Jovia Armstrong: The Antidote Suite

As part of a project called The Black Index Exhibition, the composer/percussionist Jovia Armstrong brought together her Eunoia Society of Leslie Deshazor/vi, Isaiah Sharkey/b and Jeff Parker/g (along with guests Yaw Agyemanvoc, Nicole Mitchell/fl and Amr Fahmy/key0 to compose an auditory supplement. The music works well on its own, with African percussion pulsating through the loose and ecstatic violin around Parker’s plucking on “Shades and Shapes” and some breezy guitar and violin on the galloping “Meditations on Oya”. There’s some folk chanting along with pizzicato’d strings and earthy tones on “Zebra” with effects and stagnating beats hovering with the moody violin on “Breathe”. There’s a rich holistic feel to the album, similar to John Carter’s Castles of Ghana, where you can detect a story without needing lyrics.

www.euoniasociety.com

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