I look around in the maze of your rivers,

I walk in for the fresh waters.

I get lost in the streams in

the rocky floors that hurt my feet.

I walk out from the discomfort 

of my foot’s bleeding vein. 

But I pause for a second

as the sun shines its rays,

seeing white flower petals

that you placed,

floating in the water.

I blink unfocused

I smile with widening eyes,

and I walk back in 

to enjoy the glimmering light.

I’m floating on my back  

in the warm river

with a smile, 

then in the shower

of the evaporating waterfall. 

Soon it dries up.

The flowers shrivel down.

I start to shiver and beg

for the warm rain to come.

But it never comes and

I’m left with pale skin 

and chattering teeth.

The post Dry River appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Wednesday, July 2

Spread the Jam July2025: This is a jam session welcoming every musician “with open arms — no matter what.” Featuring Baltimore-based saxophonist Johanna McGuire. 6 p.m. at Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to redemmas.org/events. 

Art of Comedy: An open mic for comedians of all skill levels. Wednesdays. 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Motor House, 120 W. North Avenue. For more information, go to motorhousebaltimore.

Thursday, June 3

First Thursdays: Make and Mingle: This is a drop-in program designed for adults to get creative and socialize. In this session, think about ways to remix and reimagine existing artwork for a contemporary story. 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at The Walters Art Museum, 600 N. Charles Street. For more information, go to thewalters.org/events.

Open Mic: “Black Ocean Storytelling”: Black African Diaspora folks are invited to share stories about the Atlantic Ocean, as a part of Shekinah Mba’s senior thesis on history, the Black African Diaspora, and the ocean. 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to redemmas.org/events. 

“What They Left Us” Opening Reception: In this opening reception, eight Filipino-American artists display works on cultural inheritance and “the unspoken labor of belonging through the lens of migration. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Alchemy of Art, 1637 Eastern Avenue. For more information, go to thealchemyofart.net. 

Friday, July 4

mc chris ’20 Years Of Touring’ with Swell Rell: Listen to the legendary mc chris — of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Adult Swim fame — rap Nerdcore with Swell Rell. ($20) 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at The Metro Gallery, 1700 N. Charles Street. For more information, go to metrobmore.com/events. 

Saturday, July 5

Charm City Connections: Improv Welcome to Baltimore: Connect with newcomers and learn the art of improv. (Free to $15) 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 1900 Saint Paul Street. For more information, go to highwireimprov.com. 

Speed of Fashion Closing Reception: This art exhibition explores the relationship fashion has with identity, science, waste, culture, and more. Featuring art from JJ Antunes, Laure Drogoul, Sanzi Kermes, and more. 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Crow’s Nest Baltimore, 116 W. Mulberry Street. For more information, go to crowsnestbaltimore.com. 

Zach Seals FINAL SHOW: Before singer Zach Seals moves to New York City, join him, Zeke Bleu, Temporary Boyfriend, Ari Voxx, and Str4wb 4lien for a farewell house party. Attendees must register for this event. 7 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. at 2225 Hargrove Street. For more information, find “Zach Seals FINAL SHOW” on Eventbrite, or follow @z_seals on Instagram.

DEEP SUGAR AFTERHOURS: Join the legendary DJ Sedrick as he celebrates his birthday with a five hour DJ set. 18+ ($20 – $25) 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. at Club 1722 Afterhours, 1722 N. Charles Street. For more information, follow @deepsugarparty on Instagram.

Sunday, July 6

Common Tone Summer Music Session: A time for kids and families to sing, dance, play instruments, and connect. ($15) 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at The Ivy Bookshop, Back Patio, 5928 Falls Road. For more information, go to theivybookshop.com/events. 

Drag Me to Brunch – 4th of July Edition: Featuring drag performances by Sabrina Blue, Jae-King, Kedra Lattimore, Liyah Rachelle Sherrington, Oohzee, and Sapphire Dupree. Cash bar, hookahs, and brunch included. 21+ ($28.52 – $428.67) noon to 4 p.m. at The Assembly Room, 318-316 Guilford Avenue. For more information, find “Drag Me to Brunch” on Eventbrite.

Rhythm & Wine Festival: Live music, delicious bites, and a variety of wines. ($28.52) 1-7 p.m. at Carroll Park, 1500 Washington Boulevard. For more information, call 240-581-0655. 

Free Family Sundays: Join the Baltimore Museum of Art for a lesson on the art of mending. Learn how to add creativity and color to small clothing repairs, which in turn allows us to care more for the planet. 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at BMA Main Campus, 10 Art Museum Drive. For more information, go to artbma.org/events. 

Monday, July 7

Kara Arts Summer Camp: This arts summer camp allows kids to explore their creative side through art projects, writing and journaling, dance classes in hip-hop and step, and much more. July 7 through August 8 ($150 per week) 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Grace Place Community Center, 2625A E. Northern Parkway. For more information, go to linktr.ee/KaraArts. 

“Hooks and Yarn”: Crochet for Adults: Master of crochet Cynthia Jahi is looking for students to learn yarn manipulation techniques. This introductory class will give you the skills to begin your next crochet project. Registration required. 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Free Library, Waverly Branch, 400 E. 33rd Street. For more information, call 410-396-6089, or email wvr@prattlibrary.org. 

Jazz Monday LIVE at R. House: Featuring both rotating and regular jazz acts from all over the DMV. 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at R. House, 301 W. 29th Street. For more information, go to r.housebaltimore.com.

Thursday, July 10

They Dream in Gold: Zora’s Den in conversation with Mai Sennaar. ($10) 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Charm City Cultural Cultivation, 3100 Greenmount Avenue. For more information, go to charmccc.org.

Writers LIVE! Book Talk: Join Washington Post critic-at-large Robin Givhan and author D. Watkins for a discussion on Givhan’s book “Make It Ours.” In this book, learn about Virgil Abloh’s rise to his iconoclast status in the canon of fashion. 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street. For more information, go to prattlibrary.org. 

Queeraoke: Al-Aqsa Swim Club Baltimore presents a drag karaoke night for Palestine. All donations will go toward evacuation efforts and supplies for daily needs. Masks encouraged. 9 p.m. at Upstairs @ Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard Street. For more information, follow @aasc.baltimore on Instagram.

Friday, July 11

Cyber Rush: Featuring DJ So-Alien, Molly Got Me Trippin, Jjaro, Bandeanie, and Brooce. Also, an artist market. 18+ ($10 – $15) 8 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. The Bassment, 33 W. North Avenue. For more information, go to braindead.live. 

The Sugar Brown Comedy Experience: Join Sugar Brown, the seductive alter ego of diva Lanita Shera, for an unforgettable night of sexy comedy experience. (from $40.25) 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at La Familia Soundstage, 836 Guilford Avenue. For more information, go to lafamiliasoundstage.com.

Saturday, July 12

Baltimore’s 3rd Annual Disability Pride Arts Fest: Make Studio brings back their annual Disability Pride Arts Fest. Over a dozen disability and arts organizations will present inclusive performances, art pieces, and resources. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Enoch Pratt Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street. For more information, go to make-studio.org/disabilityprideartsfest_III.html 

Chess Fest with Board Room Chess: Join the youth of Board Room Chess for a day of play and instruction. 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at BMA Lexington Market, 112 N. Eutaw Street. For more information, go to artbma.org/events. 

Media Pitch Day: Do you have a good podcast idea? If so, pitch your idea to Sarcarrogance Studios for advice and potential free studio time. Grand prize is four hours of studio time and mentorship with one of the judges. 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at SMG Studios, 3037 Hamilton Avenue. For more information, go to sarcarrogance.com. 

BIG Time with Aaron Henkin: Improv comedy scenes inspired by an interview with a local celebrity or artist. ($10) 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The BIG Theater, 1727 N, Charles Street. For more information, go to bigimprov.org.

The Second Saturday S#!T Show feat. Jamar Taylor: Jamar Taylor is a US Army vet and 1/3 of Mobtown Comedy. HIs charm, wit & frenetic pace  leaves the audience memorized and begging for more. ($10) 7 p.m. at Upstairs @ Ottobar, 2549 N. Howard Street. For more information, go to theottobar.com.

Sunday, July 13

Soca at Sunrise: Sounds from Fyah Oats, DJ Polo, DJ Majestic and DJ Dolla. (from $30) 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Carroll Park Golf Course, 2100 Washington Blvd. For more information, call 202-631-0833, 443-928-5900, or 240-350-4304.

Sunday Series at Meander Art Bar: Drawing: Local artists teach you how to draw. Supplies are provided. ($20) 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Meander Art Bar, 1801 E. Lombard Street. For more information, go to meanderartbar.com. 

Teen Summer Writing Workshop with CHARM: Haiku Adventures: The Ivy is teaming up with CHARM: Voices of Baltimore Youth for free summer writing workshops. This event is perfect for fostering and growing a love for writing. Space is limited, so RSVP. Noon to 1:30 p.m. at The Ivy Bookshop, 5928 Falls Road. For more information, go to theivybookshop.com/events. 

Wednesday, July 16

David Ayala Artist Talk: Ayala’s work blends traditional oil painting techniques with unexpected materials like glitter, nail polish, and glass beads to explore themes of queer sensuality, Christian iconography, and pop culture symbolism. 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Night Owl Gallery, 1735 Maryland Avenue. For more information, go to night-owl-gallery.square.site. 

The post Baltimore Arts and Culture Events 7/02/25-7/16/25 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

In his 1982 stand-up special “Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip,” the comedian addressed stories of an accident he had with a pithy joke. In 1980, it had been reported that Pryor accidentally set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. On stage, he referenced the many people who made light of the incident by lighting a match and dramatically waving it around. “What’s that? Richard Pryor running down the street!” He himself followed suit, turning the entire affair into an elaborate, comedic explanation for how he came to be ablaze. But in 1986, he would confess during an interview with Barbara Walters that it was, in fact, a suicide attempt. 

Between that special and that interview, Pryor co-wrote, directed, and starred in “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling,” a semi-autobiographical dramatization of the fire and a raw rumination of the life that led to it. The film opens with Jo Jo Dancer (Pryor in all but name) crawling around on the floor looking for any straggler rock remnants he has yet to smoke. He calls his old dealer to score, but when the dealer reminds him that he’s supposed to be clean, he pretends the call was to invite him to a party that does not in fact exist. After, there’s a powerful shot where he catches his reflection in the mirror. He sees himself, a grown man of noticeable wealth scrounging on the carpet on all floors like an animal for a taste of what he’s just pretended he no longer needs. The realization seems to spark something profound until he does, in fact, find an unsmoked rock. 

From there, we immediately cut to an intense sequence of Dancer in a hospital being treated for third-degree burns all over his body. It presents all the detailed realism of an “ER” episode, with all the hospital jargon and hurried line deliveries necessary to make it clear Dancer might not make it. At this point, his inner soul, also played by Pryor, separates itself from his charred corporeal form and begins a walk through Dancer’s past. The journey stretches from his childhood spent growing up in a brothel to his escape from his abusive father to his sojourn to a nearby city to pursue comedy, all the way through to the suffocating aftereffects of his success. 

The approach is a fascinating one. We’ve experienced tons of media wherein a protagonist is faced with his past, guided by some spiritual figure, usually watching from afar, unable to interact. But Pryor stages this journey with more elasticity. As the physical embodiment of his own soul, he plainly interacts with people and situations from his past, often giving insight or sincerity from them he never could have gotten or processed at the time. It’s an ongoing conversation between this wounded, free-moving Dancer, who doesn’t understand how it all went wrong, questioning and cajoling the bedridden Dancer. 

There’s one particular sequence where Dancer’s mother begs him for forgiveness while she’s initiating sex with one of her clients, and Dancer turns away to look through the doorway at himself still in the hospital bed. Through the entire interaction leading up to this moment, the ambient noises of the hospital, the beeps and hums of the machines keeping Dancer alive, permeate into this living flashback. It’s stirring stuff.

But it’s clear to see why the movie received such mixed reviews at the time. Placing it within the context of Pryor’s comedic filmography, it is a much tougher watch in tone. It’s still hilarious, but every single bit of humor is still tethered to the pain that inspired it. When Dancer makes it to a new city but is too broke to survive, we watch his stomach grumble on a bus so loudly it feels like a cartoon. It’s framed as a sitcom laugh trigger and a knowing depiction of brokeness, all in the same beat. Even when we see extended pieces of Dancer’s stand-up, it’s him joking about being thrown up on as a baby, or later, addressing the film’s themes so head on, we begin to wonder if this is stand-up or if Dancer has really died and is simply addressing it from the afterlife.

The film is not without its foibles and false notes. There’s a montage of Dancer coming into his own as a performer set to Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” that feels so forced and strange relative to how honest and real the rest of the film reads. Also, when the film delves into his interracial relationships, he admonishes his white lover about her unearned radicalism “You read Malcolm X. I know Malcolm,” he tells her. However, the scene rings a little hollow by not addressing why so many white people surround him at this juncture in his life, to begin with. 

For decades, there’s been a pipeline for funny comics to morph into serious filmmakers (Woody Allen, Louis C.K., Aziz Ansari) or serious pundits (Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, countless others, unfortunately), but Pryor’s attempt at real artistry feels like it was rejected for its rawness. Few filmmakers in this vein bear themselves to this degree, often opting instead to stick to slice-of-life romantic dramas. 

Years later, audiences were more welcoming to Chris Rock’s forays into film directing, like “Top Five” and “I Think I Love My Wife,” mainly because the finished results weren’t that far off from what we expect from his stand-up and the films he’s made for others. But to this day, “Jo Jo Dancer” remains a unique cinematic proposition, the filmic version of watching a man poke at a raw, exposed nerve for your benefit as much as his own.

“Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling” is currently streaming on Tubi and The Roku Channel.

The post ‘Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling’ is so unappreciated appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

In 1964, composer, pianist, and jazz royalty Duke Ellington was interviewed by Byng Whitteker for the CBC, who asked him where he gets all his ideas. Ellington responded, “Oh, man, I got a million dreams. That’s all I do is dream all the time.” His interviewer quips, “I thought you played the piano.” “No!” Ellington emphatically corrects him while turning his attention to the keys, “This is not the piano! This is dreaming!” and proceeds to improvise the most eloquent composition. When he finishes, he reaffirms his initial claim, “That’s dreaming.”

Dreamers walk a different path, a courageous journey with all the heights and pitfalls that come with any disciplined pursuit to manifest a vision. Not all dreamers are masters, but master dreamers are always world builders—they make whole what others only contemplate but rarely pursue. Master dreamers cultivate possibility for themselves and their communities and are a blessing to the world.

Sharayna Ashanti Christmas is a master dreamer. For over 20 years, she has dedicated herself to supporting the development of young visual and performance artists in DC, Baltimore, NJ, NY, Philadelphia, South Carolina, New Orleans, and abroad in Brixton, London, the Dominican Republic, and Ghana. Her journey has been serendipitous and serpentine. However, her passion for art and how it can support young people’s affirming self-actualization continues to reinvigorate her commitment to the work. It is hard, often thankless work, but it is the work she is eternally devoted to, like many master dreamers before her.

“I refer to myself as a cultural worker rather than solely an artist or educator because the term carries a deliberate political weight.” Christmas shared with this writer. “Toni Cade Bambara reminds us that “the role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible,” and it’s in that spirit that I locate my practice. Cultural work, for me, is an expansive and international framework—one that holds my work as a dancer, filmmaker, educator, and activist in a shared commitment to transformation, imagination, and liberation.”

From the ages of 3-18, Christmas’s métier was dance. She learned to cultivate her skills as a dancer by training with teachers at the esteemed institution, Dance Theater of Harlem. There she learned discipline, a body memory, and intensity that has stayed with her years after retiring from dance. Genius walks the streets of Harlem. Watching the productions of Ulysses Dove, and taking modern dance classes with Ailey dancers, Christmas learned the power of movement to encapsulate Black memory; the body as an archive continues to inform much of her research. Studying the techniques of Dr. Pearl Primus and Katherine Dunham became her north star. Those women and scholars like Dr. Marimba Ani, as well as other creative masters exemplified an unflinching embrace of the power attained when you activate knowledge of self. Guided by their practices of love, Christmas learned the communally healing power of art.

“When I started dance, I wanted to be more like Ailey,” Christmas continued, “He collaborated with Langston Hughes, Nina Simone, Duke Ellington, and Alice Coltrane. That’s powerful! Ailey created a space for himself and his body. Revelations is his story of being from the rural South in Texas. He talked about that when others were embarrassed to be from the South. So, I wanted to do that.”

After 15 years of daily training, a grueling regimen to tone dancers’ bodies for the rigor and strain required for professional ballet, she stopped. It was abrupt. She felt it was time. She was rebelling against respectability, which ironically steered her toward convention. You need money to live and survive in New York. She made much of it, working a short stint as a Financial Analyst at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. Disheartened by the culture of that institution, she quit. It had always been dance that inspired her, after all. Her body remembered. You never forget what transforms you. 

She moved to Baltimore to pursue her studies at Morgan State University and graduated in 2002. A year later, she founded her own dance company, Rayn Fall Dance Studio, where she served as the Director and Lead Choreographer, teaching children ages 3-18, ballet and modern. For many years, those classes occurred at the Druid Hill YMCA and later moved to Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center, before sunsetting in 2022. Under the nonprofit Muse-360, she founded other culture-focused, youth-led initiatives, including New Generation Scholars (2007), New Generation Scholars Youth Scholar Abroad Project and Intergenerational Institute (2007-present), NGS Open Community Classroom: Learning Our Way (2024), and NGS Young Artist Archival Fellowship (2024), in partnership with AfroArchives.  

All of the initiatives under Muse 360 envision their role as a “center of radical transformative youth development rooted in pursuing culturally centered, critical thought, and creation in the world.” The project’s Christmas stewards are co-led with youth participants. Each is recognized as a scholar and encouraged to activate their knowledge of self to make their mark on the world. Each year, a village of artists, curators, writers, and academics is invited to mentor participating youth, lead lectures, and consult with them about their careers. I was among the cadre of powerful culture workers invited to teach this past Spring. This powerful work encourages young people to stretch their imaginations and use their creativity for good in the world. In a city that is too often presented as a murder capital but rarely uplifted as a bastion for creative genius, the work that Muse 360 models is critical to the inspiration of new generations.

This Summer, New Generation Scholars will curate a Black Femme Freedom School, which Christmas describes as a “space of radical possibility rooted in Black Feminist Thought and the legacy of Freedom Schools.” Co-visioned by Spelman rising Junior, Naima Starr and centering education as a tool for liberation, the program invites young scholars to develop practical skills that promote agency, self-empowerment, and the realization of a positive path forward for their future selves. 

Christmas has spent her career being clear about her calling. Working on behalf of future possibility and teaching the next generation how to realize their dreams is the most radical, reverent, and revolutionary work anyone could ever pursue. Like all master dreamers, Christmas has no shortage of vision. Her latest research initiative, The Black Women Cultural Workers Archives Project (BWCWA), co-visioned with Dr. Nadejda I. Webb seeks to recognize unsung cultural workers in and beyond the region. The thread that strengthens all of her life’s work is her unyielding commitment to love. 

“Toni Morrison said, love is a bench. That’s what I’m really trying to create,” Christmas explained. “I’m creating a bench so that the next generation can feel supported… It’s the ways in which we want to build our institutions, and our intentions are really centered on love… I believe that the ritual of reverence is a way for us to collectively come together. The work that I’m doing is intimate and intense. We can look at all of the gaps and the pitfalls for why an organization didn’t work… but, what really matters at the end of the day is how are we supporting one another? How are we building solidarity? How are we honoring our ancestors and how are we honoring ourselves?”

In an era where tyrants are emboldened and educators are shunned for expanding the perspectives of the next generation, it is a courageous act to stand tall and unabashedly advocate for justice rather than cower in the face of others’ woeful ignorance. When I asked her if she had any concerns about the future sustainability of this work, personally and more broadly for other educators and cultural workers, she didn’t hesitate to give an affirming response.

“That’s a good question. I do have concerns, but because I’ve been doing it for over 20 years, I’ve had to let go of the idea that everything is supposed to be the way that I imagine it and just allow evolution to take shape. And that’s why I’m trying to plant seeds within these young people. And I’m trying to shout to the hills, ‘Let’s provide reverence to one another! Let’s care for one another!’ Because that’s what is going to truly sustain us.”

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Pretty – “Chops 4 Breakfast”

West Baltimore producer Shantele Pretty has gifted fans of golden era-hip-hop with a brand new beat tape: “Chops 4 Breakfast.” For those unfamiliar with hip hop, a beat tape is a project of instrumentals from a producer, usually given to a rapper for them to have a selection of sounds to write to. Producers often release their beat tapes as full projects. 

“Chops 4 Breakfast” opens with a vintage tutorial recording defining the word “steady” on “Steady Wins the Race.” Keeping that pace, Pretty provides a full meal for any hungry emcee who has the skill to create introspective storytelling, metaphors, wordplay and entendres. With rare samples, beat breaks, and head-nodding bass drums, “Chops 4 Breakfast” is also a great backdrop for workday productivity.

Pretty began her musical journey by learning to DJ at the age of eight and mastered the saxophone by age 13. She has worked with veteran Baltimore rapper Greenspan, and producer Kariz Marcel’s Blackwater Production House. She is also the curator of “SESSIONS,” an ongoing creative series where she brings artists together to create songs on the spot in real time. She is currently working on a project with female emcees Kay L.A., Illy, and Lyrikal Miracle. 

Pretty, being influenced by producers like J Dilla, DJ Premier, and Q-Tip, delivers tracks that flow together smoothly and are reminiscent of favorites from Slum Village to Rapsody and Nas. “40” gives a nod to her love for instrumentation with a smooth, driving horn sample, followed by the final track “Don’t Stop Now” which fittingly made this listener want to run the whole tape back from the beginning. 

“Chops 4 Breakfast” is available on Bandcamp and all other streaming platforms. 

Astronaut Symphony – “Cloud Nebula”

Afro House, a Baltimore-based production company, has released “Cloud Nebula,” a debut album from the collective Astronaut Symphony. 

A futuristic, multimedia collaboration, the album was recorded in late April of 2025 before a sold-out audience at The Voxel in Baltimore. It’s the sci-fi story of Jakub, a cosmic star in human form, tasked with guiding the refugees of her dying planet to the Golden Cloud Nebula. On “Ship Announcement,” the album’s opener, the voice of a Black woman flight attendant invites the listener to store their luggage and tap in for the ride. 

“Welcome to the Spaceship Third Eye. We will begin boarding shortly. Please ensure that all your belongings are with you and can be secured in your pod,” she says.

“Cloud Nebula” does what the perfect live album should do: make you wish you were one of the lucky people in the audience that night. Yet, the mix and mastering by Max Bent is such that you can forget you’re listening to a live album until the enthusiastic applause appears at a song’s ending. 

The album is a collaboration of immensely talented musicians. Composed by Scott Patterson who also appears on keys and vocals, it also features Elise Jenkins, R. Joshua Reynolds, and Darius Sanders on vocals with Ray Winder holding down alto saxophone, electric guitar and vocals. Ra Patterson is also on alto saxophone, Judah Patterson plays electric guitar, and Philip Thomas is on drums. If you’re not lucky enough to witness them at the National Aquarium for the sold out edition of Voyages on July 17, keep an eye out for future performances. 

Check out “Cloud Nebula” on Bandcamp.

Mowder Oyal – “Prefigurative Musics”

“Imaginary. I imagined I chewed Bmore soil and spit out ancestral bones,” Mowder Oyal’s drummer and co-founder Bashi Rose calmly intones in a spoken word piece that begins the band’s sophomore album. Adam Holofcener’s guitar greets us as does James Young’s bassoon, joining Rose’s work setting the scene for a journey of organized calamity through tracks “Aw Fuck!”, “Clutch,” and “Container.”

By the time you reach “Goblin” and hear a voice yelling mixed in with Rose, Holofcener and Young’s composition, the album has already offered a taste of nearly everything from hardcore to jazz in a fusion of self-described “Tuff Music from Baltimore City.” 

“Prefigurative Musics,” for the most part, is fairly different from their self-titled 2022 debut album showcasing musical growth, vision, and cohesion between the members of the band. They close the album by revisiting the piece that began it, but this time it’s flipped by Baltimore producer Mighty Mark into a club music remix. Catch them live with new front vocalist Sun Lynn Hunter, who isn’t featured on the album but brings a whole new creative energy to the stage. 

Check out this must-have Baltimore project on Bandcamp.

If you would like your music to be considered for Baltimore Beat’s Best Beats, send us your project, along with a short bio (no more than 100 words) and a photo of yourself (with the photographer’s name) to music@baltimorebeat.com.

The post Best Beats 7/2/25 – 7/16/25 appeared first on Baltimore Beat.

Baltimore Beat Photographer Myles Michelin took these photos on June 17 at the Black Artist Fair. As part of the official Baltimore Club Music Day celebration, The Black Arts District brought its monthly series focused on Black artistic production and resources to the Shake & Bake Family Fun Center.

Attendees experienced a dynamic blend of community and culture: they enjoyed refreshments from Chef CB’s Bistro Catering, got professional headshots by Sydney J. Allen, and witnessed electrifying performances by Bmore Than Dance youth, all set to the sounds of DJ Ducky Dynamo and a workshop facilitated by Sanahara Ama Chandra.

The fair also provided resources from Associated Black Charities, empowering Black creatives with resources for sustainability and wealth. And Bmore Than Dance showcased its vital children’s program, connecting young folks to Baltimore’s iconic dance legacy. Baltimore Club Music isn’t just a genre; it’s the signature of our city, and this event was a powerful testament to its continued impact and the future of Black Arts in Baltimore, with an emphasis on Baltimore Club Music’s indelible impact on our cultural legacy. 

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AFRAM took place on June 21 and 22, over two steamy days in Baltimore’s Druid Hill Park. A host of local and national entertainers performed on two stages. The festival concluded with a performance from 81-year-old Patti LaBelle. Organizers call it one of the largest African American festivals on the East Coast.

Day One

Day Two

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The Baltimore Pride parade and block party kicked off at the intersection of North Avenue and Charles Street. It featured foam, supportive hugs, and plenty of rainbows.

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