Mark Lomax II

Columbus-based composer, recording artist, and drummer Mark Lomax II and his musical compatriots perform selections from his 12-album cycle 400: An Afrikan Epic. Supported by a Wexner Center Artist Residency Award, this ambitious project tells the story of black America stretching from precolonial Afrika, through the 400 years after the start of the Transatlantic slave trade in 1619, and into the Afrofuture while celebrating the creativity of a people who continue to endure.

Watch for the news on the complete 400 Years Cycle, to be released via download and streaming services at Mark Lomax’s website.

400 Years Cycle (Release date: 1/23/19)

Alkebulan: The Beginning of Us
1) The First Ankhcestor—celebration of the drum’s importance to Afrika
2) Song of the Dogon—portrait of a mystical ethnic group in West Afrika
3) Dance of the Orishas—music inspired by the Yoruban spiritual tradition
4) The Coming—musical depiction of crossing the Atlantic

Ma’afa: Great Tragedy
5) Ma’afa—remembering to forget and forgetting to remember 
6) Up South—portrait of racism in America
7) Four Women—tribute to important black women
8) Blues In August—tribute to black men

Afro-Futurism: The Return to Uhuru
9) Tales of the Black Experience—Sankofan view of Afrikan history
10) Ankh & The Tree of Life—culturally relevant spiritual belief systems
11) Spirits of the Egungun—spiritual, cultural, political return to self
12) Afrika United—becoming… again