CAPITALBOP’S FREEDOM SUMMER SESSIONS
Livestreams for jazz and justice | in solidarity with the Blacksmiths
Nik Francis — drums
Jamal Moore — soprano saxophone, percussion, electronics
Jim Ryan — keyboard
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Nik Francis (b. 1981, Milwaukee, WI) is a percussionist, electronic musician, and auditory neuroscientist. Francis began taking lessons in classical piano as a child, while also teaching himself computer music and analog audio electronics. Francis uses the study of sound and the practice of music to facilitate interpersonal exchanges of higher consciousness and well-being. Having found an interest in the neuroscience of listening, Francis earned both a B.A. (UIowa) and Ph.D. (MIT) in Speech and Hearing Sciences. Today, Francis is a neuroscientist at the University of Maryland and a performing artist living in Washington, D.C.. Francis’s electronic music has explored the use of granular synthesis and electro-acoustic instrumentation. For nearly two decades, Francis has focused on improvised music—initially with computers, and more recently concentrating on percussion. Francis has worked with artists such as Tyler Higgins, Jim Ryan, Layne Garrett, Dave Sewelson, William Parker, and Jamal Moore.
CapitalBop’s work has always centered our city’s intertwined legacies of jazz and justice. We’re launching Freedom Summer Sessions partly to honor that history, and partly to serve as a reminder that D.C.’s Black musicians are still here, doing the work, connecting our shared history with the present moment, in order to help usher in a better future.
The weekly Freedom Summer Sessions will feature a one-set performance every Friday at 7 p.m. from a distinguished D.C.-area artist, either solo or with a small, socially distanced group, broadcast to CapitalBop’s YouTube channel and its social media handles on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
CapitalBop is proud to be presenting this series in solidarity with The Blacksmiths, a coalition of artists, curators, cultural producers and organizers formed in the wake of nationwide protests against white supremacy and police brutality. The coalition’s mission centers on “sharing community responsive work inspired by Black revolutionary history and the current protest movement.” The Blacksmiths’ members are largely based in New York City; they have mounted a number of successful events there in service of joy, rejuvenation and solidarity since early June, including protest celebrations on Juneteenth and the Fourth of July. This series will be the first Blacksmiths-aligned event in another city.