Big ol' concert Jun 8!
Notes of Rest against Gun Violence
What’s good everyone,
Happy Memorial Day weekend. I hope this Julian’s Note finds you spending time with good family and friends. I also hope that we remember those no longer with us because of war.
Today I just wanted to drop a quick note sharing my excitement about this huge show I have on June 8th here in Chicago. (You can buy in-person or livestream tickets here. Thank you so much for your support.) It’s with my trio Circle of Trust - Micah Collier on bass, James Russell Sims on drumkit - and I’ll have guest appearances from other trusted collaborators, including Isaiah Collier, Tramaine Parker, Demond Read and Rev. Dr. Nick Peterson.
I’ll be debuting some new pieces, including two new joints Tramaine and I wrote. One is called The Moans They Left Us, which is a testament to part of the inheritance my Black ancestors have left Tramaine and me. This is a moan from figurative and literal ancestors - moans on slave ships, in prison cells, and on plantation fields, past and present. This moan is a call out to God, a guttural testament to our pain, but also to our hope. On Jun 8th I’ll share from that moan and invite you to join with me, with them. This is going to be special, especially with this cast to help me.
Another piece I am excited for the trio to play is The Cockroach, The Eagle, and The Butterfly. It’s a fable I wrote and performed as a solo song years back during the pandemic (shout out if you came to my Inherited show online back in November 2020).
I love the ancient African practice of fables that my people brought over with them to the New World. Fables are places for Black folk to imagine impossible possibilities, where we persevere nobly and as tricksters (such as Br’er Rabbit) when our backs are up against the wall. It is an incredible art form that I am thankful to pair with my music for such a time as this. Best believe we’re just getting started!
Notes of Rest is expanding in interesting ways. I am thankful to now be part of the Live Free Illinois network of care providers for people who have suffered trauma from gun violence and over-incarceration. This is a vital partnership between churches and local governments in communities of color here in Chicago and throughout the state. I am beginning to offer Notes of Rest at local healing centers, starting with Chosen Bethel Family Ministries here in Chicago tomorrow.
This is an answered prayer. Though I travel widely for Notes of Rest, God has been growing my desire for Chicago to rest, and I have felt increasingly burdened for how guns ravage my people. I pray my pairing of Scripture and Black music is both healing on the back end and preventive on the front end for the Englewood community. I invite you to pray with me, and I invite us to all do our part to decrease this life-rending spiral. Lord have mercy.
abundantly,
Julian
What’s Next
Mar 28 Notes of Rest at Chosen Family Ministries
Jun 8 Julian Davis Reid’s Circle of Trust at Constellation (Chicago) yes this shall be bold!!!
Jun 14-15 Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few (Winnipeg and Regina, Canada)
Jun 22 The JuJu Exchange at The BlkRoom (Chicago)
June 25 - July 9 Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few Tour (Europe)
Just got my ticket for June 8th!