Earthseed

The first collaboration between jazz flutist and composer Nicole Mitchell and performer, composer, and vocalist Lisa E. Harris, EarthSeed was commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago and recorded live there in 2017. Its based on two novels by Afrofuturist writer Octavia Butler: Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, both eerily prescient of the present dystopian era. EarthSeed is the third work in Mitchells catalog to directly emerge from her decades-long immersion in Butlers work; it is preceded by Xenogenesis Suite (2008) and Intergalactic Beings (2014). Mitchell and Harris met in New Orleans, and after discussing their mutual love of Butler, they committed to work together on a conceptual piece. Harris sings, speaks, and plays theremin, while Mitchell performs flute and electronics. The supporting quintet are members of the latters Black Earth Ensemble: operatic tenor Julian Otis, violinist Zara Zaharieva, trumpeter/electronicist Ben LaMar Gay, cellist Tomeka Reid, and percussionist Avreeayl Ra. The texts here, other than the title, are original. EarthSeed is almost as out there as you can go. Under its umbrella are elements of classical oratorio, free improvisation, avant-jazz, new music composition, and polemics. Evanescence / Evanescence commences with hypnotic trilling flute, extended breathing, and whistling as Harris wordless singing joins Mitchells electronically overdubbed flute in droning harmony. Whispering Flame finds cello and violin circling one another with Mitchells flute at the center of a tonal bridge as Otis and Harris sing in duet. When the instrumentalists briefly ratchet the tension, the singers respond by grunting and groaning amid a howling wind. They eventually return united out on a heightened spiritual plane. Biotic Seeds marries recitation and improvised flute in shards. The interplay between Reid and Zaharieva is energetic, focused, and revealing, not only of drama but a willingness to embrace this tilting sonic universe together. Their sweeping interplay and Harris wordless vocalizing create a maelstrom for Gay to punch an electronically treated trumpet through as it climbs above the din while sounding similar to a trombone. Phallus and Chalice counters as the singers scat in union and counterpoint. The skeletal mix underscores the pairs sly humor -- you can hear the audience laughing in the background. Fluids of Time sounds like a 21st century radio play, as instrumentalists comport themselves with canny instinct and timing -- even when improvising. Theyre not support per se, but a direct force of motion to expand the pieces dramatic reach. Elemental Crux showcases Reid stating a lonesome melody as Harris and Otis sing to one another. They reclaim the earth, the spirit, lost truth, and new hope in the haunted, droning, and tender closer Purify Me with the Power to Self Transform, carried by Harris vocal that bridges everything that preceded it. EarthSeed is bold, powerful, provocative, intellectually engaging, and spiritually resonant. Its idiosyncratic approach manages to simultaneously ground listeners in the present historical moment and look squarely at the uncertainty of the future as pregnant with possibility. ~ Thom Jurek