Be Present Art Group: Portland's finest practitioners of Great Black Music. A spiritual record for the ages. Roman Norfleet And Be Present Art Group play deeply felt sometimes earthy and sometimes cosmic music. A trio (sax, drums and organ) are augmented by additional percussion, soaring vocals and even a vocal appearance by a toddler. This record will take you where you need to go. Don't miss history in the making. Across six expansive tracks, Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group build from free-flowing ceremony through meditative groove-based prayer and into full-on gales of improvised music. “We build our own time,” Norfleet said, a collective act of liberation through sound. Raised in the Baptist church and trained in the Hindu/Vedic philosophy of Swamini Turiyasangitanada (Alice Coltrane), Portland multi-instrumentalist and bandleader Roman Norfleet travels a lineage of Great Black Music and the world’s spiritualities on his debut for Mississippi Records. The album emerged out of drum gatherings in Washington DC’s Malcolm X Park - a pocket of freedom built on collective improvisation and shared rhythm. In Portland, Norfleet gathered a collective of artists including Jacque Hammond and members of Brown Calculus to transmit the spirit of those DC sessions. A formative encounter with Pharoah Sanders furthered the young saxophonist’s journey via the spaceways, through Sun Ra and into the universe of contemporaries like Angel Bat Dawid. YAWA (Amenta Abioto):Amenta Abioto is a singer, songwriter, producer, performance artist from Memphis, TN. In her one-woman show, she builds vocal and instrumental loops from kalimba, synthesizer, drum machine, and guitar creating atmospheric textures. Weaved into syncopated rhythms and dichotomies of comedic proportions, Amenta surprises and tantalizes audiences with mind bending ideas while skipping musically from soul-shaking gospel to smooth jazz. Boldly mystical and soul-fired, her raw live performances invoke elements of both theatrical surprise and magic through ancient African diasporic sounds and stories. Amenta studied drama and was familiarized with the stage. Her solo project made debut in at house show in Spring of 2012. Since then, Amenta has released three projects and toured with The Blow, Secret Drum Band, Typhoon, and The Ghost Ease. Jacque Hammond: Jacque Hammond is a genre-bending singer-songwriter based in Portland. She is a driven, passionate, and charismatic artist with a unique approach to R&B and more. Her music blends the organic feel of old beloved soul classics with the punch and appeal of contemporary music. After picking up a used guitar in 2011, the instrument has been a key component of her songwriting and evolution as an artist. Originally from Joliet,Illinois, she has been based in both Los Angeles and Portland. She released her first albumElbow Room in 2016, which led her song “Two” to be featured on OWN Network’s Original TV show Queen Sugar. Her song “Stuck” also made a debut on Tribeca Film’s and Hulu’s original documentary “Ballet After Dark”. Jacque has written, produced, and performed with several artists including Kelsey Lu, and opened for artists like Sonnymoon. Her latest EP Green is a funky new spin on her classic sound. It’s all about spontaneous energy, uplifting melodies, and emotional vocal performances that connect with the audience on a deeper level.