AMPL!FY VOICES
Ampl!fy Voices creates music with people whose stories must be heard, especially those affected by state-sponsored violence and censorship.
Taking Our Breath Back (In Memory of Eric Garner)
On July 17th, 2014, two New York Police Department (NYPD) officers killed a Black man named Eric Garner for allegedly selling loose cigarettes in Staten Island, one of NYC’s five boroughs. A video of the confrontation taken by a bystander ends with Garner in a chokehold, his face pressed into the sidewalk by multiple police officers, as he gasps "I can't breathe'' 11 times before losing consciousness.
Despite the video going viral and the medical examiner concluding that Garner’s death was a homicide caused by the chokehold and chest compression, a Staten Island grand jury declined to indict the officers responsible for his murder. Protests spread across the nation, catalyzing the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing fight against police brutality.
EL PAIS (English)
Open Letter to Pablo Hasél
“Open Letter to Pablo Hasél” is a collaboration by jazz pianist and composer Albert Marquès and Brooklyn rapper Samuel Omare, a demonstration of solidarity between the rap world in NYC, the birthplace of hip hop, and Hasél in his quest for freedom of speech. Catalan rapper Pablo Hasel is currently imprisoned for lyrics against the Spanish monarchy. Incorporating audio recordings of his statements during his trial at the Spanish National Court, the song and accompanying video fuse jazz with rap, connecting Brooklyn with Lleida.
TIME OUT MAGAZINE
Freedom First: Music from Death Row
“Freedom First, music from death row” is a groundbreaking collaboration by Catalan jazz pianist Albert Marquès and writer, activist and poet Keith LaMar, who has spent the past 30 years in solitary confinement on death row in Ohio for a crime he didn’t commit. At each Freedom First concert, LaMar performs live by phone from the Ohio State Penitentiary, melding his electrifying spoken word poetry with contemporary jazz played by a stellar group of international musicians.
The New York Times