Progress Report: The Journey of "Qu" - A Composer's Process

I wanted to take this opportunity to provide a more in-depth look into my compositional

process for my current work, which is being developed as part of the esteemed AACM Composer in Residence project. This endeavor is proving to be a deeply personal and creatively challenging undertaking, culminating in a seven-part structured improvisational piece designed for a specific configuration: a great black music chamber ensemble, integrated with tape and various electronic elements. The core idea is to meld the organic, immediate sound of live instrumentation with the expansive, textural possibilities afforded by technology.

At the heart of this project lies a vital collaboration with a very close friend and an exceptional poet, Zaccai Free. Zaccai and I share a history dating back to our days as "Maret Frogs," and I have long admired his unique artistic sensibility. I view Zaccai not merely as a poet, but as a truly contemporary griot—a keeper of history and a weaver of compelling narratives through the spoken word, perfectly suited for this ambitious musical narrative.

I approached Zaccai specifically to lend his powerful voice to the telling of the Adventures of Mansa Qu. This figure is of particular historical and mythological interest, widely understood to be the predecessor of the legendary Mansa Musa, who remains renowned as arguably the wealthiest person ever to have lived. The piece, The Journey of "Qu," seeks to explore the often-overshadowed legacy of Qu, imagining his motivations, his travels, and the epochal events that set the stage for the splendor of his more famous successor.

The structural improvisation framework is critical to the work's identity. Rather than a purely notated score, I am developing a series of graphic scores, textual prompts, and pre-recorded electronic beds that serve as a navigational map for the musicians. This ensures that while the piece maintains a cohesive, pre-determined shape (the seven distinct movements), the performance remains fresh, dynamic, and inherently connected to the principles of the AACM tradition: Great Black Music, Ancient to the Future. The electronics, which include manipulated field recordings, synthesized textures, and Zaccai's pre-processed voice, act as both another performing voice and an immersive sonic environment through which the chamber ensemble must navigate.

“Qu”, is an intensive exploration that delves into the very foundations of the modern world. It is a critical examination of how concepts like "history," empire, colonialism, anti-Blackness, and the contemporary notions of wealth were forged and how they continue to shape our present reality. This piece is not just an artistic endeavor; it is an academic and deeply personal undertaking.

The gestation period for “Qu” has been lengthy and fruitful. I have spent nearly a year immersed in the writings of Zaccai, allowing his words to shape the philosophical and emotional core of the piece. Parallel to this, I have dedicated significant time to rigorous historical research, specifically focusing on the powerful grassland empires of West Africa that flourished between 1300 and 1500 CE, most notably the Mali Empire. This historical grounding is essential to the work, providing a counter-narrative and a historical depth that challenges Eurocentric accounts of global history.

The fall of 2025 was dedicated to the essential phase of experimentation. I explored a multitude of artistic avenues, focusing on how I could translate the thematic complexity into a compelling sonic and visual experience. This involved intensive experimentation with the piece's structural form, developing a distinct sonic palette, and testing various instrumentation ideas to find the precise timbre and texture that the work demands.

I am now at a crucial juncture where I feel confident and ready to share the tangible progress I have made.

The Genesis of the Graphic Scores

What you are currently seeing represents what I estimate to be approximately halfway through the first draft of the graphic scores for “Qu”. These scores are not merely instructions for performance; they are visual representations of the piece's philosophical and historical layers.

Furthermore, in developing these scores, I have created a unique lexicon—a set of symbols and visual language—that is integral to the interpretation and performance of “Qu”. This lexicon is designed to be robust and versatile, and I anticipate that it will extend beyond this current work, becoming a recurring feature in my future compositions and artistic vocabulary. The detailed exploration of this lexicon will be the subject of a forthcoming post.

The Aesthetic and Structural Approach: Big to Small to Big

My creative process consistently follows a "Big to Small to Big" methodology, allowing me to move from grand conceptual structures to intricate details and then back to a unified whole.

The Pan-African Color Palette:

At the "Big" level, I established a core color palette: red, black, green, and gold. These colors are internationally recognized as emblematic of Pan-African solidarity and liberation movements. Specifically, the red, gold, and green are foundational colors found in the flags of many nations that once constituted colonial French West Africa. This region is geographically and historically significant, encompassing parts of the current Saleh Confederacy and the historical heartland of the former Mali Empire.

In the scores, these colors are not merely decorative; they are coded carriers of meaning. The specific use of red, gold, and green is directly tied to the electronic and tape sounds within the composition. They signal shifts in timbre, density, texture, and historical context within the electro-acoustic domain of the performance.

Conveying Non-Linearity in the Score:

In my effort to subvert traditional, linear Western musical notation—a form that often imposes a rigid, teleological view of time—I have been striving to instill a profound sense of non-linearity within the graphic scores. This is achieved by adding dimensionality and dynamism to the traditional staff structure. You will observe this in the use of curving, folding, and spinning staffs, which visually mandate a more fluid, multi-dimensional, and cyclical approach to time and narrative. These forms require the performer to inhabit a non-sequential time-space, reflecting the cyclical, palimpsestic nature of history itself.

The Emergence of Lexiconography:

Within the scores presented, you can already witness the nascent stages of my lexiconography being deployed. These unique symbols are integrated into the staffs and spaces, acting as meta-instructions that guide the performer's approach to pitch, duration, texture, and the manipulation of sound. We will dedicate the entirety of the next report to exploring these symbols, uncovering their individual meanings, and discussing how they function collectively to deepen the expressive range of “Qu”.