For Mali Obomsawin (Odanak First Nation), the language of free jazz and the language of Wabanaki are variations on a shared theme. Together with her sextet, their composer/bassist weaves the prosody of one into the syntax of the other. Stories emerge: atonal winds wail over woozy bass lines; voices crescendo over beating hand drums. Melding Wabanaki songs with religious hymns and jazz traditions with Québécois folk music, Obomsawin chronicles the complex histories that have come to shape Abenaki life today.

Mali Obomsawin, bass + vocals
Joshua Mathews, drums
Yuma Uesaka, saxophone
Noah Campbell, saxophone
Alana Colvin, guitar