
@ TreePeople in Coldwater Canyon Park
Wednesday December 18, 2024
06:00 PM - 9:30 pm
We are determining the future at this very moment.
We now know that the heart is the philosophers’ stone.
Our music is our alchemy.
– Saul Williams, “Coded Language”
On December 18th we gather among friends, underneath a canopy of oak and black walnut trees, for a summit of sound between two keystone species within our arts ecosystem. This nightfall is where pen meets drum brush, affirmations of resilience are interwoven with transcendental co-compositions, and where Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends.
All Ages. Limited Capacity.
A Live Recording Session.
We will be outdoors, among the wildlife,
and at the whim of this final week of autumn.
Please dress for warmth, bring extra layers,
and we’ll have hot tea waiting for you upon arrival.
SAUL WILLIAMS
Saul Williams is a Writer, Musician, Poet, Director, and Actor who came into public attention with the release of the internationally acclaimed film Slam (dir. Marc Levin), which Saul co-wrote and starred in, introducing the world to the Slam Poetry movement, and winning Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Camera D’Or, in 1998.
As an actor, Saul was a series regular as “Sivad” on the CW’s Girlfriends and has appeared in a handful of films including: K-Pax, Lackawanna Blues, New York, I Love You, and most recently the French-Senegalese Aujourd’hui- TEY (dir. Alain Gomis) which won 2013’s L’Etalon D’Or at FESPACO, where Saul was the first African-American to win Best Actor in the largest and oldest African film festival. TEY was also awarded The Prize of the City at The Venice Film Festival. In 2014, Saul made his Broadway debut as the lead in Broadway’s first hip-hop musical, Holler If Ya Hear Me, based on the lyrics and poetry of Tupac Shakur. He starred in the 2021 film Akilla’s Escape, for which his performance earned him a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor. His Directorial Debut Neptune Frost premiered at Cannes 2021 and saw theatrical release in June 2022. It has been lauded by critics worldwide.
Saul has performed in over 30 countries and read his poetry at more than 300 universities, with invitations that have spanned from the White House, the Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, The Louvre, The Getty Center, Queen Elizabeth Hall, to villages, townships, community centers, and prisons across the world. Saul has published five books of poetry which have been translated into several languages. Saul’s writings and lesson plans surrounding his work have been added to the curriculum of schools and universities around the world.
As a musician, Saul has released six albums and toured or collaborated with dozens of artists including: Nas, Janelle Monae, Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against The Machine, The Roots, Mos Def, The Mars Volta, David Cross, Allen Ginsburg, Amiri Baraka, Gil Scott-Heron, Jose James, Arthur H, Camille, Ayo, TV On The Radio, System Of A Down, KRS ONE, DJ Krust, DJ Spooky, Cold Cut, Matisyahu, Blackalicious, K’naan, K-OS, and Erykah Badu.
CARLOS NIÑO
A prolific album Producer, expansive Percussionist, experimental Composer, connector, communicator, Carlos Niño is known primarily for his main project Carlos Niño & Friends, and for his extensive work on André 3000’s New Blue Sun. Previously Niño made albums as/with Ammoncontact, Build An Ark, The Life Force Trio, and others. Niño cites Iasos, Laraaji, Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, Adam Rudolph, Idris Ackamoor, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Yusef Lateef, Alice Coltrane, Airto, Kamau Daaood, Dwight Trible, Dexter Story, Jesse Peterson, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Jamire Williams, Deantoni Parks, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, and André 3000 as among his “closest Mentors, Influences, Elders, and peers, all of whom I know well, (or at least met several times,) in this life . . .”
Niño describes his “Carlos Niño & Friends” sound as “Spiritual, Improvisational, Space Collage.” He qualifies: “Why Spiritual? Because there is always a spiritual intention and center, feeling and vibrational message in these records. Why Improvisational? Because I approach the making of this music without any preconceived structures, I just open up to what I am hearing and feeling and experiment until I get the pieces where I want them. The preparation and information in the improvisations is our whole lives. It’s an open state of communication. Why Space Collage? Because it’s all about relationship and perspective, interval, layering, moving, listening, and massaging the mixes…”
LIVING EARTH
Living Earth is an outdoor arts series that invites people of all ages to explore Los Angeles through monthly solar-powered performances. Founded and operated by local artists and organizers, their gatherings blend a love for music and native ecology, emphasizing deep listening as a form of reciprocity with the living world.
By reimagining public art as a creative act of restoration, Living Earth aims to cultivate meaningful connections with our communities, histories, ecosystems, and the planet, ultimately rehabilitating our relationship with nature and ourselves.
All Ages
Cover: $33.00