Be Present Art Group - The Spiritual-Sonic Research Series Vol.2 (3CS)

Volume Two of The Spiritual-Sonic Research series features three live concerts by Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group, recorded between 2023 and 2025 in Portland, Oregon. These performances are connected through themes of reverence, ancestral veneration, and African American spiritual technologies. This compilation is meant to uplift, educate, and deepen engagement with these traditions. Many figures mentioned throughout this series deserve further study. This music is intended to support that study and can be used in educational and spiritual settings, such as presentations, sermons, sacred services, ceremonies, intentional listening sessions, book clubs, lectures, educational videos, and more. The first tape, Live at the Hollywood Theatre, was recorded at the Hollywood Theatre on May 25th, 2023. The concert celebrated the release of the self-titled LP Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group, released through Mississippi Records. The evening opened with performances by Angel Bat Dawid and Oui Ennui as DAOUI, with Angel Bat Dawid later joining Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group for a powerful rendition of her song “Black Family.” Songs like “A New World Awaits,” “Future Ancestors / Awaken (Redux),” and “Black Family” explore ideas of Afrofuturism and Afromultidimensionalism. Here Afrofuturism is understood not only through science fiction, cosmic imagery, and futuristic aesthetics, but also through everyday survival and the work of building a future for Black life. It is about preparing for ancestorhood, communicating with ancestors, self-determination, self-governance, and preserving Black family and community. Afrofuturism explored here is both cosmic and practical; it is also spiritual and grounded at the same time. It reaches toward the metaphysical while remaining deeply connected to everyday life, collective survival, and future-building. It asks how we sustain ourselves not only tomorrow, but generations from now. Afromultidimensionalism, a term coined by Roman Norfleet, is explored here as a spiritual system and ancestral technology that allows one to exist in the past, present, and future simultaneously. Through ancestral memory, sound, ritual, and collective consciousness, it becomes possible to be present across worlds and dimensions while remaining rooted in the physical world. Ultimately, it is a practice of seeking communion with the Divine, which in this work is called The Love Supreme. This idea reaches its culmination in the final piece: a chanting rendition of John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, offered here as prayer and spiritual invocation. The second tape, Universal Love Revival Service at the IFCC, was recorded on June 1st, 2024, at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center, a longstanding cultural and creative hub for Portland’s Black community. Rooted in the tradition of the Black church, this gathering took the form of a revival-style service, honoring African American spiritual traditions developed by enslaved Black people in the American South. While deeply grounded in these traditions, the service also served as an invitation to commune with the Universal Divine Spirit through collective prayer, sound, movement, and remembrance. The service featured a heartfelt welcome offered by Vaughn Kimmons, and included the construction of an altar and a ring shout held in reverence to ancestors and the enduring spiritual practices of the Afro-diaspora. Songs such as “Wade in the Water,” “This Little Light of Mine,” and other traditional spirituals were sung collectively alongside devotional music and improvisation. Through collective participation, testimony, chant, and sacred sound, the service honored the ways these traditions have carried Black people through generations of survival, resistance, remembrance, and communal healing. The third tape, Recalling the Mystics: Black Mystery Month at The Old Church, was recorded on February 8th, 2025, at The Old Church Concert Hall. “Black Mystery Month” is a term coined by Roman Norfleet that reimagines Black History Month as a space in an alternate dimension devoted to connecting with the Divine Mystery and honoring the spiritual, sacred, and esoteric dimensions of the Black American experience, while maintaining the lineage of Black History Month. This work is dedicated to Black American ancestors who devoted their lives to spiritual, mystical, and esoteric paths. Songs and compositions were created in honor of figures such as Harriet Tubman, Aunt Caroline Dye, Howard Thurman, and Sun Ra, functioning as a form of live ancestral veneration. The evening featured an altar where the ensemble paid homage to ancestors, alongside mystical Southern incantations, storytelling, and poetry from Midnite Abioto. Performing as part of the ensemble, her presence helped weave the spiritual fabric of the night. A slideshow presentation accompanied the service, depicting ancestors such as Nat Turner, Sandy Jenkins (drawing), El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), Bishop C.H. Mason, Zora Neale Hurston, and A. C. Swamini Turiyasangitananda, among others — extending the vision of ancestry across the diaspora and visually deepening their presence throughout the space. The service concluded in sacred prayer led by DJ Ashé.