The geographically diverse free jazz ensemble Irreversible Entanglements played their final pre-COVID-19 show at Rhizome in Washington, D.C. on March 8. Eleven days later, Washington DC, which is home to the band’s bassist Luke Stewart, has reported a total of 40 cases of the new disease and has closed all large events, schools and restaurants. These developments are similar in Philadelphia where the group’s spoken word poet and vocalist Camae Ayewa (a.k.a. Moor Mother) resides. The biggest difference between Philadelphia and the DMV is that Philadelphia is armed with drive-through testing sites throughout the city.
The other Irreversible Entanglements members — Tcheser Holmes, Keir Neuringer and Aquiles Navarro — are based in one of the most concerning cities amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, New York City, where a staggering 1,800 cases and 11 deaths have been reported.
Above is the band’s 2018 Direct Current performance at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. But let’s also take a step back to that March 8 fateful show, and watch Irreversible Entanglements’ full performance at Rhizome DC via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/NYLifer/videos/10219640802784748/
Spirits were high as the band was less than two weeks away from the release of their full length sophomore album Who Sent You? (International Anthem). The album release was gaining traction with the premiere of the its first single, “Bread Out of Stone,” and consistently garnered positive reception from American and European music press.
The band had already experienced a cancellation for its March 7 date in Novara, Italy as the country and Europe rapidly became devastated with a mass outbreak of COVID-19 causing the rest of their European venues in London, Athens, Oslo, Tampere and Helsinki to follow suit, cancelling upcoming shows for the foreseeable future.
By March 11, the United States issued an advisory urging citizens to “reconsider” traveling abroad. The next day universities across the United States began cancelling classes and events of 250 people or more were prohibited. On March 15 the governor of Illinois ordered all bars and restaurants closed, Irreversible Entanglements cancelled its only American show, their official album release show scheduled for Tuesday, March 31 at Co-Prosperity Sphere in Chicago.
Musically, the core message and performances of the group have been steeped in powerful and necessary overtures of socio-political poetry. Saxophonist Neuringer, poet Ayewa and bassist Stewart were drawn together to perform at a Musicians Against Police Brutality event and the addition of trumpeter Navarro and drummer Holmes followed. Their confident stage presence and beyond-competent musical gifts have led their audiences to consider that the band as nothing less than a force of nature.
During this uncertain and concerning time in global culture, this group’s visionary perception of the planet is needed more than ever, as they are seasoned global citizens who experience the entire world as their stomping ground. In fact, their second release is a 23-minute single-track opus entitled “Homeless/Global”.
When I was asked to contribute to JazzOnLockdown, there was no other band I could think of to highlight. I am a fan, follower and supporter of Irreversible Entanglement’s music, and I am still reeling from seeing them perform in Chicago two years ago during Pitchfork Festival. I want to share some of their live performances with every human I can. No matter what external strongholds are going on in the world, they deserve to be seen and heard, and their music is worth purchasing and collecting.
Purchase Who Sent You? due out on March 20, on vinyl and digitally via the label International Anthem
https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/who-sent-you
