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At the crossroads of self-consciousness and spirituality lies the sonic experience of Roman Norfleet and Be Present Art Group’s self-titled debut album. The opening track, “Brothers Gathering,” shrewdly casts off all expectations in a tranquil wash of chimes and bells.
The six-track debut EP creation by Norfleet introduces him with all the organic splendor of the drum gatherings at Malcolm X Park in D.C. that the album’s improvisational jazz embraces. “Our foundation is improvisation and being in the now moment,” Norfleet says. “Improv is very important to me when I think of the Afro community, especially here in America. Improv has always been a big part of our experience.”
Born the son of the Rev. Robert Norfleet and Mose Ella in Lockport, Ill., he was imbued with what he describes as “a spiritual seed,” which would later sprout several branches after a crisis of faith unleashed the spiritual seeker in him. “That led me to many realizations and many different spiritual paths, and meeting many different beings,” Norfleet explains.
That path carried Norfleet from his religious roots in the Baptist church to Los Angeles, where he studied the Hindu/Vedic philosophies of jazz composer Alice Coltrane, also known as Swamini Turiyasangitanada. It is arguably Norfleet’s spirituality that has made him who he is today: a versatile and visionary artist (as well as a self-described healer and mystic) who seeks to show how the unbound spirit can challenge the complacency of the status quo by “being in the now moment.”
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