With Jackson Fairfax-Perry, Andrew Jackson, Lance Sampson, Shuvanjan Karmakar and Joshua Awe
ONE TICKET FOR TWO INCREDIBLE PERFORMANCES!
$10 in advance and $15 at the door.
**Ticket includes admission to AND SO WE DANCE**
If cost is a barrier, please reach out to info@mayworkskjipuktukhalifax.ca and we will accommodate you.
Childcare available on site for free. Please register in advance.
Taking its name from the final line of Common’s acclaimed 2005 album, Be Eternal explores black male mortality, particularly of musicians, and the normalization of this in modern society. Led by local saxophonist Jackson Fairfax-Perry, this ensemble brings together 5 local improvising musicians with roots connecting to the African diaspora. Exploring both spontaneous and written compositions, Be Eternal asks how can we move past this mindset that black men die young? That this is just how it is? How can we honour the artists who came before us, while also giving flowers to the ones who are still with us? This music is raw and mournful, but it is also filled with joy and hope, brimming with the power of our ancestors. This is a celebration of our black musical lineage.
Personnel:
Jackson Fairfax-Perry – Saxophones
Andrew Jackson – Trombone
Lance Sampson – Voice
Shuvanjan Karmakar – Bass
Joshua Awe – Drums
JACKON FAIRFAX-PERRY is an award-winning African Nova Scotian composer, sound designer, musician, and musical director based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A graduate of Dalhousie University (Bachelor of Music in Composition, 2014), Jackson has built a multidisciplinary career that bridges contemporary composition, popular music, improvisation, and theatrical sound design. For the decade following his graduation, he recorded and toured nationally and internationally with Hillsburn, an award-winning indie-pop band. Since 2023, Jackson has collaborated closely with Lance Sampson, AKA Aquakultre. As musical director for Sampson’s live performances, he has co-written, arranged, and performed on several of Aquakultre’s recordings, most notably on the critically acclaimed album 1783. As a saxophonist and keyboardist, Jackson is an active member of Halifax’s jazz and creative music scene performing regularly with several ensembles including Many Worlds, as well as his own group TYNES plus III. Jackson also collaborates frequently with theatre and dance artists, having contributed music and sound design to numerous local and national productions. Jackson is the most recent recipient of the Paul Cram Creation Award, and is in the process of writing his first composition for orchestra, to be premiered by Symphony Nova Scotia at Open Waters Festival in January, 2027.
ANDREW JACKSON is a Juno award winning trombonist and composer based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His versatility and unique sound have made him one of Eastern Canada’s first-call players. Jackson keeps a busy playing schedule with many of the premiere artists in the region, spanning a variety of styles, and was selected as a member of the National Canadian Jazz Orchestra. Andrew is a multiple time Music Nova Scotia award winner, including accolades such as “Musician of the Year” and “Jazz Recording of The Year” amongst others. Since 2017 Andrew has been the musical curator for the TD Halifax Jazz Festival, which has won multiple “Event of The Year” Awards under his tenure.
LANCE SAMPSON better known as AQUAKULTRE is an uncommonly versatile singer, rapper, composer and storyteller from Halifax, NS. Since winning the 2018 CBC Searchlight competition, Aquakultre has released two Polaris-nominated albums and a multitude of genre-diverse, multi-media collaborations, establishing him as a significant musical and cultural presence. The live show is a warm-hearted party where all are welcomed by Aquakultre’s big voice and bigger stage presence. Through all his works, via poetic lyrics and straight-up jams, Aquakultre is on a mission to share his love for his unique and beautiful corner of the culture.
SHUVANJAN KARMAKAR is a bassist. Their practice synthesizes curatorial methodology, environmental listening, and diasporic microcosms. Their curatorial tenure, marked by collaborations with award-winning artists across disciplines, explored engagement with form, temporality, and audience perception. This experience established a foundation in spatial dramaturgy, critical framing, and orchestrating sensory experiences. These principles translate into their musical practice, where they treat sound as an experiential field rather than a linear construct. Shuvanjan’s artistic labor navigates the dialectic between the intrinsic desire to create and the external pressures that necessitate production, allowing this tension to shape both methodology and output. Their exploration of non-equal-tempered systems, encompassing microtonality, just intonation, and other alternative tuning paradigms, serves as both a technical and conceptual extension of this inquiry. Challenging hegemonic sonic structures and repositioning the bass as a site of critical experimentation.
JOSHUA AWE is an instinctive drummer who enjoys playing a wide range of musical genres. He often plays with jazz musicians in Halifax, however, Joshua has recently been performing with musicians in the folk and oldtime scenes where he usually plays djembe and percussion. Joshua has his roots in Nigeria where he started playing in the church. This is where he learned that music can be used for a spiritual transcendence. His resume includes an extensive list of public and private gigs including the Halifax Jazz Festival, Every Seeker and Deep Roots Festival.
Event photo and Jackson Fairfax-Perry headshot by Jamie Kronick
Lance Sampson headshot by Mo Phùng
