Performance by Angels and Demons

Description:

While in residence at Western Front, Darius Jones was joined by long-term collaborator Amirtha Kidambi to perform as their duo Angels and Demons. The duo presents musical adaptations of cosmological writings by iconic composer and bandleader Sun Ra, with the project being formed to honor the intellectual, literary, and spiritual contribution of Ra as both a philosopher and teacher. Dancing between Ra’s prophetic poetic verse, abstract phonemes and syllables, sound, noise, tone, melody, and rhythmic interplay, Jones and Kidambi use their unique compositional and improvisatory voices on alto sax and voice to amplify Ra’s poetry to contemporary audiences. 

For the hour-long performance in the Grand Luxe Hall, the audience was invited to surround the musicians who sat facing each other at the centre of the room. The circular orientation of the performance space heightened the duo’s hypnotic frequencies. The intensity of their instruments’ resonance was further amplified by coloured stage lights projected throughout the space: red and cyan lights combined to invoke the stereoscopic effects of 3D glasses; a yellow spotlight illuminated the south wall to reference Ra and solar noon; and a blue spotlight arranged directly over the artists evoked the beam of an extraterrestrial spacecraft as they exchanged otherworldly vibrations. 

A livestream of the performance was available on Vimeo for those who could not join in person. 

Presented in partnership with Coastal Jazz & Blues Society, and with the support of the Government of Canada and SOCAN Foundation.