Performance Run Time: 60–70 minutes, no intermission.

Originally conceived as a medium for Chicago-based multi-media artist and activist Damon Locks’s sample-based sound collage work, Black Monument Ensemble (BME) has evolved from a solo mission into a vibrant collective of artists, musicians, singers, and dancers making work with common goals of joy, compassion, and intention. Galvanized by Locks’s conceptualizing, poeticizing, and guiding vision, the contributors come from all facets of the diverse wellspring of Black artistic excellence in Chicago, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to uplifting, anthemic, and highly animated musical performances.

“Locks’s Ensemble work — with all its spiritual jazz arrangements, vibrant drum breaks, and esoteric movie clips — feels overtly communal, like a private conversation between those who understand the nuances of Black culture.” — The New York Times