When we last heard from Cincinnati musician Napoleon Maddox, founder of the longtime progressive Jazz/Hip Hop fusion group IsWhat?!, he was doing what he’s been doing a lot of over the past decade-plus — touring in Europe, this time promoting his latest project, an amazing collaborative album with gifted French beatmaker Sorg.
Maddox is back in town this Memorial Day week and he’s hosting a unique series of events (performances, workshops, discussions and more) under the umbrella of “Underworld Jazz Festival,” which sprung from ideas gleaned from his overseas journeys. He says that his travels around the world sharing and discovering music had left him “longing” when he returned to his homeland, where so much of that music is so deeply rooted.
“I long not for a duplication of what I’ve seen on stages in Finland, England or France, but for our own cultivation and fearless celebration of what was started here,” Maddox says. “In large part I’m thinking in terms of the musical offspring of field songs and Gospel. Some people call it Jazz, so I’ll refer to it as Jazz for the sake of identification.
“It’s important, though, that the connection be understood, stated and restated. This music came from the beak (of) Paul Lawrence Dunbar and Maya Angelou’s ‘caged bird.’ So when artists around the world create or perform Jazz, Country, Funk, Rock, Hip Hop or Trap, they are echoing some Blues that the ‘caged bird sang.’ ”
Maddox calls the Underworld Jazz Festival “at once a call to arms, an open workshop, a revolt, a celebration, a family reunion and an initiation.” For the inaugural festival, showcases will take place May 23-27 at various venues around Cincinnati, featuring artists like accomplished Jazz saxophonist and longtime Maddox friend/collaborator Claire Daly, plus numerous adventurous local musicians from a wide range of genres, like Mike Wade’s Nasty Nati Brass Band, Jennifer Simone, Danbient, Eddy Kwon, Stephen Patota, BioniC (featuring D’Anna and DJ Apryl Reign) and more.
Maddox will be appearing throughout the festival, including at the Friday and Saturday shows at MOTR Pub, where he’ll present “The Deconstructionist Period,” a project wherein various musicians and DJs participate in a sort of musical roundtable. Given a theme, the artists creatively respond in thought-provoking ways through sound, with Maddox using cue cards with prompts to direct the musical discussion. Friday’s theme is “David Bowie vs. Jimi Hendrix”; on Saturday, it’s “Abbey Lincoln (the late Jazz vocalist/civil rights activist) vs. 2Pac.” (Iswhat?! performs at MOTR on Saturday also.)
The festivities begin at 6 p.m. on May 23 at Downtown’s Switch Lighting & Design with a wide-ranging “salon” hosted by MC Till, which includes film, music and more. Below is the full lineup. For more info, visit facebook.com/OldSamuraiNuRonin.
Wednesday, May 23 (6-10 p.m.)
Switch Lighting (312 W. Fourth St., Downtown)
Salon hosted by Adam Hayden/MC Till with mini-film festival, album discussion and performances.
Thursday, May 24 (8 p.m.)
Bromwell’s Härth Lounge (125 W. Fourth St., Downtown, bromwellsharthlounge.com)
Claire Daly acoustic set with Napoleon Maddox & LivLongEnough
Friday, May 25 (8 p.m.)
MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com)
Nasty Nati Brass Band, Jennifer Simone, Claire Daly + Motown 4tet and The Deconstruction Period (David Bowie vs. Jimi Hendrix)
Saturday, May 26 (8 p.m.)
MOTR Pub (, Main St., Over-the-Rhine, motrpub.com)
Iswhat?! with Claire Daly, P.o.C., BioniC, Danbient, The Deconstruction Period (Abbey Lincoln vs. 2Pac)
Sunday, May 27 (5 p.m.)
Dojo Gelato (1735 Blue Rock St., Northside)
Nasty Nati Brass Band
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This article appears in May 16-23, 2018.