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. It's 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
Mitchell's catalog to directly emerge from her decades-long immersion in
Butler's 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 latter's
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
Mitchell's electronically overdubbed flute in droning harmony. "Whispering Flame" finds cello and violin circling one another with
Mitchell's 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 pair's 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. They're not support per se, but a direct force of motion to expand the piece's 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
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