The WAVES Series: Blitz "The Ambassador" Bazawule Performs Live
We rang in 2020 on a musical note. In January, Initiatives of Change USA led Richmond’s National Day of Racial Healing events like never before. We invited multidisciplinary artist, Blitz “The Ambassador” Bazawule to take center stage and share his works over three days as an award-winning filmmaker (The Burial of Kojo); musician and composer (live concert performance); writer, lecturer and visual designer (Masterclass on Design).
In addition to all of this, we were treated to a special intimate performance before the full concert experience at the Institute for Contemporary Art. On a brick cold Tuesday morning, we assembled a small group in an industrial factory turned music studio to hear Blitz vibe out with three of the eight members of his band, The EMBASSY Ensemble. Not only were we enthralled by this live music set but also the intermittent conversations about the West African immigrant experience to the U.S.; the polyrhythmic journeys, cultures and music pouring through Ghana, Angola, Jamaica, New Orleans and New York City; and how one taps into their diverse creative capacities as viable forms of resistance, resilience and wholeness. See the full video above to see what we mean.
We were also very excited to have Virginia’s legendary hip hop artist Michael Millions and Ghanaian chef Manny Baiden join us and talk with Blitz and the EMBASSY Ensemble. This marks the first WAVES Series. We look forward to creating more visibility and connections through meaningful art experiences. We will continue documenting artistic performances as a way to express WAVES. For us, this means multi-sensory ways of life that illustrate our human connections through deep histories, migration patterns, flexible cultures, and emergent identities.
“There’s something about when we travel, we find ways to create versions of ourselves that have more portals in. It creates entry points. Every time you go somewhere, you see yourself reflected in a different way and it’s like wow, I never thought that was possible for me until I saw what people did with it. ”
Special thanks to J.Roddy for providing space in his Automatic Dice studio for this session; Clair Morgan of Envoy Portfolio for the camera and edit work; and Tim Falen and Productive AV for providing sound and backline equipment and support.
Check out images below of the WAVES performance session.
Images by Amanda Barnes