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Roots to Rap: A Musical Conversation

The hip-hop and jazz quartet The Beast

Led by Pierce Freelon, the hip-hop and jazz quartet The Beast will weave a story of African American music into an informance (information-performance) at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh on Friday, Jan. 27, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tickets to the program Roots to Rap: A Musical Conversation cost $15 at the door.

Performing original songs, as well as standards from the spiritual, jazz and hip-hop canon, The Beast will introduce the audience to a revolutionary new style of music, while paying homage to the musicians who came before them. The Durham-based group has been described as one of the most imaginative bands to emerge from North Carolina’s music scene. It fearlessly navigates the worlds of hip-hop and jazz with compelling lyrics and progressive compositions. 

Freelon, founder of Blackademics.org and of The Beast, is an adjunct professor at N.C. Central University and UNC-Chapel Hill. He has performed alongside such jazz greats as his mother, six-time Grammy Awards® nominee jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon; Herbie Hancock; Patti Austin; and Robert Glasper. Freelon has toured internationally in Ghana, India and Vietnam.

The program Roots to Rap takes place the evening before the 11th Annual African American Cultural Celebration at the Museum of History. This free festival on Saturday, Jan. 28, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will feature more than 75 presenters — musicians, storytellers, dancers, playwrights, re-enactors and more — and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to North Carolina.

For more information about the program, festival and museum, call 919-807-7900 or access ncmuseumofhistory.org or Facebook.

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About the N.C. Museum of History
The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton Street, across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History, within the Division of State History Museums, is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

About the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources
The N.C. Department of Cultural Resources annually serves more than 19 million people through its 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, the nation’s first state-supported symphony orchestra, the State Library, the N.C. Arts Council, and the State Archives. Cultural Resources champions North Carolina’s creative industry, which employs nearly 300,000 North Carolinians and contributes more than $41 billion to the state’s economy. To learn more, visit www.ncculture.com.