Greg Tate on Mizik Pou Dwa Moun

“Like every­one else within reach of global media on the week Jan­u­ary 12, 2010, the mem­bers of the Burnt Sugar col­lec­tive were hor­ri­fied and sad­dened by news of the mas­sive earth­quake which cat­a­stroph­i­cally struck the island of Haiti. In its dis­as­trous wake came the loss of 250,000 lives and the ongo­ing ter­ror, dis­place­ment, hunger and grief for those of Haiti’s peo­ple left to fend for them­selves in the con­tin­u­ous after­math. While many of us imme­di­ately made indi­vid­ual con­tri­bu­tions to relief efforts, we have also now been guided by the con­science and imag­i­na­tion of our good friend (and graphic design maven) Amy Gail to present this com­pi­la­tion of music by Burnt Sugar and its mem­bers to Haiti’s sur­vival and rebirth. A piv­otal mecca for Black Atlantic cul­ture in this hemi­sphere, espe­cially in the realms of mys­ti­cism, music and visual art, Haiti has also, since the 18th cen­tury, been an inspi­ra­tion for all strug­gling world­wide for jus­tice and self-determination against those with anti-democratic impe­ri­al­is­tic designs on their peo­ple and land. Those seek­ing evi­dence of how much dam­age a ‘small axe’ can do to a ‘big tree’ need look no fur­ther than the San Domingo rev­o­lu­tion which gave Haiti its inde­pen­dence in 1804.

Sax­o­phon­ist Albert Ayler long rec­og­nized music as the ‘heal­ing force of the uni­verse’. It is our hope that Burnt Sugar’s hum­ble offer­ing– whose prof­its will gained solely through dona­tions to the Haitian-based med­ical aid orga­ni­za­tion Zanmi Las­ante (Part­ners in Health)–will build on Ayler’s idea artis­ti­cally and spir­i­tu­ally to lend energy, inspi­ra­tion and even greater global empa­thy to the res­ur­rec­tion of Haiti’s peo­ple and their nation’s infra­struc­ture, social insti­tu­tions and civil soci­ety.“
Greg Tate
Music Director/Conductor
Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber