Saturday, August 22, 2020

Creating Sacred Spaces ... Sacred Places...in Bronzeville...

Up N Bronzeville...
                                        ANCESTRAL RESURRECTION
Making a Sacred Space….
Yesterday  at the wall was just heavenly!
After we prayed... 
and after we played… Sacred  Space…

I felt we had a visit from you... Dr. Cssiddha Webber
and from other musical Spirits that came to dwell.... 
and 2 enjoy the vibrations 
of the music  
that that we played … 
that we made … 
and to be glad... 
that we were creating a Sacred Space 
Sacred place..
with our neighbors in the commUnity.

It was a lovely vibe…
                                    Up N Bronzeville...
            BLACK ART MATTERS!





          Duryving Ternoir...Trumpet
         the longest standing member of  
                     the Ancestral Resurrection Ensemble..
                              in its various incarnations over several decades....
                              Tiona ...flautist...
      Administrator with the Universal Alley Jazz Jam Committee
Aki Antonia
 Composer, Keyboardist with Ancestral Resurrection
Commissioned composer of the  song "Have A Dream"
for the Have A Dream Mural  Dedication - c 2015
                           Rhonda Gray 
       Visual  artist... on the Earth Is Not Our Home Mural 
and the Have A Dream Mural and vocalist with 
Ancestral Resurrection.
    and the community stopped 2 pray and recite the 
            Lord's Prayer... U as Me... community
                     Aki Antonia, Rhonda Gray, Tiona...
some of the keepers of the Cosmic Musical
💥energy of Ancestral Resurrection...

We were
“Revitalizing the Community Through Art and Culture”

WE are Ancestral Resurrection and 
We were at the  Earth Is Not  Our Home ...Mural Wall 
created and  painted by  Dr. Cssiddha Webber with community  artists.

We are Ancestral Resurrection. 👁

playing 2 the Ancestors ….🎶
communing with the community...  with social distance
with the public simply "waking"  and walking by with their pets
or gliding by on the bus on Martin Luther King Drive...

We were creating a Sacred Space…today…

where one can stop... meditate ...
and let out some tears..
Diffuse some fears...
Wail.. Prevail...
Sing a prayer...and exhale...
Sing the blues or some funk…
Chant... N2 the quiet 
or quietly scream...

be 1 with your dreams...

Read Cssiddha ’s poetry and flow...  
Just be still and know....

 b in homage to the Creator..
b still in the word..

dwell in the memories ...
of your Sankofa  bird
Where one can....
enjoy the  Akan Adrinkra symbols 
which include... 
GynameOnly God 

and a Sankofa Bird….
which encourages us to return 2 our roots…

read the Lord’s prayer… 

 Earth Is Not  Our Home   vibrates color…
and  Cosmic African energy..
It is a juxtaposition of scriptures, poetry, intense colors 
and green foliage...
which grows through the surrounding concrete remnants 
of an ancient  Bronzeville trolley car.

We are Ancestral Resurrection Ensemble.. rising
One of the final incarnations of Dr Cssiddha’s band of many decades
keeping the legacy... keeping the vibe… of his free styled JaZZ 

with the whispers …and echoes of a futuristic past… 
A smattering of Sun Ra..
    AACM…
        Art Ensemble..
                A.I.R.
                    Kelan Phil Cohran 
blending with the present future...🎶
of sounds..and the cosmic energies of💥Tiona on flute...
Duryving  Ternoir on trumpet....🎺
Composer, Aki Antonia on keys🎹🎹
Rhonda Gray... on vocals 🎤..& Visual artist on the Murals

Musically flowing at his mural on 40th and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive.. 
titled ‘Earth Is Not Our Home’ 

It was created in the early 90's by Dr. Cssiddha Webber where he engaged  community artists... to come and paint as well. 

It was remixed and repainted by him 2014. 

This mural sits right across the street  from his mural title Have A Dream 
which was created in 1995 and repainted in 2015.
    HAVE A DREAM


Dr. Cssiddha Webber speaks in interview with Bronzeville Art Blog 
on the restoration and remix of the 
Have A Dream Mural on 40th and King Drive in Bronzeville. 2014


Cssidha, known as Dr. Csiddha Webber was a theologian, a naprapath, 
an artist-muralist and a poet. 
He created a musical component to express poetry, spiritual concepts and named his ensemble, The  Ancestral Resurrection Ensemble.

There  have many performers who have performed with his band over  several decades
This one represents some of players who have performed which him in the period of the last several years circa 2009-2020.

Ancestral Resurrection has  performed  for several decades in many settings  including art galleries, live art performance settings, most recently at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Sharpenburg  Gallery at the Dank Haus, the University of Chicago - Make Music Chicago and at Dr. Cssiddha Webber's summer music series called the "Universal Alley Jazz Jam". 

 



The Universal Alley Jazz Jam emerged on this scene as part of a long continuum of summer Jazz Festivals and Jazz Jams" in the community which started with 
Jazz in the Alley at Pop's Garage...which featured Jimmy Ellis...on 50th St. on Chicago's Southside and Oshun's "Jazz in the Alley" held in the area of 33rd st .

" Jazz in the Alley evolved to "Jazz in the Valley"... because of the neighborhood on 50th and Champaign is nicknamed the Valley.. To eliminate confusion over the  similar names of the summer Jam sessions,  Dr. Webber changed his Jam to 
The Universal Alley Jazz Jam.

He has been a part of the Black Arts cultural arts scene for many decades.
As a muralist, he has painted and or added poetry to over 40 murals, including the wall on 50th st at the original Jazz in the Alley.

We were rehearsing...for our  performance at the 
Hyde Park Jazz Fest 2020...Back Alley Jazz  pop up on August 22, 2020.







All text, pictures and video 
are by Aki Antonia c 2020
All rights Reserved. Not to be re-printed without permission.

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