$15
Doors 7 PM
no refunds; a limited amount of tickets will be sold after doors open if availability permits - first come, first serve
—
Communion is an act of reverence rooted in sharing. In the midst of imminent suffering and challenging times, we remeber “we are each other’s harvests; we are each other’s business: we are each other’s magnitude and bond” like Gwendolen Brooks remembers in her poem "Paul Robeson".
Folks are being brought together with a new opportunity to share their work and gather amongst each other.
Each session will have a featured artist that is invited to build out a set with the house band. This moment is an opportunity to be part of a collaborative experiment, to work some shit out and be witnessed in unfolding iterations. Communion is the space to showcase the fruits of this collaboration.
After the featured set, the stage will be open for an improvisational jam. No for real, jam with us! Offer you sounds and commune with the space.
The communion session is born of contemporary and historically rooted currents of poets, musicians, artists, writers, and will-be-free people in and around D.C.
—
About the Features
KENDALL EMPHASIS (They/Them/Theirs)
About the Hosts
Jo Palmer (He/Him/His)
A 2023 Strathmore Artist In Residence ,Jo spent the past year developing skills as a band leader under the instruction of mentor Victor Provost.
His bands create under the belief that improvisational music can benefit from cutting-edge music technology and explores what combining those two worlds creates.
With a foundation rooted in Jazz, Black American musical tradition, and digital audio production, these styles become fused together to create music that mimics the modern soundscape.
As a sideman, he has performed with artists such as Les Amazones D'afrique, Yaya Bey, and Marc Cary. He plans to continue his professional study of music together with promoting humanitarian work through world travel and cultural exploration.
Sweet Corey-Bey (They/Them/Theirs)
Sweet Corey-Bey is a transgender musician, cultural organizer from Gorgeous Prince George’s County, Maryland and based in Southwest Philadelphia.
Sweet is a founding member, bassist, and bandleader of the genre bending artist collaborative Black Folks Don’t Swim?, noted by DC-ist for “it’s formula of fearless experimentation.”
As a performer, Sweet’s is rooted in the fundamental Black music traditions of Blues, Jazz, Funk, Gospel and Soul. They have supported artists such as YaYa Bey, Oh He Dead, and performed with local Philadelphia acts including Omar’s Hat and Karen Smith.
In 2023, they were an Artist Fellow of the Marsha P Johnson Institute in the inaugural Starship Artist fellowship Program.
Sweet’s work shifts cultural narratives building more liberatory worlds in the legacy of other Gender-Variant cultural workers.