Review Text
Critical Mass represents people coming together in celebration, a sense of victory, and achievement arising from realizing that there is strength in numbers. This is grounded in our being attentive to and attuned to what makes us whole: the rights we claim for ourselves and the rituals by which we resonate with our deepest beliefs. Through collaboration with a range of artists, Lewis Jordan has cultivated a community and a coalition devoted to bringing seemingly disparate pieces into a collective. Since it's founding, Music at Large has been a vehicle for producing performances of Jordan's music, plays, and panels. Music at Large is dedicated to interdisciplinary and multicultural productions, with presentations incorporating music, theater, dance, poetry and visual art. On Critical Mass, Jordan (alto, baritone and poetry), Sandi Poindexter (violin), Bruce Ackley (soprano and tenor), Ollen Erich Hunt (bass), and Jimmy Biala (drums/percussion) use improvisation and poetry to access a space of sincerity, engagement, and free expression. They are joined by Genny Lim on the title track and by Tureeda Mikell on Bonus Track. Lewis Jordan is a saxophonist and poet who has performed and recorded internationally. His commitment is to bring people together by bridging arbitrary distinctions that have only served to divide us from ourselves, as well as serving to divide us from others. He works with artists from a range of disciplines, striving for modes of expression that honor our traditions while speaking to the urgency of the present.
