Black Earth Sway at BRIC

The multigenerational “Afro-Folk-Futurism” outfit Black Earth SWAY is the latest expression of the creative flutist, composer, conceptualist, bandleader and educator Nicole Mitchell, in collaboration with “sister friends” JoVia Armstrong, Coco Elysses, and Alexis Lombre. Joined by creative connections to Chicago, and envisioned by Mitchell as a “platform [for] new mythologies in Black American storytelling in a liquid melding of funk, blues, [and] experimental jazz,” BES is at once an expression of the group’s collective musical preoccupations—”realness, joy and honesty,” in Mitchell’s words—and a laboratory for Black feminist liberation in music. ...

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The multigenerational “Afro-Folk-Futurism” outfit Black Earth SWAY is the latest expression of the creative flutist, composer, conceptualist, bandleader and educator Nicole Mitchell, in collaboration with “sister friends” JoVia Armstrong, Coco Elysses, and Alexis Lombre. Joined by creative connections to Chicago, and envisioned by Mitchell as a “platform [for] new mythologies in Black American storytelling in a liquid melding of funk, blues, [and] experimental jazz,” BES is at once an expression of the group’s collective musical preoccupations—”realness, joy and honesty,” in Mitchell’s words—and a laboratory for Black feminist liberation in music.

Comprising four remarkable artists, each well-known for her own performance projects, the band showcases the storytelling of Coco Elysses on the diddley bow; percussionist JoVia Armstrong on an original cajon set (a box drum with cymbals); Alexis Lombre handling dual roles on a Nord keyboard and acoustic piano; and Nicole’s otherworldly electronics and processed flute.

Black Earth SWAY’s accessible yet changeable grooves glimmer with the sci-fi Afrofuturism that characterizes Nicole’s other projects, but the band’s grounded sense of individuated experimentation springs from a group devotion: to a space for four supremely talented and continually-evolving musicians to, in Alexis’ words, “just play free.”

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Alexis Lombre in Residence, April 3–18, 2025

Still in her twenties, the pianist, vocalist, composer, and producer Alexis Lombre established herself as a force out of Chicago’s legendary musical universe while barely out of her teens. Living, learning and working in the vibrant musical cultures of Chicago, Detroit, New York, and now Los Angeles, Alexis’ cosmopolitan musical vision is formed in dialogue with textures of contemporary urban Black experience in these cities. Dissolving “boundaries” between Black music’s so-called “genres”—including R&B, avant-garde, gospel, soul, hip-hop and jazz—is part of the living tradition she carries. As she puts it, “Separation is an illusion. Especially within the genres of Black music.” From April 3–18, 2025, FourOneOne is proud to collaborate with Alexis Lombre on a multifaceted residency, featuring Alexis alongside her inspirations, mentors, and peers. Learn more.

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