Body and Soul with Live Score
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Director: Oscar Micheaux Run Time: 93 min. Format: Digital Release Year: 1925
Starring: Julia Theresa Russell, Lawrence Chenault, Marshall Rogers, Mercedes Gilbert, Paul Robeson
Writer/Producer: Oscar Micheaux
Join us for a one-of-a-kind evening of music, history, and film as we screen the 100 year old Oscar Micheaux silent classic Body and Soul with a live improvised score with Grammy-nominated musicians Surya Botofasina and Carlos Niño. One of the only surviving Oscar Micheaux films, with Paul Robeson in his first screen role, this chilling tale of an ex-con posing as a minister as he steals, gambles, and boozes his way to ruin is essential viewing for all true cinephiles. Don’t miss your chance to witness this one-of-a-kind night and this remarkable treasure of a film.
Surya Botofasina
Surya Botofasina emerges as a spiritual musician and artist on an ethereal quest, with a deep-rooted connection to his upbringing at Swamini Turiyasangitananda Alice Coltrane’s Sai Anantam Ashram in California. Raised amidst devotional music and teachings, Surya credits his mother, Radha Botofasina, a devoted student of Alice Coltrane, for his foundational musical inspiration. His journey began with piano lessons at the age of 8, shaped by the immersive sounds of the Ashram’s Sunday services and Swamini’s profound musical presence.
His debut album, “Everyone’s Children,” (2022) produced by close collaborator Carlos Niño, embodies Surya’s spiritual growth, echoing themes of nurturing the next generation and honoring Mother Earth’s perpetual care. Channeling the Ashram’s teachings, this album encapsulates Surya’s dedication to spirituality and musical exploration. The album dedicated to his spiritual epicenter entitled “Ashram Sun” (2024) definitely pays homage to his native Land.
His harmonic and expressive collaborators include Amel Larrieux, André 3000 New Blue Sun, Radha Botofasina, Carlos Niño, Nate Mercereau, Lakecia Benjamin, Keyon Harrold, Joey Bada$$, Statik Selektah, Meghan Stabile, all with Mother Earth and Her Ocean. All of this is thru Swamini Turiyasangitananda.
Carlos Niño
A prolific album Producer, expansive percussionist, experimental composer, connector, communicator, Carlos Niño is known primarily for his main project Carlos Niño & Friends, and for his extensive work on André 3000 New Blue Sun. Previously Niño made albums as/with Ammoncontact, Build An Ark, The Life Force Trio, and others. Niño describes his “& Friends” sound as “Spiritual, Spontaneous, Space Collage.” He qualifies: “Why Spiritual?
Because there is always a spiritual intention and center, feeling, and vibrational message in these records. Why Spontaneous? Because I approach the making of this music without any preconceived structures, I just open up to what I am hearing and feeling and experiment until I get the pieces where I want them. The preparation and information in the Sonic Expressions our whole lives. It’s an open state of communication. Why Space Collage? Because it’s all about relationship and perspective, interval, layering, moving, listening, and massaging the mixes…”
Courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, preservation funded by Anthology Film Archives