its emotional impact on both its creators and listeners is complex.
Reached by phone in his Brooklyn apartment, Hicks told Westender that he wakes up thinking about the piece. A week prior to the exhibit鈥檚 opening, on the other side of the continent, Hicks is still refining the audio segments.
鈥淭his is the baby,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it.鈥�
Listening to a preview track titled 鈥淪trategies for鈥︹�� it鈥檚 clear that Hicks has laboured over the composition. It鈥檚 a melancholic work of repetitious wizardry, including minor chords on the piano, a gently-thudding bass line, and Hicks鈥� confident soulful voice. It pulls you in without warning and leaves you desperate for more when it ends.
鈥淲e have moments where we鈥檙e just like 鈥榤an, this is like, heavy,鈥欌�� Hicks says. 鈥淲e know that these vocal gestures hold some sort of tonic or active ingredient.鈥�
From an outsider鈥檚 perspective, it鈥檚 tempting to say the exhibit will be a commentary on how black identity gets overlooked in America. That the picking apart and expansion of one song, written by a legendary black artist, is a metaphor for the attention required to understand the impacts of anti-black racism. However, both Jemison and Hicks are more focused on the emotional resonance and musical structure of their work.
鈥淕il Scott-Heron was a master storyteller and visionary and almost all his songs are political, and almost any of them would resonate today,鈥� Jemison says, assertively. But 鈥渢he way that we break apart the song, we鈥檙e dealing with a lot of sort of individual words that are isolated, such that the original song that existed is not necessarily identifiable in the actual performance. It was important not only that the song carried a resonant political message, but also that it had the formal properties that were interesting to us.鈥�
For his part, Hicks says he wants people to experience the pleasure of hearing the voice doing familiar things, that when taken out of context, becomes something else. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beauty that I do听feel really strong about it,鈥� Hicks says. 鈥淚 would love for people to come away, basking in that feeling, that sort of sensation.鈥�
However, he also hopes it will help people understand the impact of R&B music. 鈥淭here is a popularity to R&B and blues throughout time that has proved to colour a lot of other musical styles, and I think when we lift these gestures out of any context and isolate them, there is a way in which people might be able to see just how vast that [musical] language is.鈥� 听
听
鈥� Another time, this time, one time runs from Sept. 21-Oct. 28 at Western Front (303 E. 8 Ave.) Special performances Sept. 21鈥�23 at varying times. Free admission.
