‘X’ : The Story Of Michael X (2013)

‘X’ is an experimental multidisciplinary project based on the life and work of ‘self-styled black revolutionary and civil rights activist in 1960s London’, Michael X curated by Ian Sergeant. I scored the music and led the performance in September 2013 at Vivid Projects, Birmingham, which featured Kokumo as dub griot. ‘X’ was one of a series of events focusing on the London Free School movement. With the assistance of Pram’s Matt Eaton on guitar and Laurence Hunt on drums, the musical score combined grooves and field recordings combined with Kokumo’s dub poetry.

The visuals by Matt J Watkins (see a selection below) were a  combination of archive imagery, collage, paintings shot on 35mm slide film and video excerpts were utilised to re-tell Michael’s story revealing the contrasting incarnations of the protagonist from Michael De Freitas to Michael X to Michael Abdul Malik.