Shannon Hayden

Kezia Dorsey Swann

Hymns for Inanna

We’ve got an incredible night planned for our February Elastro Series. Shannon Hayden is visiting Chicago with her ethereal cello and electronics based compositions. The music is drifting and concise simultaneously with a flowing layer of beautiful vocals atop. She’s known to stretch into more experimental realms, as well as accompanying folk and classical ensembles, so we really don’t know what we’ll get this evening. Preceding Shannon’s set we’ll have a return performance from Kezia Dorsey Swann who defines themself as a ‘Multidisciplinary Griot Artist and Director, having been influenced by multiple artistic disciplines’. Their work weaves through ritual, performance art, sculpture, gospel singing, electronic music, dance, and visual art. We can’t wait to see what they bring to Elastic for this evening. Opening the night is Chris Moore’s project Hymns for Inanna. Often associated with his prolific woodwind work, in this project Chris concentrates on a dreamy compositional approach for Wurlitzer and electronics. This whole night will be beautiful and we hope you’ll join us.

$15/$10 w/ Student ID - Tickets Available at the Door

Artist Bios

Shannon Hayden's musical style is a mesmerizing convergence of ethereal vocals interwoven seamlessly with intricately layered strings. Her sonic landscape is crafted through a fusion of analog and digital manipulation, blending lush string arrangements with dynamic bursts of electronic elements. This unique amalgamation creates immersive compositions that defy genre boundaries, offering audiences an enchanting journey through neo-classical elegance and avant-pop innovation.

"Hymns for Inanna" is a solo dreamscape project by Christopher Moore. With a Wurlitzer and pedals, an improvised harmonic cloud of sound is built up through delays of rhythm and simplistic melodies to saturate the architecture within and without. The harmonics creates a sequence layering of voices that occupies the ears and mind to give its "hymn-like" qualities. It's been told that the work is quite soothing, it is fit for meditation, and even clears hard to reach blockages. This work is an offering to the Sumerian Queen of Heaven and Earth, Inanna.

Kezia Dorsey Swann: “I would define myself as a Multidisciplinary Griot Artist and Director, having been influenced by multiple artistic disciplines. I value the importance of organic storytelling. I use the word “organic” to highlight what I believe is primal human urge to recall memory and truthful fabulation. My approach leans heavily into sonic performance; the idea of deep listening for understanding, incorporating movement and emotional intelligence as strong values. Things should be repeated as in Meisner technique, chopped as in Hip Hop Culture, elongated, reduced and expanded based on how I felt sense within the immediacy of a moment as in Viewpoints. Time Traveling is not only a subject matter in most of my work but a method of creation/ a praxis/ a pedagogy. I push against, overlap and/or reject syncopation often. I think of my work as trying to find that which is holy, whole, holistic and/ or holds within Black performance functionality. I do this aesthetically through spiritual surrealism and traditional folkloric techniques and have created/ fostered techniques based on Mythology archetypes, African American Southern Rituals, Underground Queer performance culture and visual installations combined with polyrhythm intelligence.”