Elijah Jamal Balbed presents The Karma Suite featuring Warren Wolf (USA) - IN PERSON

Equal parts meditation and call-to-action, The Karma Suite is a blend of vocal interludes, instrumental jazz and percussive dances that comment on the social upheaval experienced in the United States in recent years. The piece, by Washington, D.C.-based multi-instrumentalist, composer and educator Elijah Jamal Balbed, was originally written in response to the threat of unrest brought by the 2016 election results and includes interrogations of voting inequity, gerrymandering and the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border. In addition to the powerful sounds of the Elijah Balbed Quintet, the piece features soprano, alto, tenor and bass vocalists, a live poet, a percussive dancer and vibraphonist/multi-instrumentalist Warren Wolf.

Balbed is a graduate of Howard University’s legendary jazz program. In 2021-22 he will lead a Jazz Clinic for UMD School of Music jazz students and teach a masterclass for classical percussion and jazz drumset students. Over the last decade, Balbed has established himself as a versatile and acclaimed saxophonist in the D.C. area and beyond. His career has taken him to Japan, Jamaica, Panama, the United Kingdom and Russia. Concluding his visit at The Clarice, Balbed will visit and engage with students in the School of Music’s “Music as Global Culture” course—fitting with his background as a U.S. State Department cultural diplomat.