This new project with composer/ percussionist/turntablist Val Jeanty arose from her participation in a jam session at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY while Momin was artist-in-residence there in September of 2017. Their collaboration, rooted in improvisation shaped by ritual, evokes the esoteric realms of the creative subconscious. Drawing from the voodoo religion, Val recreates the ancient rhythm and pulse of Haiti through digital beats, while Momin, whose own musical background is rooted Indian, North African and Middle-eastern traditions, has developed an original blend of electroacoustic beats, drawing together the improvisational traditions in Jazz and South Indian classical music. Together they explore the capabilities of new technologies to create a seamless blend of multiple electronic and acoustic instruments.
Val Jeanty is a Haitian electronic music composer/percussionist/turntablist who evokes the musical esoteric realms of the creative subconscious self-defined as “Afro-Electronica.” She incorporates her African Haitian musical traditions into the present and beyond, combining acoustics with electronics and the archaic with the post-modern. She has worked with a diverse array of artists, including Geri Allen, Anthony Braxton and Harriet Tubman Double trio. She is the recipient of the Van Lier Grant, Meet the Composer Grant, and her project “ON” was supported in part by the New York State Music Fund. Her “Afro-Electronica” installations have been showcased in New York City at the Whitney Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, and the Village Vanguard, and internationally at Saalfelden Music Festival in Austria, Stanser Musiktage in Switzerland, Jazz à la Villette in France, and the Biennale Di Venezia Museum in Italy.
Ravish Momin is a versatile percussionist/composer/electronic musician currently residing in New York City. He has worked with a diverse range of artists, from the pop-star Shakira to the avant-Jazz legend Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre (of the Chicago AACM, founded in 1969.) He led the acclaimed Jazz/electronic group Tarana from 2004-2017 on domestic and international stages. Among their highlights, they performed at The Bandung International Digital Arts Festival (Indonesia), The New Music and Sound Summit (Austin, TX), Festival Alfonsino (Monterrey, MX), Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage (DC) , Rough Trade NYC (Brooklyn, NY), Unyazi Festival of Electronic Music (South Africa), Kaunas Jazz Festival (Lithuania), The San Servolo Jazz Festival (Italy), The Calgary Jazz Festival (Canada), Jazz Lent (Maribor, Slovenia), Jazz Ao Centro Festival (Coimbra, Portugal), Detroit Institute of Art (US) Mediawave Festival (Hungary), Smithsonian Institution’s Freer Gallery (Washington, DC) and the Taipei Arts Festival (Taiwan.)