Sonorous Somatics 012: Solo set by Junius Paul

Composer and bassist Junius Paul performs a solo set in conversation with current exhibition This could be/ The Permanent Rebellion
About this Event

Sonorous Somatics: The Worlds Beyond #012

Sonorous Somatics is the sound and listening series curated by BSA Gold in response to Blanc Gallery's Exhibition program. With each exhibition, Gold critically engages with the themes of the work, inviting musicians and sound artists to create an environment that extends and deepens the conversations on the walls. Each of these evenings have created exciting new pathways for engagemnt, demonstrating the necessary and important dialogue that opens up between different mediums. Importantly for Blanc, Sonorous Somatics demonstrates our commitment to fostering a community of interdisciplary artists and art lovers who always know that Blanc will provide a space for exploration and experimentation.

About Sonorous Somatic 012: Solo set by Junius Paul

Composer, bandleader, and acoustic + electric bassist Junius Paul performs a solo set in conversation with current exhibition . A polyphonic experience stretching across electronics, small percussion instruments, and acoustic bass, this 60 minute outdoor set explores the current exhibition themes of past, present, and possibility in Black contemporary art’s reflections of Black political consciousness, and conceptions of Blackness shaped by American national memory.

About Junius Paul:

Junius Paul, composer, bandleader & acoustic and electric bassist, born in Chicago and raised in the Chicago area, is a graduate of St. Xavier University (Chicago, IL). Junius is an established staple of the international music landscape. Some of Junius' performance and/or recording credits include The Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Roscoe Mitchell, Famoudou Don Moye’s Sun Percussion, AACM Small Ensemble & Big Band, Kahil El’Zabar, Brandee Younger, Makaya McCraven, Fred Anderson, Georgia Anne Muldrow, Jeff Parker, Joel Ross, Kassa Overall, Vincent Davis & Percussion Plus, Ernest Dawkins, Dee Alexander, Maurice Brown, Curtis Fuller, Shabaka Hutchings, Oliver Lake, Donald Harrison, Willie Pickens, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Billy Harper, Marquis Hill, KRS-One, Donald Byrd and Nate Smith among others. A passionate advocate of music education, Junius has been a part of the music department faculty for St. Xavier University (Chicago, IL) as applied bass instructor since January 2024 and regularly mentors and works with young musicians in and around Chicagoland. Additionally, Junius has served as adjudicator & instructor for Prairie State Jazz Festival & Workshop, University Of Wisconsin-Platteville Jazz Festival & Workshop and St. Xavier University Jazz Camp. In 2020, Junius was a recipient of the 3Arts Award In Music. Junius' debut album, “Ism”, was released in November 2019 via International Anthem Recording Company to 4-Star acclaim in Downbeat Magazine and an 8/10 rating in Pitchfork Magazine. Junius has been acknowledged in Downbeat Magazine’s Readers’ Poll Rising Stars category for both double bass and electric bass for 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 & 2026, topping the electric bass category in 2022. Junius also serves as Musical Director and bassist of Rotary Connection 222, the official Charles Stepney legacy ensemble. Under Paul’s leadership, Rotary Connection 222 headlined the then sold-out We Out Here Festival 2025. Along with touring internationally and fulfilling his professorial duties, Junius is at work on his next full-length album, set for release in 2027.

About the Exhibition:

Featuring the work of 12 graduating seniors and grad students from SAIC, as well as self taught and local Chicago-based artists,This could be // The Permanent Rebellion explores past, present and possibility in Black contemporary art’s reflections of Black political consciousness and subjectivity. Composed of artists from across the African diaspora and geographical locations within US; this show is concerned with conceptions of Blackness shaped by American national memory and how temporal concerns of political upheaval raise questions of how Blackness is to be narrativized and galvanized. The art objects are a visual and thematic fulcrum that explore the contradictions, ruptures and impasses of Blackness; alongside desires to demystify, place-make, and reclaim through counternarratives of popular intra- and inter-communal conceptions of Blackness.

Curated by Imani Harmon and featuring the work of:

Messejah Washington

Isabel Padilla Bonelli

Sevyn De La Cruz

Adilah Muhammed

Danielle Levi

Shelby/Shelbs

Tafari Melisizwe

Nia Wilson

Marc A. V. Bates

Cheyenne Tobias-Bamson

Annikah Idiova

Dionne Clemons

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Event Details:

Doors: 1.30pm

Performance Starts: 2pm

Please arrive early so you have time to wander around the exhibition and engage with the work. This will allow you an extra layer of depth in engaging with the music on the afternoon.