Event Information

10.18 Wednesday (Jazz / Native Funk)
Earshot Jazz Fest presents:
Preston Singletary's Khu.éex’
with guests Mo’s Jamily Band feat. Estro Fiesta
$20 Adults / $18 Earshot Members and Seniors / $10 Students and Military
8pm doors
8:30pm show
21+

Nectar Lounge
412 N 36th St
www.nectarlounge.com

 

FIRST SET: KHU.EEX’ at 8:30PM

Preston Singletary (bass, vocals) with other members of the Tlingit, Haida, and Blackfoot tribes, convenes Khu.éex’, Tlingit for “potlatch.” Inspired by the music of his Alaskan forebears (which he has memorialized in a 2022-23 exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian, “Raven and the Box of Daylight”), Singletary and his jazz-funk collaborators create “songs that soar with a profound spirituality and exudes celebratory vibrations" (Dave Segal, The Stranger). Key figures from Nectar’s long-running Mo’ Jam Mondays open the night with a set of slow burning millennial funk.

Khu.éex’ is an Indigenous band full of creative members, including storytellers, activists and artists, that bring this collective energy to the stage as one powerful unit. Their focus is raising awareness of social issues, stemming from the Native American struggle, that branch out to serious issues that effect all people. Beginning in 2013 as a recording event after a chance meeting between Bernie Worrell and Preston Singletary, the founders gathered together other local artists and recorded an album together under the direction of Randall Dunn. Moving forward the group continued to record and also to perform. Khu.éex’ (pronounced koo-eex) translates to “Potlatch” in the Tlingit language. Tlingits are a Native group from southeast Alaska. Preston Singletary thought of the name Khu.éex’ to express the notion of sharing culture, stories, and music.

The ensemble members have changed over the years, with the founding member Bernie Worrell passing in 2016. The current lineup includes Preston Singletary (bass, vocals), Captain Raab (guitar/vocals), Edward Littlefield (drums), Denny Stern (percussion), Tim Kennedy (piano), Jason Cressey (trombone), Gordon Brown (saxophone), Gene Tagaban (vocals/flute/hand drum), Sondra Segundo (vocals/hand drum), and Airjazz. The band explores jazz and funk/rock with an improvisational style. The fusion of these styles with spoken word in English, Tlingit, Haida and Y’upic languages is unique. Khu.éex’ strives to preserve these native languages though their music. This merging of different cultures has produced a new and unique sound. Performance art, using traditional masks and regalia accent the dynamic live performances.

Khu.éex’ plans to release three new albums this year. The first album is titled, Siyáadlan (the Haida word for Seattle), the second is as yet untitled and the third is a soundtrack to the documentary “Khu.éex’: The Magic of Noise.” Preston Singletary and Khu.éex’ have launched an Indiegogo to offset the costs of these albums

SECOND SET: MO’S JAMILY BAND feat. ESTRO FIESTA at 10:00PM (approximate time)

Debuting in the closing set is Mo’s Jamily Band featuring Estro Fiesta—the ensemble will be comprised of female/non-binary Mo’ Jamily All-Stars. The band is a presentation of Mo’Jam All-Stars, which is an organization envisioned by Mo’ Gilkeson. Mo’ co-creates a space where musicians from diverse backgrounds can come together, collaborate, and create magic through the universal language of music. Mo’ Gilkeson has been instrumental in presenting weekly jams at Nectar Lounge, every Monday since 2013.