FRANCISCO MORA CATLETT  

AfroHORN tour 2022
At the Edge of the Spiral
Jazz Road Tours South Arts

March 23 travel day
March 24 Rochester New York workshop-concert
March 25 Buffalo New York
March 26 Erie Pennsylvania
March 27 City of Asylum Pittsburgh PA
March 28 University of Pittsburg
March 29 travel day to Detroit, Michigan
March 30 Workshop Ozzie Rivera, RicanStrution Detroit, Michigan
March 31 Blue Llama Ann Arbor Michigan
April 1 AfroHORN reunion @ Blue Lama Alex Harding Organ Nation
April 2 Trinsophes Detroit, Michigan
April 3 Cliff Bells Detroit, Michigan
April 4 MSU University Lansing, Michigan
April 5 Western Michigan University, Michigan
April 6 University of Michigan workshop Ann Arbor, Michigan

This tour is made possible with the support of Jazz Road, a national initiative of South Arts, which is funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation with additional support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Mora-Catlett’s project is a musical metaphor for the middle passage: a nexus, a site of negotiation, a place that unites the diaspora through a shared experience of in-between-ness.

http://hmaacvoices.org/2014/05/08/sounding-the-afro-horn-in-houston/

"Led by the drummer and composer Francisco Mora-Catlett,  AfroHORN seeks a mystical but earthy vision of rhythm and folklore, inspired not only by Afro-Cuban music but also the Sun Ra Arkestra, in which Mr. Mora-Catlett played in the 1970s." -

The New York Times

—music as sacred rite, the unbroken circle of an ongoing tradition. 

Jon Garelick  DOWNBEAT

http://www.downbeat.com/digitaledition/2013/DB201312/single_page_view/77.html



"Conceived while Mexican-American drummer Francisco Mora-Catlett was living and working with Sun Ra, Afro Horn infuses Cuban rhythms with an avant-garde sensibility more oriented toward transcendence than disassociation. It grooves hard...." -

The Village Voice

Blessed with a spiritual quality reminiscent of the vibrant 60s/70s African American cultural consciousness scenes, and indelibly linked to Afro-Caribbean folkloric elements, percussionist Francisco Mora-Catlett has made two exceptional recordings over the last two years; these have included 2012′s striking Afro Horn MX and Francisco’s 2013 successor AfroHorn Rare Metal releases. Based on this year’s powerful follow-up, clearly Francisco is plumbing a deep well of distinctive thematic music.

THE INDEPENDENT EAR

Francisco Mora Catlett: Afro Horn MX
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/francisco-mora-catlett-afro-horn-mx-by-steve-bryant

By STEVE BRYANT
September 16, 2012
Sign in to view read count

Francisco Mora Catlett: Afro Horn MX
AACE Records 2012

When Afro-Mexican Drummer Francisco Mora Catlett first came to this country in the1970s, he dreamed of playing drums for the Sun Ra Arkestra. Not only did Mora achieve his dream, he also forged a lifelong relationship with drum legend Max Roach, which resulted in his performing in Roach's seminal drum ensemble, M'Boom. As a composer and bandleader in Detroit, Mora focused on creating Music of "The Afro-Americas," a vision which encompassed fusing the music of Cuba, Brazil with American modern jazz.

For the double-disc Afro Horn MX, Mora draws inspiration from the legend of the Afro Horns, with Henry Dumas (1934-1968) writing, in his short story "Will The Circle Be Unbroken?," that there are only known to be three actual "Afro Horns" on the planet. The horns are forged in a rare metal only found in Africa and South America. No one knows who forged the horns, but some think that it was the Egyptians. There is one in a heavily-guarded European museum and another on the west coast of Mexico, amongst a tribe of Indians. MX also stands for Malcolm X and Mexico.

To advance his vision, Mora put together a crack team of players which includes three of the baddest reedmen to come out of Detroit—JD Allen and Vincent Bowens on tenors, and Alex Harding on baritone. The rhythm section is superb, too, including master Afro-Cuban drummer Roman Diaz, who performed with the legendary group Yoruba and Puntilla Rios, and here handles congas and bata.

The music seems to revolve around a central theme: the journey of the Africans to what is now the Americas and the diverse musics they created. The set begins with an invocation to the Yoruba orishas with Mora and Diaz playing bata drums. "Saints at Congo Square" follows, commemorating the first City of Afro-American culture, New Orleans, and is also an homage to Mora's mother, renowned sculptor Elizabeth Catlett, who created the statue of Louis Armstrong in Congo Square. The music uses "When The Saints Go Marching In" as a recurring theme while the horns create a swirling ethereal mist of sound.

"Barasuayo" features all three horns playing a mournful melody over a base of ritual bata drums, segueing into "Quinto Regimiento," which starts off with Mora evoking Roach, as Allen and Bowens engage in some sax talk that brings to mind John Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, and Archie Shepp. Bowens, who possesses that rougher Detroit edge, comes out with guns blazing. Pianist Aruán Ortiz (someone to watch for) has a thundering attack, whose use of arpeggios brings to mind Don Pullen in his younger days.

The highlight of the set is "Los Consejos Del Olumo," a mashup of Yoruba ritual and coffeehouse slam, with Roman Diaz reading the poem on which the song is based, and a turn by Allen. The date ends with "Cultural Warrior," a dedication to the late Detroit pianist Kenny Cox (of Contemporary Jazz Quintet fame), and immediately brings to mind 'Trane and his 1960s quartet
Even though this is an extended outing, there isn't a boring moment on Afro Horn MX. Mora is one of the most versatile percussionists in jazz and Afro-Latin music, as well as an original composer. Allen and Bowens stack up against any tenor man in jazz (including the 2012 Downbeat Rising Tenor Star, Anat Cohen), while Harding is a blaster who displays complete mastery of his instrument. Here's hoping that word of this dynamic ensemble gets out beyond the island (Mahattan) and reaches the hinterlands.

Tracks: CD1: Egun Moyuba; Saints at Congo Square; Barasuayo; Quinto Regimento; Hush Rush; 125th & Lenox. CD2: 125th & Lenox; Los Consejos Del Olumo; Wemilere; Afro Horn MX; Cultural Warrior.

Personnel: JD Allen: tenor sax; Vincent Bowens: tenor sax; Alex Harding: britone sax; Aruan Ortiz: piano; Francisco Mora Catlett: drums, bata; Roman Diaz: congas, bata, voice.

Track Listing
CD1: Egun Moyuba; Saints at Congo Square; Barasuayo; Quinto Regimento; Hush Rush; 125th & Lenox. CD2: 125th & Lenox; Los Consejos Del Olumo; Wemilere; Afro Horn MX; Cultural Warrior.
Personnel
JD Allen: tenor sax; Vincent Bowens: tenor sax; Alex Harding: britone sax; Aruan Ortiz: piano; Francisco Mora Catlett: drums, bata; Roman Diaz: congas, bata, voice.
Album Information
Title: Francisco Mora Catlett: Afro Horn MX | Year Released: 2012 | Record Label: AACE Records

The metaphor at the center of Henry Dumas’ short story “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” is the Afro Horn, an instrument so mythically potent that it simultaneously unites and empowers the African diaspora through the sounds of jazz.

Francisco Mora-Catlett and his New York-based jazz ensemble, AfroHORN, draws from the metaphor of the Afro Horn  an imperative to explore, intone, and celebrate African cultures and their expressive, artistic, and political possibilities.

“The music is African; not African-inspired, not African-derived, not African-influenced,” Mora-Catlett pronounces emphatically, “it is African.”

Avant-garde cries of pleasure-pain, moments of soulful introspection, and densely interlocking rhythms all come together, illustrating the unity of African expression central to Mora-Catlett’s ideology.

In the 1960s, Dumas was stimulated by conversations taking place around blackness within the Harlem-based Black Arts Movement. Although he was influenced by artistic figures including Amiri Baraka and Sonia Sanchez – Dumas was particularly inspired by Sun Ra. At its heart, the movement was about reclaiming blackness; about wresting it from the margins and placing it front-and-center. No apologies. No qualifications.

Mora-Catlett was born to an African American mother and a Mexican father. His parents, Elizabeth Catlett and Francisco Mora, were both prominent artists. Mora-Catlett first encountered Dumas’ writings during his time with Sun Ra’s Arkestra in the 1970s.

For an AfroHorn jazz performance Mora-Catlett brings together: Aruan Ortiz on piano, Alex Harding on baritone saxophone, and soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome. Mora-Catlett, himself on drums, is augmented by the master Afro-Cuban percussionist  Roman Diaz. Together, they explored the musical connections between the Caribbean, America, Africa, and Latin America – highlighting moments of congruency between each other.

Mora-Catlett’s project is a musical metaphor for the middle passage: a nexus, a site of negotiation, a place that unites the diaspora through a shared experience of in-between-ness.