W4RP Trio & LiKWUiD Share a Southern Gothic Epic of a Track: “The Devil Went Down to Cackalacky”
Sermon of the MatriarK TRACKLIST
Sermon of the MatriarK Part i: Prelude
Sermon of the MatriarK Part ii: Testify
Sermon of the MatriarK Part iii: After the Rainbow
Up
The Devil Went Down to Cackalacky
Gimme Dat Part i: gambit
Gimme Dat Part ii: in motion
Gimme Dat Part iii: throwback
Gimme Dat Part iv: transe
Gimme Dat Part v: wake up
Gimme Dat Part vi: they tweakin
Gimme Dat Part vii: caps
Gimme Dat Part viii: 4th wall
Here’s One
MatriarK ReduX
Southern Belle
To My Momma
CREDITS
W4RP Trio:
Josh Henderson, violin, electric bass, vocals
Mikael Darmanie, keys and synths
JY Lee, cello
Rick Martinez, all things percussion
LiKWUiD
Featuring Rich
Emergence Collective:
Kate Douglas
Barrie McClain
Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez
Produced by Stephen Prutsman
Recorded by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio, Mt. Vernon, NY
Additional recording by Daniel Edmond, Spaniel Studio, Astoria, NY
Mixed and edited by Mike Tierney, Fieldnotes Studio, Brooklyn, NY
Additional editing by Gary Mankin, Studio Ajea, San Francisco, CA
Mastering by Alan Silverman
Album art and graphic design by Baron Wright
Photos by Titilayo Ayangade
Text editing by Jennifer Gersten
Illustrations by Edythe Vassall used by permission
Today, W4RP Trio — the internationally touring chamber music group whose daring cross-genre experiments dip into everything from modernist orchestral works to tango and bleeding-edge jazz — share “The Devil Went Down to Cackalacky,” the latest offering from their upcoming album Sermon of the MatriarK, out January 9 on Phenotypic Recordings®.
Listen to “The Devil Went Down to Cackalacky” here and preorder Sermon of the MatriarK here. (Phenotypic Recordings® will donate all its streaming and digital download proceeds from this album to non-profit organizations advocating for Black women and girls.)
On today’s single, LiKWUiD leans into her southern roots and adds a country twang to hip-hop as the age-old story of the devil trying to steal your soul gets turned on its head: the devil loses this (rap) battle. With serrated strings and a full body sound — from the many vocalists to the powerful percussion — “The Devil Went Down to Cackalacky” stunningly highlights Sermon of the MatriarK’s most grand and fluid moments.
A collaboration with the barbed and poetic lyricism of rapper LiKWUiD, Sermon of the MatriarK is a towering conceptual work strives to, as W4RP put it, “honor the strength and resilience of women across the Black diaspora.” W4RP constructs a propulsive and ominous sound that evokes Stravinsky-esque theatricality, fire and brimstone gospel music, rhythms from the worlds of contemporary minimalism and jazz, and grandiose hip-hop production.
Meanwhile, atop that formidable swirl, LiKWUiD unspools lyrical threads that revel in the depth of Matriarchal Afro-diasporic folklore while simultaneously celebrating the ascendancy and power of the modern Black woman.
As W4RP Trio share: “Sermon of the MatriarK began as an exploration of folkloric material from the African diaspora with powerful female protagonists. As we sought to understand these characters, we became increasingly aware of their real-life counterparts—the heroines who shape our daily lives. We connected the dots from the legendary African warrior princess Yennenga to Black freedom fighters Harriet Tubman and Assata Shakur, all the way to our mothers, aunties, sisters, and friends fighting to protect and uplift themselves, their families, and their communities.
Try as we might, instrumental music alone can only go so far in communicating the details of these stories. We are thus forever indebted to a longtime friend of the band, the amazing lyricist and human Faybeo’n Mickens (LiKWUiD), for taking our rough concepts and lyrically running a marathon with them. By helping us articulate these complex ideas, LiKWUiD helped us create a project that evokes the deep roots of matriarchal Afro-diasporic folklore and celebrates women’s rise and empowerment. We hope this album will instill in the listener a sense of these powerful figures’ legacies and honor the strength and resilience of women across the Black diaspora.”
Read all the album liner notes here.
W4RP Trio and LiKWUiD will celebrate the release of Sermon of the MatriarK with a special album release show at Brooklyn Art Haus on January 9 — full show details here. Full list of upcoming W4RP Trio live dates are listed below.
W4RP TRIO LIVE DATES
Jan 9 – Album Release Show with LiKWUiD @ Brooklyn Art Haus – Brooklyn, NY
Jan 25 – “HooDoo Lounge” – Moab Music Festival Winterlude Residency – Moab, UT
Jan 31 – “Star Hall” – Moab Music Festival Winterlude Residency – Moab, UT
Feb 1 – Copeka – Grand Junction, CO
Feb 3-5 – Wyoming Symphony Education Residency – Caspar, WY
Feb 6-7 – Improvise Arts Residency – Rapid City SD
March 10 – Long Island University – Brookville, NY
March 12 – Fessenden School – Boston, MA
May 12-17 – Geneva Music Festival – Geneva, NY
ABOUT W4RP TRIO
Described as a “talented group that exemplifies the genre-obliterating direction of contemporary classical music” (Columbia Free Times), W4RP Trio is an internationally touring cross-genre chamber music experience. Reflecting the combination of Juilliard trained members juxtaposed with members steeped in rock and jazz styles, the one-of-a-kind ensemble can be seen performing classical works in prestigious halls on the same tour where they headline a standing room only show at a rock venue. In addition to their electrifying public performances, they have gained a reputation for their innovative educational workshops with students from grade school through university level. Their groundbreaking original compositions and collaborative works explore myriad musical traditions and styles, as well as important social issues.
Maintaining a busy performance schedule, W4RP has performed hundreds of concerts all across the United States, in addition to touring throughout the United Kingdom, Spain, Switzerland, Holland, Germany, Africa, and the Caribbean. Highlights of recent seasons include headlining at Barcelona’s LEM Festival for Experimental Music and the Omaha Under the Radar Festival; being featured artists at the MASA Jazz Festival in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, the Moab Music Festival’s Winterlude, and the Vancouver Island Music Festival; and launching the world premiere of their original work for the ensemble, narrator and full orchestra, “Brother Yasuke: The True Story of the Afro-Samurai.”
W4RP Trio’s collaborative partners range from orchestras to hip hop to jazz and pop artists. They have performed mind-blowing original orchestral programs with the Des Moines and Louisville Orchestras, as well as the Chesapeake Orchestra, Palaver Strings, and New York City’s Urban Playground Chamber Orchestra. In popular music, W4RP has long standing collaborations with spoken-word artist LiKWUiD as well as vocalists including Mirah, Raina Sokolov-Gonzalez, Claire Wellin (of San Fermin), and Rich; W4RP recently opened for Icelandic jazz-pop sensation Laufey at the Caroga Lake Music Festival.
Their education work has led them to numerous Colleges and Universities where they have presented their original workshops and masterclasses in improvisation and creative music making. Recent highlights include, the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester, U.K.), North Carolina School of the Arts, James Madison University, The North Carolina School of the Arts, Cal State LA, University of Iowa, UC Davis, University of the Virgin Islands (St. Thomas), and Syracuse University, among many others.
Individually, the W4RP members hold degrees in performance from the Juilliard School, Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music, and New York University. The beneficiaries of an incredibly diverse range of education, among the ensemble, they have received chamber music training from members of the Guarneri, Juilliard, Emerson, and La Salle Quartets as well as jazz instruction from figures such as Ray Anderson, Tony Moreno, Dave Pietro, and Mike Richmond.