International Anthem Recording Company
Williams, Saul, Carlos Niño & Friends – Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at Treepeople (FOREST GREEN VINYL 2xLP] - New LP
Regular price
$ 37.00
Land Back! An unadulterated opening statement intoned by Saul Williams three times, as he joins Carlos Niño & Friends in sound ceremony underneath oak and black walnut trees in Coldwater Canyon Park, Los Angeles, on December 18, 2024.
The performance, which was organized by Noah Klein of Living Earth on the grounds of longstanding conservationist organization TreePeople, was the first of its kind for longtime friends and collaborators Williams and Niño. The two have been in contact since 1997 and have worked on a variety of projects together, but had never been moved to present in this way. For the occasion, Niño assembled and directed an ensemble of frequent collaborators including Nate Mercereau (Guitar Synthesizer, Live Sampling with Midi Guitar, Sample Sources), Aaron Shaw (Soprano Saxophone with Pedals, Tenor Saxophone), Andres Renteria (Bells, Congas, Egyptian Rattle Drum, Hand Drums, Percussion), Maia (Vibraphone, Voice), Francesca Heart (Computer, Conch Shell, Sound Design), and Kamasi Washington (Tenor Sax). Williams’ inspired poetics both fit seamlessly and guide clairvoyantly the electro-acoustic ecosystem created by Niño & Friends – a constellation of deep connections and intersecting linkups from complementary sound makers. There’s the dialogue between not just Niño & Williams but Niño and Renteria’s reciprocal percussions; the intergenerational woodwind counterpoint between Washington and Shaw; the hovering harmonics of Maia’s vibraphone in aerial resonance with Heart’s digital designs. Heart’s sounds also make a beautiful analogue to synth-guitarist Nate Mercereau, whose live sampling and manipulation techniques turn fleeting moments of sonic presence into musical architecture in real time. Deepening the dimensionality of this constellation, Mercereau and Niño are several years into a shared musical simpatico that has yielded dozens of powerful collaborations, making their particular interaction on this recording as spiritual and transcendent as it is subtle and implicit. And there is yet another connection to be highlighted still. Late in the set, Williams shares an extended reflection on the Dutch East India Trade Company, the indigenous Lenape people on the island of Manahatta, the origins of Wall Street, and a prayer for the end of empire as he incites an epic crescendo from the ensemble, swirling behind the twin winds of Shaw and Washington, spirited by his repeated call “I’ve seen enough.” The smoke has only begun to clear from this emotional apex as Williams passes the torch to poet Aja Monet, who arrests the atmosphere with a soft apocalyptic reading of a piece from her notebook, “The Water Is Rising.” As Monet finishes her poem and steps aside, Williams follows her foreboding words with a solemnly hopeful return – closing the ceremony with a parable about a firing squad, where one member's dilemma is a "system of belief" allowing for humanity in the heart of an oppressor.
The performance, which was organized by Noah Klein of Living Earth on the grounds of longstanding conservationist organization TreePeople, was the first of its kind for longtime friends and collaborators Williams and Niño. The two have been in contact since 1997 and have worked on a variety of projects together, but had never been moved to present in this way. For the occasion, Niño assembled and directed an ensemble of frequent collaborators including Nate Mercereau (Guitar Synthesizer, Live Sampling with Midi Guitar, Sample Sources), Aaron Shaw (Soprano Saxophone with Pedals, Tenor Saxophone), Andres Renteria (Bells, Congas, Egyptian Rattle Drum, Hand Drums, Percussion), Maia (Vibraphone, Voice), Francesca Heart (Computer, Conch Shell, Sound Design), and Kamasi Washington (Tenor Sax). Williams’ inspired poetics both fit seamlessly and guide clairvoyantly the electro-acoustic ecosystem created by Niño & Friends – a constellation of deep connections and intersecting linkups from complementary sound makers. There’s the dialogue between not just Niño & Williams but Niño and Renteria’s reciprocal percussions; the intergenerational woodwind counterpoint between Washington and Shaw; the hovering harmonics of Maia’s vibraphone in aerial resonance with Heart’s digital designs. Heart’s sounds also make a beautiful analogue to synth-guitarist Nate Mercereau, whose live sampling and manipulation techniques turn fleeting moments of sonic presence into musical architecture in real time. Deepening the dimensionality of this constellation, Mercereau and Niño are several years into a shared musical simpatico that has yielded dozens of powerful collaborations, making their particular interaction on this recording as spiritual and transcendent as it is subtle and implicit. And there is yet another connection to be highlighted still. Late in the set, Williams shares an extended reflection on the Dutch East India Trade Company, the indigenous Lenape people on the island of Manahatta, the origins of Wall Street, and a prayer for the end of empire as he incites an epic crescendo from the ensemble, swirling behind the twin winds of Shaw and Washington, spirited by his repeated call “I’ve seen enough.” The smoke has only begun to clear from this emotional apex as Williams passes the torch to poet Aja Monet, who arrests the atmosphere with a soft apocalyptic reading of a piece from her notebook, “The Water Is Rising.” As Monet finishes her poem and steps aside, Williams follows her foreboding words with a solemnly hopeful return – closing the ceremony with a parable about a firing squad, where one member's dilemma is a "system of belief" allowing for humanity in the heart of an oppressor.
released August 28, 2025
Saul Williams - Voice, Words, Shaker
Carlos Niño - Bells, Chimes, Cymbals, Surdo Bass Drum, Floor Tom Drum, Gong, Mexican Ceramic Aerophones, Percussion, Rattles, Shakers, Voice, Whistles . . .
Nate Mercereau - Guitar Synthesizer, Live Sampling with Midi Guitar, Sample Sources
Aaron Shaw - Flute, Soprano Saxophone with Pedals, Tenor Saxophone
Andres Renteria - Bells, Congas, Egyptian Rattle Drum, Hand Drums, Percussion
Maia The Artiste - Flute, Vibraphone, Voice
Francesca Heart - Computer, Conch Shell, Sound Design
Kamasi Washington - Tenor Saxophone
*aja monet - Voice, Poetry (on 4.)
Produced by Carlos Niño
Concert Presented by Noah Klein and Living Earth LA
Concert Sound by Adrian Garcia-Romano
Recorded by Ken Barrientos at TreePeople,
Los Angeles, California, Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Mixed by Dave Vettraino
Mastered by David Allen
Front & Back Cover Photos by Todd Weaver
Insert Photos by Sam Lee, Adam Corey Thomas, and Hop Nguyen.
Liner Notes by Mama Claudia Udy, Haize Hawke, Noah Klein, Sham-e-Ali
Nayeem, Def Sound, and Dee Barnes
Design by Aaron Lowell Denton
*aja monet appears courtesy of drink sum wtr
Saul Williams - Voice, Words, Shaker
Carlos Niño - Bells, Chimes, Cymbals, Surdo Bass Drum, Floor Tom Drum, Gong, Mexican Ceramic Aerophones, Percussion, Rattles, Shakers, Voice, Whistles . . .
Nate Mercereau - Guitar Synthesizer, Live Sampling with Midi Guitar, Sample Sources
Aaron Shaw - Flute, Soprano Saxophone with Pedals, Tenor Saxophone
Andres Renteria - Bells, Congas, Egyptian Rattle Drum, Hand Drums, Percussion
Maia The Artiste - Flute, Vibraphone, Voice
Francesca Heart - Computer, Conch Shell, Sound Design
Kamasi Washington - Tenor Saxophone
*aja monet - Voice, Poetry (on 4.)
Produced by Carlos Niño
Concert Presented by Noah Klein and Living Earth LA
Concert Sound by Adrian Garcia-Romano
Recorded by Ken Barrientos at TreePeople,
Los Angeles, California, Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Mixed by Dave Vettraino
Mastered by David Allen
Front & Back Cover Photos by Todd Weaver
Insert Photos by Sam Lee, Adam Corey Thomas, and Hop Nguyen.
Liner Notes by Mama Claudia Udy, Haize Hawke, Noah Klein, Sham-e-Ali
Nayeem, Def Sound, and Dee Barnes
Design by Aaron Lowell Denton
*aja monet appears courtesy of drink sum wtr