Brandon Coleman

ArtPower at UC San Diego presents performing arts that engage, energize, and transform the diverse cultural life of the university and San Diego.

Through vibrant, challenging, multi-disciplinary performances, ArtPower seeks to develop more empathetic students and community members who are better prepared to engage in the world around them through their participation in highquality artistic, educational, and engagement programs that broaden thinking and awareness, deepen understanding, and encourage new dialogues across UC San Diego and the community.

Our Impact

• ArtPower brings artists from around the world into UC San Diego classrooms

• ArtPower provides students with free artist master classes

• ArtPower integrates artist-led discussions into on-campus curricula.

ArtPower presents

Brandon Coleman

February 28, 2023 at 8 pm

The Loft

Brandon Coleman, Keys

Hadrien Faraud, Bass

Samir Moulay, Guitar

Lyndon Rochelle, Drums

Ryan Porter, Trombone

Opening

DJ set by

Professor King Britt (Blacktronika)

About Intersellar Black Space

In the new astral funk revolution, keyboardist, vocalist, composer, producer, and creator Brandon Coleman is setting the tone. In addition to his own multidimensional projects, Coleman is also a regular fixture with Flying Lotus, joining him on a thirty (30)-city tour as featured support in 2019, laying his interplanetary dance grooves down for eager audiences. He has also toured regularly with Kamasi Washington in his West Coast Get-down.

“For those accustomed to Coleman’s role laying the foundation for expansive spiritual-jazz explorations in Kamasi Washington’s band, it’s revelatory to hear him so spry on his feet and down to get down. If his work with Washington contains all the weight and gravitas of Sunday church, Coleman’s Resistance has all the fun, breeziness—and yes, sunlight—of an afternoon church picnic,” said Andy Beta of Pitchfork. At a typical Brandon Coleman show, it’s common to get the entire Sunday extravaganza.

Coleman’s latest electronic funk odyssey is Interstellar Black Space, set to launch on May 13, 2022. He explains, “I wanted to write some music that reflected how I felt about time, space, and celestial energy. I love space movies like Interstellar and The Martian—and I thought to myself, if I was traveling through space what would I want to hear? I wanted to create some astral Negro music.”

With this follow up to 2018’s Resistance, Coleman once again shows the sweeping range within his repertoire: Among the bunch, there’s the ethereal title track “Interstellar Black Space,” the spiraling jazz-fusion “We Change” (ft. Kamasi Washington), the nostalgic old-school crooning of “Be with Me,” the hard-hitting funk vibes of “On the One,” and of course the lead single, “Blast Off,” that would surely make Prince proud. Brandon Coleman is the real deal, no Astroturf; this album will make you want to get up as much as you’ll want to get down. Bound for a meteoric rise to the top, it’ll be one funky ride, indeed.

About Brandon Coleman

Growing up in South Central, Los Angeles, Brandon Coleman’s musical influences didn’t fall into the usual stereotype of hip-hop and radio hits. He had saved up money from selling candy at school to buy the new Bone Thugs-N-Harmony tape in the mid-90s, but his enjoyment with it was short-lived. Coleman remembers, “I didn’t have that tape for more than five hours before my older brother came in my room with his upright bass and threw it down, walked over to my stereo, grabbed my tape, and snapped it in half! He said, ‘You wanna do your homework to some music? Listen to this,’ and he turned on Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew. That’s how it was in my household. There would be a lot of times kids at school would be singing a popular song and I wouldn’t know it. Instead, I was blasting Kenny Kirkland and Chick Corea and they’d all think I was speaking another language.”

Eventually, the musical language that seemed so foreign to his peers would be the same one to secure Brandon’s major influence in shaping modern music. Heeding his brother’s tough-love mentorship, Brandon began teaching himself piano at age 16. Soon, elders close to him began using words like prodigy, autodidactic, wunderkind, and gifted to explain his natural genius. By age 17, Brandon landed his first touring gig with Brian McKnight. He’s since lent his talents to some of the world’s top artists from Babyface, Roy Hargrove, Stanley Clarke, Terrance Blanchard, Christian McBride, Rachelle Ferrell, and Sheila E., to Alicia Keys and Childish Gambino. Coleman has been a prominent contributor to albums by Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and Flying Lotus, among others. He also opened for Flying Lotus on his 2019 national tour. With his innovative capabilities, Brandon Coleman has proven himself as a keyboard maestro, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger, and astral traveler.

About King Britt

Pew Fellowship recipient, King James Britt (his real name) is a 30+ year, producer, composer and performer in electronic music. His position as Assistant Teaching Professor in Computer Music at UC San Diego carries a unique perspective, bringing a non-linear approach and knowledge to the department by focusing on various modern forms of electronic music pedagogy, while continuing to be an active force in the music industry.

As a composer and producer, his practice has lead to collaborations with the likes of De La Soul, Alarm Will Sound Orchestra, Saul Williams, director Michael Mann (Miami Vice) and many others, as well as being called for remixes from an eclectic list of giants, including, Meredith Monk, Solange to Calvin Harris. Most recently collaborating with MacArthur Fellow, Tyshawn Sorey for an upcoming album project.

In his role as performer, he has travelled globally playing thousands of venues and festivals, including, AfroPunk (NYC), Berghain (Berlin), MoogFest (Durham), Le Guess Who Festival (Utrecht) and The Kitchen (NYC). King was also the original DJ for the Grammy Award–winning Digable Planets.

Blacktronika : Afrofuturism In Electronic Music, is a UC San Diego lecture course, created by King, researching and honoring the people of color, who have pioneered groundbreaking genres within the electronic music landscape. Genres span from Chicago House, Detroit Techno and Drum & Bass music. Using his position in the industry, the class has been attended by many, including Questlove, Julian Priester and Goldie.

Connie Han Trio

May 11 at 8 pm | The Loft

Pianist and provocateur Connie Han has created an edgy blend of modern and traditional jazz. New York Times describes her as “the rare musician with fearsome technical chops, a breadth of historical knowledge and enough originality to write tunes that absorb your ear easily.” Weaving in and out of the tradition, Han pays tribute to McCoy Tyner, Mulgrew Miller, and Kenny Kirkland with her own unique edge and fire at the piano.