Formed in 2016 as the collaborative platform of composer Justin Hicks and artist Steffani Jemison, Mikrokosmos mines the history of Black music. This ongoing project has manifested in many forms including workshop, study session, concert, listening session, book, prompt, and score. Another time, this time, one time is the first Mikrokosmos LP and uses Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson’s “We Almost Lost Detroit” (1977) as the raw material for R&B songwriting. Like a game in which new words are formed from existing letters, these live compositions take the form of musical studies, samples, and improvisations. Inspired by Scott-Heron’s own ambitious songbook, Jemison and Hicks reflect upon a wide range of subjects, including Scott-Heron’s biography, police violence in the United States, and the nuclear catastrophe that threatened the city of Detroit in 1966.
Contributions by Justin Hicks (Vocals, Sundrum), Jonathan Hoard (Vocals), Steffani Jemison (Vocals, Glockenspiel), Allison Loggins-Hull (Flute), Alexis Marcelo (Vocals, Piano), Anaïs Maviel (Vocals), Kenita Miller-Hicks (Vocals), and Tim Darden, Quincy Flowers, Ayesha Jordan, Kara Lynch, Alexis Marcelo, Okwui Okpokwasili, and David Hamilton Thomson (Chorus).
Engineering by Ernie Indradat. Liner notes by Pablo de Ocampo. Copy editing by Jacquelyn Zong-Li Ross. Design by Preston Thompson. Pressed by Adam Gonsalves, Telegraph Mastering.
12” vinyl or digital LP
Purchase digital version via Bandcamp here:
https://westernfrontrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/another-time-this-time-one-time
Western Front, Vancouver (2020)