The Last Concert: Ankh & The Tree of Life is a recording of what would become the ensembles last live concert before the COVID-19 pandemic brought the country to a screeching halt. The significance of this recording is not limited to its relation to the pandemic, it shows an almost 20 year old ensemble in the midst of its first sustained national tour, is a documentation of that artistic growth, and is the first live performance of Ankh & The Tree of Life, a composition created and released as part of Lomax’s monumental 400: An Afrikan Epic project. The Last Concert presents artists at the top of their form, performing in the context of a country in the midst of shutting down to save lives from a global pandemic, and an urgency of knowing this would be the last time they would perform together for the near future.
The musical suite is an abbreviated version of the original 8.5-hour musical journey over 12 albums released in celebration of the International Day of Peace and Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy.
The stunning 12-album cycle traces the epic history of Black America, not only during the 400 years from the beginning of the Transatlantic slave trade but back through thousands of years of history on the African continent and into an optimistic future for the African diaspora. Telling the story in settings as fundamental as the drum, through the visceral improvisation of jazz interplay and the bracing architecture of modern classical composition, the music celebrates the resilience, brilliance, strength, genius, and creativity of a people who continue to endure while offering an inspired view of the future.
First Ankhcestor is the first of a 12 album cycle celebrating the strength, resiliency, and beauty of Afrika and its diaspora. This recording honors the Drum as the first Ankhcestor.
The second album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Song of the Dogon explores the mystical cosmology of the Dogon people of West Afrika.
The third album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic Cycle, Dance of the Orisha celebrates the IFA religious tradition of the Yoruba people in Nigeria.
The fourth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, The Coming musically depicts the transformation of Afrikan people as a result of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The fifth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Ma'afa musically depicts the tortuous journey across the Atlantic.
The sixth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Up South: Conversations on American Idealism musically engages the notion that slavery is an American institution, not simply a southern sin.
The seventh album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Four Women is a collection of musical portraits honoring the contributions of four women whose lives reflect the complexity of being both Black and Woman in the context of Western imperialism.
The eighth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Blues In August is a tribute to August Wilson and his Century Cycle which depicts the lives of non-immigrant Afrikans in America over the course of the 20th century.
The ninth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Tales of the Black Experience is a narrative overview of all that has come before in preparation for an ancient future.
The tenth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Ankh & The Tree of Life musically represents the cultural and spiritual return to our authentic Afrikan identity.
The eleventh album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Spirits of the Egungun musically represents our reconnecting with the Ancestors.
The twelfth album in the 400: An Afrikan Epic cycle, Afrika United musically represents spiritual, cultural, political, and economic unity of Alkebulan and its diaspora.
Recorded the day of Stephon Clark's funeral and a week before the 50th remembrance of the assassination of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., this recording finds The Ogún Meji Duo artistically wrestling with King's legacy in the face of continuing State sanctioned attacks on Black bodies.
holler was recorded at the first performance of the first-ever month-long celebration of Black art in Columbus, Ohio. This recording captures two musicians celebrating a culture by extending the tradition.
Drummer and composer, Mark Lomax, II, teams up with an all-star cast of spoken word artists featuring Dionne Custer Edwards, Barbara Fant, Carnell Willoughby, and Scott Woods for an epic dialogue between the Drum and Nommo.
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Resurrection 4:580:00/4:58
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0:00/13:12
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0:00/27:35
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Lailah 3:400:00/3:40
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On Being 3:090:00/3:09
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When The Saints 16:080:00/16:08
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July The Fourth? 5:240:00/5:24
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0:00/9:20
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0:00/8:09
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Lady In My Life 0:350:00/0:35
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Bean's Blues 13:570:00/13:57
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Osiris 7:570:00/7:57
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0:00/3:06
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Joy 7:110:00/7:11
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0:00/11:40
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Stuck In A Rut 9:360:00/9:36
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0:00/3:25
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We Three Kings 3:080:00/3:08
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Butterfly's Groove 3:520:00/3:52
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Thinking Of You 4:510:00/4:51