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Mysterious Traveler - Kim Pedro

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Mysterious Traveler 2 Concert Series - Great Migrations
Monday May 23 - 7PM | Kim Pedro

Parkway Central Library | Montgomery Auditorium


1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
All events in this series are FREE.

 

Mysterious Travelers 2: Great Migrations - a collaboration between The Free Library of Philadelphia and Philadelphia Jazz Project. Back by overwhelming popular demand! FREE concerts every fourth Monday night from October 2015 through May 2016, audiences will hear from veteran, as well as up-and-coming musicians who are shaping the future sounds of Philadelphia with a sharp ear to the legacies of our past. This season will directly honor and celebrate the past century’s brave journey of African Americans to Philadelphia from the South to which we owe our rich urban musical heritage.

 

Drummer Kim Pedro is a visual and performance artist, and a builder of community. With the Sun Ra Arkestra’s DM Hotep and under the mentorship of Robert Kenyatta, he founded the JazGuardian Musicians’ Organization. In addition to serving as a Performing Arts Instructor for the Department of Recreation, he’s the originator and prime mover for the artists’ collective, NU GRuV Network. Over his career he’s accompanied Monika Herzig, Raimundo Santos, Vanida Gail, Kaligata, King Sound Vibration, Melange, and even a President of the United States.

 

Multi-talented drummer and visual artist, Kim Pedro will be our next guest artist in the Mysterious Traveler Concert Series.


Mysterious Traveler 2 Concert Series - Great Migrations
Monday May 23 - 7PM | Kim Pedro

Parkway Central Library | Montgomery Auditorium


1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
All events in this series are FREE.


PJP spoke with Kim Pedro about his music and his approach.


PJP: Can you briefly describe your musical direction?


Kim Pedro: Forward and upward are my musical directions! My presentation will begin with a journey from the Motherland... Africa, across the oceans to an America that would become our dysfunctional home...for a time...then, off into the heavens. Loving history the way I do, this concept of the Mysterious Travelers/Great Migration Series had inspired me to do a little more reading beyond the more well known stories, and the watching of several connected documentaries. I discovered adventures that were seldom told of our African descendants in America. I thought, I want our presentation to be an adventure...a musical journey that moves you with me. That tells a story, not just play a set of songs.

 

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PJP: What and whom are pivotal musical influences on your creative approach?


Kim Pedro: Well, some of the characters in some of the historical accounts that I've been checking out. Also my extremely talented and gifted team - DMHotep (guitar synthesist, composer) of Sun Ra's Arkestra, whom I've created music with for more than 20 yrs. and Jason Fraticelli (bassist, composer) of The Fresh Cut Orchestra, whom I've developed a creative and musical bond with over the last five years. They were pivotal influences in terms of determining how creative we could be, or how far we could go.

 

PJP: How do you manage the task of creating and encouraging fresh, new, forward moving musical ideas, while simultaneously exploring, celebrating and documenting the past?

 

Kim Pedro: I believe everything documents the past. We celebrate the past in all we do. There is nothing NU under the Sun. The past is constant. Tomorrow. Today will become the past. The past is foundation... The past is our jumping off point...to get to the NU GRuV...! No pun intended. Being a visual artist, I see, or visualize everything. I even see the music! Not being formally educated in music composition or theory, I use my art & design background to help me convey my ideas. I paint pictures of the music I want to create and share the accompanying rhythms, from my past and the NU!

 

PJP: When listening to your music, what advice would you give to audiences to assist with greater understanding and enjoyment?

 

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Kim Pedro: Close your eyes. Open your ears and mind. Don't think too much. Just chill with the vibe. Trust your urges, impulses, emotions. Stick out your tongue and Taste the Flavors!

 

PJP: Why Jazz? When you could be doing anything else, why Jazz?

 

Kim Pedro: Why not Jazz? I do venture into several other areas, but Jazz is always teaching me something NU. It demands more discipline. Those skills really cross over. It keeps me on my toes. It's my Ultimate Challenge. I respect it. I question it. I want to learn more about it, so I can treat it right.

 


Mysterious Traveler 2 Concert Series - Great Migrations
Monday May 23 - 7PM | Kim Pedro

Parkway Central Library | Montgomery Auditorium


1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
All events in this series are FREE.

 

 

 

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On my first record with him, I used no notes, just sound... I never played as powerfully as I did with Sunny Murray... he plays pulse, not beats.
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