Carnegie Hall

Imagination, possibility, and resilience have always been at the core of the survival of Black people. In most situations, envisioning a radical outcome has placed our people in the forefront of shifting the political landscape through unorthodox, innovative concepts.

One of the most radical of these outcomes has to be the rebuilding of the city of Detroit through the Black electronic music we call techno. Detroit, known as “Motor City,” has always moved to the rhythm of machinery. Generations of families have been brought together through the automotive industry.

In the late 1950s and ’60s, the soundtrack for not only the US but also the world was Motown, a Black-owned label from visionary Berry Gordy whose family migrated to Detroit to join in the automotive rhythm. Imagination, his love for music, and $800 led to the creation of some of the most positive and politically relevant music ever. Although it was a record label, it functioned like an automotive factory with schedules, teams, and conveyor belts of singers and musicians—all working in rhythm as a machine.

In 1967, the city took a turn for the worse with the Detroit Riots, the result of America’s constant support of white supremacy. This five-day war between Black people and the police resulted in a bombed out, bullet- holed, decaying metropolis. The main industry moved out into the suburbs away from the aftermath.

A handful of Black families had the means to make the move to the suburbs as well, again envisioning a better life for the next generation. By fate, this brought three sonic visionaries together: Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, and Derrick May—The Belleville Three.

In the 1980s, this brotherhood—influenced by music of the past but sounds of the future—was broadcasted by a cultural disruptor named The Electrifying Mojo. His weekly radio show played the most innovative music from around the world, including many songs with electronic sounds. Names like Sun Ra and Herbie Hancock inspired Detroit youth to inject soul into the more accessible electronic music innovations of the time. The first generation of techno became the soundtrack for Detroit, a phoenix rising out of the literal ashes. Simultaneously, techno became the music of the unification of East and West Berlin through the record store Hard Wax and its club, Tresor.

The foundation had been created to build upon for the next wave of sonic explorers. One of those explorers was Carl Craig. In his brotherhood with mentors Atkins and May, he learned how to make his vision a reality. In 1989, he started the Planet E label, providing full plates to those with appetites for textured electronics and machine rhythms, ultimately building a global community of like-minded music lovers.

One of Craig’s projects that has resonated most is the Carl Craig Synthesizer Ensemble. His influences of course included Parliament and Sun Ra, but it was Germany’s Kraftwerk that penetrated the ears of not only Craig, but all of pop culture. The members of Kraftwerk were highly influenced by Motown, resulting in a cultural exchange that came back to a young Carl via the group’s Computer World album, ultimately motivating him to create a synthesizer ensemble.

Craig’s collaborative spirit has assembled some of the best players in his ensemble, putting the funk and soul into the machines. Kelvin Sholar is the music director and the glue that holds the ensemble together. Underground Resistance’s Jon Dixon, young jazz wizard Ian Finkelstein, Dr. Nikki Mooney, and Darrius Quince come together as a musical Voltron with Craig at the heart of it all.

Equipped with old and new technology, the Synthesizer Ensemble explores Craig’s catalog, combining notation and the magic of improvisation to take audiences into the future. Sounds are like time machines—they can spark a memory and transport listeners back to that moment when they first heard it, or they can propel listeners into the future. That is the power of imagination, memory, and Craig’s ensemble coming together at the crossroads to guide Carnegie Hall in a new direction, rebuild a city, and envision new ones.

King James Britt—a member of Carnegie Hall’s Afrofuturism Curatorial Council—is a Pew Fellowship recipient, electronic music producer, composer, and performer. He is an assistant teaching professor in computer music at University of California San Diego, where he created the lecture course Blacktronika: Afrofuturism in Electronic Music, attended by many pioneers including Goldie, Marshall Allen, and Questlove.

Photography: Carl Craig by Stefan Cohen.