Najee-Zaid’s debut album ‘Transiting the Celestial’ encompasses their lived experiences and artistry through music within the Experimental, Jazz, and Ambient genres of which they are currently associated. With a focus on steeping in the now, Najee-Zaid aims to express a range of experiences from grief to liberation through a Queer Afro-Diasporic Spiritual lens in the form of a music album. Recorded in part (Oct. 2024) at the inimitable Elastic Arts Foundation in Chicago Najee-Zaid remounts the live version of this project to pay homage to the experimental performance legacy of Chicago.

The overall tone and nature of this project is anti-oppressive, anti-white supremacist, and anti-extractive as it builds reciprocal relationships with nature, people, and all involved while centering rest for BIPOC and QPOC identities. Experimentally, the performance aspect is not even near the focus of this project. The artists and their nature based relationships remain centered as a way to decentralize hierarchical power dynamics and human-centeredness.

Therefore they aim to transmute the symptoms of what the late Bell Hooks would call the “White-Supremacist Capitalist Patriarchy” through rest, including: Grind culture/productivity,internalized misogyny/misogynoir, internalized homophobia, restlessness. Our bodies are sacred. Our lineages are worthy of protection. Re-indigenization takes rest.

Vegan/Vegetarian nourishments to be provided. As a reminder, Elastic Arts is a BYOB venue.

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

Gratitude to our performers:

Najee-Zaid - Vocals, Keys, Electronics
Alejandro Salazar - Drums, Percussion
Paige Brown - Keys, etc.
Eva Supreme - Vocals
Anaiet Soul - Keys, Organ
Carmani Edwards - Bass