Benefit Concert for Detainees, Elder Ones at Le Guess Who?, Upcoming Shows and Outernational

Hello friends, family and comrades,

It’s been a long, hard winter and tumultuous start to 2026. With all of it’s horrors and challenges, I am fortified with how people have been collectively responding in support of one another in their communities. The greater the repression and oppression, the stronger the response of solidarity.

From neighbors in Minnesota protecting each other, to people’s flotillas being sent to Cuba and Gaza, protestors in Milan showing solidarity against ICE at the Olympics and with Palestinians, labor strikes by dock workers in the EU, and unbelievable artistic creation coming from Iran in the face of extreme repression (if you haven’t seen Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just an Accident, you MUST), while people demonstrate against the regime AND against US/Israeli imperialist intervention. With so much going on, it seems the collective engagement and the ability for us to connect the dots across borders, as a mass community of global humanity is growing.

The same goes for NYC as we see a rise in ICE presence throughout the 5 boroughs. My dear comrade Laura Cocks and I are organizing a fundraiser to benefit neighbors in Sunset Park and South Brooklyn, who have been impacted by ICE detention, this Sunday 2/22 at Sister’s in Brooklyn with Chris Williams solo, a trio set with me, Ka Baird and a very special guest on cello, and the magical Cleo Reed, with DJ Haram in the booth and resource sharing around community defense throughout the evening!

We are fundraising for the very important South Brooklyn org Mixteca, and will also be promoting several Go Fund Me individual initiatives for our neighbors. Links at the end of this newsletter if you can’t attend, but want to donate. In March, I’ll be at People’s Forum to raise funds for Middle East Children’s Alliance in a solo set feat. Alfredo Colon.

In other news, I’ll be on tour a bit coming up, with dates in Massachusetts/NYC and California, with Neti-Neti (duo with Matt Evans) and solo/with collaborators in Oakland and Los Angeles (Matana Roberts, Ava Mendoza and others TBD).

Stay tuned next week for a special flipped episode of Outernational podcast, where I’m in the hot seat with Omar Ahmad interviewing me! We also have some nice incentives for paid subscribers, so I ask you to humbly consider supporting the podcast if you have the means!

Details and dates down below (prayer emoji).

Solidarity,

Amirtha

DONATE to Mixteca

Individual Go Fund Me Campaigns for Sunset Park Neighbors

Support Cristian’s Legal and Basic Needs

Help Me Bring My Husband Jose Home

Help Osvaldo Get Legal Help and Support His Son

Support for a family separated by ICE

Upcoming Shows

East Coast

Sunday, February 22nd at Sisters, Brooklyn: Trio with Ka Baird + special guest, Chris Williams solo and Cleo Reed, Benefit for our neighbors in Sunset Park via Mixteca and resource share

Thursday and Friday, March 5th and 6th at U Mass Amherst: Neti-Neti with Matt Evans, workshop and concert

Thursday, March 12th at People’s Forum, NYC: Palestinian Youth Movement Benefit for Middle East Children’s Alliance, Solo with guest Alfredo Colon

Monday, April 13th at Poetry Project, NYC: Neti-Neti with Matt Evans and sinonó (isa crespo Pardo, Lester St. Louis, Henry Fraser)

California

Saturday, March 21st at Working Name Studios, Oakland: Workshop and Concert

Wednesday, March 25th at 2220 Arts + Archives, Los Angeles: Matana Roberts, Ava Mendoza + TBD

Friday, March 27th at USC: Composer’s Forum Workshop

Monday, March 30th at UC Irvine: Workshops and Class Visits

Canada

May 14th at FIMAV, Victoriaville Quebec: Elder Ones (Alfredo Colon, Matt Nelson, Lester St. Louis, Jason Nazary)

May 15th at CEM, Chicoutimi, Saguenay: Elder Ones (Alfredo Colon, Matt Nelson, Lester St. Louis, Jason Nazary)

Special Live Edition of Outernational at Le Guess Who? Festival

Listen, Like, Follow, Subscribe and Review on Substack / Apple Podcasts /YouTube

Credits: Recorded Live at Le Guess Who? festival on November 8th, 2025 in Utrecht, Netherlands, produced by Z Park with a musical performance by the panelists and guest, Mohammad Mehrabani

Hello friends, family and comrades,

It’s 2026, the Sun is in Aquarius, and the people of the world are demanding revolution. It’s been an a rocky year to say the least, but there are hopeful signs of collective solidarity and people connecting the dots around the world. From ICE terrorizing the people of Minneapolis, to the IOF in Gaza and the West Bank, or neo-Colonial Imperialist fantasies coming to life of seizing land and resources in Latin America, the Middle East and Greenland, we are starting to understand how global capital strangles working people on every corner of this planet. These interconnected threats require international solidarity between oppressed people around the world, and we plant seeds by sharing stories, songs, strategies and struggle, in any way possible (don’t forget to participate in the general strike on Friday Jan 30, if you reside on Turtle Island/occupied US).

This was the premise of the Outernational podcast, and January’s special Live Edition is proof of concept. Featuring legendary poet/musician Saul Williams, Sonic Liberation Front founder, Dirar Kalash from Palestine and South African musicians Masello Motana and Asher Gamedze, we had a kaleidoscopic conversation across borders, histories and struggles, using Le Guess Who? festival as a community gathering. As Saul said during his set earlier that evening, every concert is a meeting. Music transcends borders and musicians know how to organize.

Listening to this conversation again gave me much needed inspiration to persist among escalating terrors in the United States and around the world. Each of these artists is a deep thinker and organizer in their community, using their platforms in ingenious, creative and subversive trickster ways. The conversation is bursting with wisdom, from historical lessons to deeply embodied cultural memory. After our discussion, we flowed directly into and improvised performance, joined by my dear Iranian-Canadian friend Mohammad Mehrabani aka Saint Abdullah. After tuning ourselves in dialogue, we tuned vibrationally, digesting our thoughts and allowing them to take sonic form.

I am so excited for people to hear this conversation in the form of our fifth episode of Outernational. More to come in 2026.

Solidarity forever,

Amirtha

NYC Winter Jazzfest with Elder Ones and Panel

Hello friends, fam and comrades,

Happy New Year (in the Gregorian calendar, though we still have another month of the year of the snake)!

We’re off to a roller coaster start, though there have been some moments of light. I at least peripherally attended the inauguration of NYC’s first Socialist, South Asian, Ugandan, Muslim mayor. We were amongst massive, diverse crowds, hailing not only from the five boroughs but all over the world. I felt more than just symbolic pride and hope seeing the representation not only of my identity, but also someone who aligns with my foundational values. We shall see how he governs and continue to hold him accountable to his promises, and commitments the constituencies who got him elected. Politics is obviously a limited sphere for change, but can be a bellwether and help bolster engagement for people who are new to organizing.

Buy a Dada Strain limited edition “Turn the Volume Up” T-shirt inspired by NYC’s Mayor, with proceeds going to local food-accessibility, trans culture and youth music organizations.

I’m still reeling from flashbacks to the early 2000s, watching the shock-and-awe campaigns that got us into a nearly decade long war that resulted in the deaths of over a million Iraqis, spent more than $2.9 trillion dollars for the benefit of oil barons, defense contractors, arms dealers, and mercenary private security firms. As we stand to enter into more American imperial conquests, I wonder what, if any lessons we have learned. In 2026, I’m thinking of writing more extensive posts on the state of affairs, as things accelerate at a hectic pace globally — to process for myself, but also share a perspective that might be useful to others.

You can also look forward to a special live edition of my Outernational podcast from a panel discussion at Le Guess Who? festival in the Netherlands with the legendary poet/musician Saul Williams, South African musicians Masello Motana and Asher Gamedze, and Palestinian musician and Sonic Liberation Front founder Dirar Kalash. I listened back to it yesterday and it left me feeling inspired and hopeful which is desperately needed right now.

The first gig of the year is going to be a potent one, with Elder Ones and a very special guest, Nick Dunston on bass at NYC Winter Jazzfest. Nick was an Elder One from 2017-2020, but forever in our hearts. You can hear him on our second album From Untruth (2019), buy it on Bandcamp or stream it on Qobuz (there’s a 30-day free trial for new users and they pay 4x what other streamers do to artists). The gig is part of Dada Strain’s showcase featuring the excellent line-up of Joy Guidry, Bex Burch and Xenia Rubinos. If you don’t know about Dada Strain’s essential writing on music and community, subscribe to the Dada Strain Substack! We’ll be playing the material we recorded in December for our next album and we’ll have copies of our new double-LP Elder Ones New Monuments, Live in Vilnius. If you can’t make it to Winter Jazzfest, you can order it here on Bandcamp or if you are in the U.S. and want to avoid expense shipping, order directly from me.

In other news, I was awarded the Princeton Hodder Fellowship for the 2026-2027 academic year. I'll be researching the connection between labor movements and anti-fascist/anti-colonial struggles, looking for roadmaps for how to resist in this time, and creating new music for the struggle.

Hope to see you at a gig, an organizing meeting a demonstration, a comedy show, a dance party or in a park sometime in 2026.

Here’s to shedding our old skin and creating new ways forward.

Here’s me and socialist comedian Fareeha Khan near the inauguration. Gonna tell our kids we could feel Zohran’s spit in our eyes.

Solidarity,

Amirtha

December with Elder Ones, MoMA screenings and a live Outernational pod

Follow the new @outernationalpod account on IG! Listen to the latest episode with Omar Ahmad, and check out the ones you missed!

Upcoming in NYC:

December 8th @ MoMA - An Evening with director Suneil Sanzgiri, double feature of An Impossible Address/Two Refusals, which I had the honor of scoring

December 14th @ Pioneer Works - Press Play fair, Outernational pod live with Samora Pinderhughes and tabling for Palestine Handmade

December 16th @ Pioneer Works - False Harmonics: Elder Ones, Omar Ahmad, Sinono

January 10th @ Winter Jazzfest - Dada Strain showcase with Elder Ones + special guest Nick Dunston

Please donate:

Give Warmth to Gaza (Sameer Project)

Support Dar Jacir Arts Center in the West Bank

Sudan Humanitarian Foundation Go Fund Me

Elder Ones Photo by Juri Hiensch at Le Guess Who? Festival: Left to right, Jason Nazary, Matt Nelson, Amirtha Kidambi, Lester St. Louis, Alfredo Colon

Hello dear comrades,

It’s hard to believe we’ve reached the end of 2025, what feels like a never ending year of nightmarish struggle. As we head into 2026 with a looming war in Latin America and urban warfare at home, I’m heartened to see how neighbors stand-up for each other in the streets and some glimmers of hope in how electoral wins on the left show the power of grassroots organizing and the shifting tide of everyday people’s consciousness.

As a musician, I’ve spent my year thinking about our role in these times of upheaval and how we can support movements, help develop people’s consciousness and the ways we can challenge our own material complicity in these violent systems. I’ve been focused on my work on these fronts with my 10-year-old and counting band Elder Ones, my new Outernational podcast and continuing to activate in our artist community.

Elder Ones is no longer on Spotify, and I want to make the case for you to get off too! Daniel Ek invested $700 million in profits that he made on the backs of musicians he didn’t pay (Spotify pays less than .004 cents per stream, but it’s not monetized until you get to 10k), into military AI tech that will undoubtedly be used to kill civilians. Resources and alternatives can be found here.

I spent the year writing and recording Elder Ones latest album during my fellowship at Pioneer Works and we head into the studio next week. We also just released a new live double-LP on November 14th, recorded in Vilnius in October 2024 and you can buy the physical copies on Bandcamp (CD/digital available). If you need convincing, read some stellar reviews of the record on Best Experimental Music on Bandcamp, a great one from The Quietus “this group can f*cking cook” and another from Wire Magazine.

In October, we went back to Europe where I was a guest curator for Le Guess Who? playing with Elder Ones and doing a live edition of the Outernational podcast with the legendary poet Saul Williams, South African musicians Masello Motana and Asher Gamedze and our dear friend from Palestine Dirar Kalash. I’ll be releasing that as an Outernational episode soon, so stay tuned. Here’s a great live review by Nate Chinen of our Berlin Jazzfest performance on that tour, that talks about the urgency of the message in our set.

December has some chills and thrills coming up, with Elder Ones performing the full new set at Pioneer Works to close out my fellowship on December 16th, in an amazing bill with our dear friends Palestinian-American electronic composer/sound artist Omar Ahmad and Sinono (isa crespo pardo, Lester St. Louis, Henry Fraser). On the 14th I’ll be doing another live Outernational pod for the Press Play fair at Pioneer Works, interviewing Samora Pinderhughes on his work with incarcerated communities. Coming up soon on December 8th, MoMA will have a double feature of films directed by my longtime collaborator Suneil Sanzgiri, and it will be my first time hearing the scores I composed in a proper theatrical setting!

As we get ready to get cozy, hibernate and indulge in holiday excess, I want to boost some important fundraisers for Gaza and Sudan (see above). Gaza is flooded as they experience continuous bombardment and the genocide in Sudan has reached new heights of depravity. I hope this season you boycott Target, Amazon and others as you do your shopping and support independent artisans, small businesses and Palestine fairs. On December 14th at Press Play, Suneil and I will also be tabling at the fair for Palestine Handmade where you can buy beautiful keffiyeh, handmade olive wood crafts, Tatreez embroidery and more!

Wishing you and yours a safe and liberated season.

Solidarity,

Amirtha

Outernational Episode 4: Omar Ahmad

Hello fam,

We’re back with another episode of Outernational, the only podcast on music and revolution (don’t fact check me)!

In this installment, I chat with Palestinian American Composer, Sound Artist, Producer and Electronic Musician Omar Ahmad. We had a sprawling conversation that probably could have lasted several hours, discussing the complexities of being Palestinian in diaspora, being a skater kid in Bay Ridge, how it has been to make art during a genocide of your own people and some hopeful/helpful advice on what each of us might contribute in these maddening times.

It’s a bit surreal to listen back to this one which we recorded over the summer, now in this “ceasefire” period when things feel unbelievably dark and in some ways, worse that there is a veneer of a new status quo. Listening to this convo again gave me hope, but more importantly some much needed perspective and I hope it can do the same for you!

You can listen, subscribe, follow, like and share on Substack, Apple Podcasts and YouTube!

Solidarity!

Amirtha

Outernational Episode 3: Ian Lynch

In this episode, I had a great chat with Ian Lynch of the absolute class Irish bands Lankum and One Leg One Eye. We talked about the the anarcho-punk scene in Dublin where he came up, the politics of the Irish language and traditional music, anti-colonial solidarity and resonances across the histories of Ireland, India and Palestine, and the experience of touring over last two years while speaking out against the genocide, facing repression, cancellations and awkward vibes with audiences.

This episode was edited by Z Park, engineered by me and recorded remotely from Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, featuring the music of Lankum and One Leg One Eye.

You can listen on Substack, Apple Music and YouTube.

Elder Ones 10/18 in Brooklyn & EU Tour, New Outernational Pod Episode

Hello friends and global fam,

I hope you’ve got support and grounding in the ever increasing chaos of our times. The intersecting crises with immigrants in the U.S., people in Gaza and the West Bank, the Sudan or the Caribbean are escalating, contrary to what the gestures of “peace deals” and the absolute farce of a Nobel Peace prize try to message, they are just the Western and oligarchic order manufacturing consent for modern day colonization and war. I hope that as a global population we have learned from the last two years of overt genocide and the last 50 + of coups and puppet regimes from the Middle East to Africa and Latin America and that we are becoming more aware everyday. I believe that once people are awake, you really cannot put them back to sleep.

Towards that end (I swear this is not a hard pivot), Elder Ones is about to go on tour, with a show tomorrow Saturday 10/18 at National Sawdust opening for our comrades Ava Luna and the EU later this month. The new set builds upon our last one, trying to connect the dots between issues of capitalism and imperialism across the globe. As we see the oligarchs and ruling class operating on a global scale, we should recognize the resistance to power needs to be global as well. I consider “stage banter” to be fully part of the performance practice of this band, to find ways connect people and ideas through our small but potent global platform. The tour includes my curation at Le Guess Who? which highlights MENA/SWANA artists and those who stand in solidarity, with Ghadr (Beirut), Dirar Kalash (Palestine), Saint Abdullah & Jason Nazary and One Leg One Eye (Ireland). We will also have a panel conversation and live session with Saul Williams, Dirar and Masello Motana, another way of extending this global solidarity work through music.

ELDER ONES TOUR DETAILS

OCT 18 _ National Sawdust, Brooklyn, NY w/ Ava Luna

OCT 31 _ Jazzfest Berlin, DE

NOV 3 _ Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo, NO

NOV 4 _ Alice, Copenhagen, DK

NOV 6 _ Fasching, Stockholm, SE

NOV 7 _ Le Guess Who?, Utrecht, NL (Elder Ones concert)

NOV 8 _ Le Guess Who?, Utrecht, NL (Outernational - workshop, improv and panel session with Saul Williams, Dirar Kalash and Masello Motana)

NOV 9 _ Sound in Motion, Antwerp, BE

OUTERNATIONAL POD EPISODE 3: IAN LYNCH OF LANKUM

I’m also excited to announce that Ian Lynch of my favorite Irish band Lankum and One Leg One Eye is the next guest for the Outernational pod, releasing next week! After two years on the road during the genocide, Lankum was one of the only bands I shared festival bills with that I saw consistently speaking out in solidarity with Palestinians. We talk about our experiences with censorship and cancellations and also our anti-colonial solidarities as people who who colonized by the British, and how that history informs solidarity work today. Check it out on the Outernational tab of my Substack, on Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

ELDER ONES NEW MONUMENTS LIVE IN VILNIUS DOUBLE LP

And lastly, I’m excited to announce a new live DOUBLE LP of Elder Ones New Monuments from the Vilnius Jazz Festival in 2024, on Fern Flower Records. This album is a document of our time on the road during the global uprising for Palestinian liberation, with an incredible color booklet of liner notes and photos talking about our time on the road, with several tours across the US, EU and Latin America. It’s not just an amazing archival document, but an absolutely incredible and insane performance by the band Alfredo Colon, Matt Nelson, Lester St. Louis and Jason Nazary. You can pre-order it here!

Hope to see you at one of these shows or activations so we can have these conversations in person, building community in the face of all this chaos.

Solidarity,

Amirtha

Neti-Neti Bandcamp Friday/Release Shows, Ep.2 with Greg of Deerhoof

Hello friends + fam,

It’s hard to know how to continue our daily tasks as the military descends on Chicago with ever increasing violence on immigrants and American citizens, the illegal detention of humanitarian activists of the Flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza after two years of genocide, and endless hate, fear-mongering and the disintegration of our civil and human rights at home and abroad. It’s our responsibility to figure out how we can each contribute to the broader movement for justice and collective liberation by thinking about our unique skills, the communities we’re part of and the resources we can leverage.

My duo Neti-Neti with percussionist Matt Evans is releasing our debut LP on Dinzu Artefacts (pre-order here). As the wonderful Various Small Flames (UK) writes, “Kidambi and Evans tapping,” as we put it, “into both individual grief, collective trauma and well-worn traditions to charge the process with a sense of momentum and fluency.” This work has always felt personal and important to us, but feels imbued with an urgency now for creating moments of catharsis in community with each other. If you buy it today on Bandcamp Friday, we’ll donate our proceeds to the Immigrant Defense Project.

We also have a min-tour kicking off this weekend in Philadelphia and Washington DC (details below) and a release show October 11th in NYC presented by Dada Strain with Chris Williams and Gladstone.

That same afternoon I’ll be discussing my activist work in a panel discussion for the Triple Canopy symposium on the Culture Front, organizing on the Left.

In that vein, my nascent Outernational podcast on music and activism launched over the summer and Episode 2 with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof is out now. We discuss the complicity of musicians in the global imperialist/capitalist war machine and what we can do about it. You may have noticed a mass exodus led by Deerhoof from Spotify, lately and I encourage you to get off if you can as a listener and an artist! Stay tuned for Episode 3 of Outernational podcast with the great Ian Lynch of Lankum/One Leg One Eye

Listen, subscribe, like, follow, review and share on Substack @amirthakidambi / Apple Podcasts / YouTube

And finally, good news if you’re an Elder Ones fan and want to hear our new set, you get one more chance to hear it in NYC at National Sawdust on October 18th before we head to the EU!

Show details below!

Solidarity,

Amirtha

Fall Shows

October 4th - 7:30pm Neti-Neti with Strider (Joanna Mattrey, Steven Long) at Studio 34, Philadelphia

October 6th - Neti-Neti at with Max Hamel, Francis/Hughes/Garrett/Scheibel for Outside Time series at Rhizome, Washington DC

October 11th - 3:30pm panel on the Culture Front, organizing on the Left for the Triple Canopy Symposium at Roulette, Brooklyn

October 11th - 7pm Neti-Neti and Chris Williams, Gladstone Record Release Show at Light and Sound Design presented by Dada Strain RSVP for location

October 12th - Luke Stewart B-Day Celebration at InGardens, presented by Arts of Art

October 18th - 7:30pm Elder Ones opening for Ava Luna at National Sawdust

October 31st-November 9th - Elder Ones EU Tour at Le Guess Who? Berlin Jazz Festival and more

Outernational Episode 2: Greg Saunier

Hey friends and fam,

Hope you are safe and supported in these extreme times. I’m thinking of all our transgender kin, people of color and immigrants under attack from the U.S. to the U.K. (where there have been extreme right wing riots and violence), the siege in Gaza City of which I have no more words left to describe, and all marginalized and oppressed people from Sudan, the Congo, Indonesia and beyond.

As all these struggles are intertwined, I feel it’s incredibly important to be sharing strategies and comparing notes on how to fight for justice together, across geography and identities, which one of the reasons I started the Outernational podcast. Outernational is a new podcast where I talk to musicians who are activists/organizers, using their platforms for change and making music that is socially engaged in these revolutionary times. It’s the third Monday of the month, so that means you get a new episode. If you haven’t checked out Episode 1 with Angel Bat Dawid or the uncut video, don’t sleep on it!

In the latest installment, I sat down in-studio at Pioneer Works with Greg Saunier, drummer and founder of legendary indie band Deerhoof. We talk about Deerhoof’s early history in San Francisco before the Bay Area tech boom and the band's recent decision to leave Spotify, leading a mass exodus away from the platform, which is entangled with military AI tech. Importantly, we discuss late stage capitalism, imperialism and fascism, our role and complicity as musicians, and what we can do about it.

We happened to record this on the same day that Deerhoof announced they were ditching Spotify!

Subscribe, like, follow, review and share on Substack @amirthakidambi / Apple Podcasts / YouTube

Credits: Hosted by Amirtha Kidambi, Edited by Z Park, Music by Deerhoof “Immigrant Songs”, Recorded at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn

In related news, I’m removing the entire Elder Ones catalogue from Spotify, which will take a moment to coordinate with distributers and our labels but is in the works. You can find us here on Bandcamp. Not to brag, but I haven’t personally used Spotify since 2018 and as a listener you can use various services to transfer your playlists to other platforms. When people ask about alternatives, I usually say Bandcamp for newer and independent music/buying physical copies from artists or transferring over to literally anything else. It’s important to do this while there is mass movement away from the platform. I could explain all the reasons why, but I think Greg does that even more eloquently in our conversation!

Also, we are geo-blocking Israel from distribution as part of the #nomusicforgenocide call (find out more at the link about how to participate). Thanks to our labels We Jazz and Northern Spy for being so immediately down with this decision! This is part of the broader Palestinian led Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement, one of the material demands of the people experiencing this horrific genocide, which threatens to move on to the West Bank next.

If you want to support families in the refugee camps, you can click this link for Palestine Handmade to beautiful crafts, tatreez embroidery, keffiyeh, olive oil soap and olive wood carved crafts to order. The money goes directly back to families.

If you live on the East Coast, we’re celebrating the record release of Neti-Neti, my voice, percussion and electronics duo with Matt Evans and the premiere of more new music by Elder Ones before we head out on tour in Europe for Le Guess Who?, Berlin Jazzfest and more.

October/November Shows

October 4th - 7:30pm Neti-Neti with Strider (Joanna Mattrey, Steven Long) at Studio 34, Philadelphia

October 6th - Neti-Neti at with Max Hamel, Francis/Hughes/Garrett/Scheibel for Outside Time series at Rhizome, Washington DC

October 11th - 3:30pm panel on the Culture Front, organizing on the Left for the Triple Canopy Symposium at Roulette, Brooklyn

7pm Neti-Neti and Chris Williams Dual Record Release Show at Light and Sound Design presented by Dada Strain

October 18th - 7:30pm Elder Ones opening for Ava Luna at National Sawdust

October 31st-November 9th - Elder Ones EU Tour

Solidarity!

Amirtha

September, Angel Unedited, CDMX, Palestine Fundraiser

Hello friends and comrades,

September is a bit of the calm before the storm as I get back into the fall semester, but there are a couple of highlights, including a panel discussion/performance on the intersection of class, race and art in the Asian diaspora community at the Asian American Arts Alliance with Che Chen, Leo Chang, Ravish Momin and Council Member Shahana Hanif Wednesday, September 3rd and a very special duo with the master musician Cooper Moore at InGardens presented by Arts for Art on September 20th (FREE)!

August saw the release of Episode 1 of my new podcast Outernational, which explores how to build solidarity in our intersecting global struggles, understanding how our fates are intertwined. You can check out the first episode with Angel Bat Dawid on her education work with Black youth in Chicago and her unfiltered calls to action from the stage here on Substack, on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. You can also find the full, raw and unedited version of the episode here on YouTube. Don’t forget to like, follow, subscribe and review on all platforms and stay tuned for Episode 2 later this month with Greg Saunier of Deerhoof!

On that same theme, I just got back from an incredibly inspiring and much needed trip in Mexico. I don’t think I even realized how heavy the weight has been of living in America over these last several months, in the heart of the imperial core which is wrecking havoc internally and externally on the most vulnerable people. I played two improvised concerts in CDMX with phenomenal musicians. The first at Venas Rotas, a fantastic record store in Roma Norte with the vocal wizard Rodrigo Ambriz and power string section of Aleida Perez and Alex Motta, with a second night at the legendary free improv venue Jazzorca, a 33 year old labor of love run by musician and elder German Bringas. German invited me to arrange us into various combinations with my favorite new noise duo Corpres + Colpit (Carles Medina and Joan Torne Palau) from Barcelona and mi amiga, No Land, a surprise guest poet visiting from NYC.

Before the set, I spoke about the absurdity of the relations between our countries — the situation for Mexican and Latin American immigrants in the United States, the forever imperialist and anti-Democratic plunder and meddling in their affairs and now the hopefully empty threat of sending troops to combat “terrorist” cartels. All the while, it’s unclear which Latin and Central America leaders will stand up and who will take the neoliberal route of capitulation (looking at you Claudia). At this time, it’s more important than ever to build solidarity across the border, outside of our governments and among the people. Improvisation is a tool and a small gesture towards strengthening our communities beyond nation-state formations.

Last but not at all least, I want to highlight a fundraiser for Pal Handmade happening as a pop-up shop at Figure 8 studios in Brooklyn, September 4-7. Our friend has brought crafts, tatreez and keffiyeh from the West Bank, which is in the process of illegal annexation, making it harder for people and goods to go in and out. He went through great lengths to get here and doesn’t know if he will even be able to go back. He shared with me that there is barely any food available in the markets even in the West Bank, with bags of flour (if you can find them) which cost as much as $70 USD. All money from this fundraiser will go directly to the families in the West Bank in the refugee camps where these crafts were made.

If you can’t be there in person, you can see the crafts, prices and payment here and they can be shipped directly to you.

Solidarity and love,

Amirtha

Outernational Episode 1: Angel Bat Dawid

Hello friends, fam and comrades!

Episode 1 of the Outernational podcast is live! I had an incredible conversation with Angel Bat Dawid about her work as an outspoken musician and educator, working to uplift Black youth on the South and West Side of Chicago. Angel is a composer, improviser, clarinetist, pianist/synthesist, vocalist, DJ and bandleader of Angel Dawid and Tha Brotherhood, Sistazz of the Nitty Gritty and has worked with Damon Lock’s Black Monument Ensemble among many other projects.

We talked about how there is no growth without discomfort and sometimes Angel is gonna make you squirm!

Outernational is a new podcast where I talk to musicians who are activists/organizers, using their platforms for change and making music that is socially engaged in these revolutionary times.

Listen on Substack @amirthakidambi /Apple Podcasts/YouTube

Credits: Hosted by Amirtha Kidambi, Recorded at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, Edited by Z Park, Music by Angel Bat Dawid “The Black Family”

Celebrate Brooklyn Tonight & Mexico City Shows

Hi friends and family,

A last minute reminder that tonight is a very special performance at Celebrate Brooklyn of William Parker’s tribute Ellington in Mourning. The ensemble is huge, but you can see all of us listed on the flyer. Williams music has always been about engaging and improvising with the world we live in. Tonight’s piece doesn’t shy away from the difficult time we find ourselves in, but it’s jubilant, wild and you can dance to it.

Next week, I take a quick trip down to our neighbors in Mexico City for two special concerts on the 22nd of August at Venas Rotas with Rodrigo Ambriz, Aleida Perez and Alex Motta and 23rd of August at Jazzorca with German Bringas and some musicians visiting from Spain. More information below! La próxima semana haré un viaje rápido a nuestros vecinos en la CDMX para dos conciertos especiales el 22 de agosto en Venas Rotas con Rodrigo Ambriz, Aleida Pérez y Alex Motta y el 23 de agosto en Jazzorca con German Bringas y algunos músicos visitantes de España. ¡Más información a continuación!

It feels incredibly important to go to Mexico after a long time, as our government antagonizes their people both inside our borders and with an ominous threat of invasion. We must build solidarity across this manmade border in a time where our safety and prosperity is more intertwined than ever.

You can also look out for Episode 1 of my new podcast Outernational, a show about music and revolution. My first guest is the incredible Angel Bat Dawid, a Chicago musician, educator and activist.

Solidarity and love,

Amirtha

Details:

August 15 - Celebrate Brooklyn, Prospect Park Lena Horne Bandshell 8:30pm, FREE

22 de Agosto - Con Rodrigo Ambriz, Aleida Perez, Alex Motta a Venas Rotas, Viernes, 20:00hrs $150MX, Morelia #77, Roma Norte, CDMX

23 de Agosto - Con German Bringas y amigos a Jazzorca, Sabado, 21:00hrs, $120MX, Eje 7 Sur (Municipio Libre) 37-A, Portales Oriente, 03300, CDMX

Outernational Trailer

Trailer Credits: Featuring Amirtha Kidambi, edited by Z Park, Music by Amirtha Kidambi “Proper Burial”, Recorded at Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, Clips from Episode 1, with Angel Bat Dawid and Episode 2, with Greg Saunier

Hello friends, family and comrades,

I’m excited to announce the launch of a new podcast hosted by yours truly. This is one of the many things I’ve been working on in my Working Artist Fellowship at Pioneer Works and I’m excited to finally share it with you!

Outernational is a podcast that explores the relationship between music and revolution, featuring discussions with musicians who are using their art platforms to grapple with the intersecting global crises of our times. Hosted by Amirtha Kidambi, a vocalist, improviser, composer, organizer and educator, the conversations highlight the role of music in shaping social and political consciousness and sharing stories and strategies to inspire us in our collective struggle to build solidarity. Introduced by the late composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, “Outernationalism” is a concept that defies creative, spiritual and political borders, exploring our relationships as listeners, artists and culture workers outside of global capitalism and nation-states.

You can listen to a preview of the pod and my perspective on the whole endeavor. The first episode releasing soon, features Angel Bat Dawid, talking about her work as an artist and educator in Chicago. You can also look forward to an episode with Greg Saunier of the band Deerhoof discussing our entanglements with capitalist imperialism!

The pod will be available on most platforms, other than Spotify (you’ll hear about on the episode with Greg!).

I hope these conversations can inspire us through these challenging times and give us some strategies for navigating and resisting.

Solidarity!

Amirtha

Solo at Another World + Gaza Mutual Aid

Hi friends and fam,

Welcome to my Substack, which I’m launching ahead of a new podcast called Outernational, where I talk to musicians who are also organizers and activists about the role of music in revolutionary times. Subscribe and follow if you want to catch the latest episodes of that. The first one will feature the great Angel Bat Dawid talking about her education work with Chicago youth and how fascism needs to wash its smelly A$$.

It has been a particularly heavy week and my mind and heart have been with the people of Gaza, living through not only a genocide, but a manmade famine. Tomorrow evening, Friday July 25th I’m performing a solo set at Another World in Crown Heights Brooklyn, followed with a talk on music and activism. Although the show is free, we will be collecting Gaza mutual aid donations.

As you may know, Gaza is starving. Nearly 2 million people are facing severe acute starvation or stage 5 malnutrition. This is already irreversible in many ways, but we must try to get them food and other basic aid. Our government is aiding and abetting not only in the blocking of aid, but also the killing of civilians in aid sites backed by this government. The World Health Organization reports over 70 children have died from acute starvation from the beginning of this year. Those numbers have escalated rapidly in the last week.

Please share widely with friends, relatives, community organizations, religious organizations or anywhere and anyone you think can help.

Fundraisers:

The Sameer Project - Providing vital basic aid on the ground. Vetted and trusted by many, delivering effective aid getting around the issues with blockage by the IDF. Here is a link to several of their fundraisers.

I suggest the North Gaza/Central aid because there is a total and complete blockade in that area, while they push starving people to the south to be killed at "aid" sites.

Here is a list of other mutual aid initiatives. Please donate where you can and share with anyone you think has the means to help:

Trusted mutual aid initiatives providing life saving food, clean water, medical care, orphan sponsorships, and more at a time that Gaza needs us the most:

Sameer Project:
©thesameerproject
Tents, food, and essential needs for families

:
https://chuffed.org/project/help-us-deliver-vital-aid-to-gaza-families-in-need
https://chuffed.org/project/113222-tent-campaign-the-sameer-project
https://chuffed.org/project/113327-refaat-alareer-camp-the-sameer-project

Dahnoun Mutual Aid:
©dahnounmutualaid
Water/food/tent distribution. Run by Gazans inside/outside Gaza:
• https://chuffed.org/project/115245-dahnoun-mutual-aid

Water for Khan Younis:

@Omgudaih_
Run by Mahmoud from Gaza - supporting clean water distribution:
• https://chuffed.org/project/136056-water-for-khan-younis

The Zaynab Project
©thezaynabproject

https://thezaynabproject.org/

@Reviving Gaza
@Greviving.gaza
https://linktr.ee/revivinggazateam

Thank you for your humanity.

Love & Solidarity,

Amirtha

Outernational Series at Le Guess Who

Honored to be a guest curator for Le Guess Who this year. The theme Outernational is an outgrowth of my work this year at Pioneer Works which is focused on building global solidarity through music and conversations around our interconnected struggles.

“Outernationalism” is a term of composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, which is about the obliteration of borders creatively, spiritually and politically, exploring our relationships outside of global capitalism and nation-states. After a year of touring during overlapping global catastrophes, the conversations I had on the road with artists and audiences across the globe reminded me, that recognizing how we are intertwined is necessary for our survival.

For my curation, I focused on MENA/SWANA artists in a time of profound dehumanization and artists who are outspoken about their solidarities. The musical curation is just one part of the Outernational project at LGW which will also include discussions, sessions, workshops and more, so stay tuned.

Psyched for the sets of these amazing musicians and the potential collabs that can flower: Dirar Kalash | Ghadr غدر (Jad Atoui, Sandy Chamoun, Anthony Sahyoun) | One Leg One Eye | Saint Abdullah & Jason Nazary | Elder Ones

St. Louis and Chicago This Weekend

Hey friends and fam,

A little reminder I’ve got two concerts coming up this weekend in the Midwest that I’ve been looking forward to for a while in St. Louis and Chicago.

Friday 3/28 with Elder Ones premiering new tunes for new times at New Music Circle with insane crew Alfredo Colón, Matt Nelson, Jason Nazary, and Lester St. Louis.

Then on Sunday 3/30 at The Blk Room, Angel Bat Dawid and I will take you to church for a daytime panel discussion (live podcast recording) followed by our duo set and set by their upcoming resident Eva Supreme followed by a BIPOC women’s jam!

Details are below.

Hope to see you there!

Solidarity and care,

Amirtha

Dates + Details

Friday, March 28th @ New Music Circle, St. Louis with Elder Ones (7pm doors / 8pm show)

Sunday, March 30th @ The Blk Room, Chicago with Angel Bat Dawid (11:30am - 3:00pm)

MARCH IN LA + MIDWEST

Hello community,

It's been a brutally rough start to this year, especially for those who are most vulnerable. In the overwhelm of constant attacks on communities and dismantling of the most basic systems (some of which were barely working for us to begin with), I've been asking myself daily, what is my role? It's become almost a mantra and upon reflection I’ve realized that it is not really a matter of individual roles or responsibilities, but building up the strength of our communities together, in solidarity that transcends the identity politics, which has been co-opted by the ruling class to divide us.

As I continue to meditate on this question, of how to build, even with people who don't want to build with us; whose grievances from their own exploitation turns on the most marginalized people, I look to ancestors such as Huey P. Newton who said: "I could not understand why people were blind to what I saw so clearly. Then I realized that their understanding had to be developed."

A lot of my work as a musician, improviser and community member right now is focused on developing understanding. I'm mostly in the research phase for a lot of my work in the Pioneer Works fellowship, reading, exploring and planting the seeds to write. In February, I played a lot of wonderful NYC improv gigs, many with folks I've never played with. We were surprised with a review from DownBeat magazine of an intimate house show I curated and played on in a duo with saxophonist Maria Grand. The thread running through all the sets from a solo set by Justine Lee Hooper and duo with Kwami Winfield and Adam Turay, was grappling with our current moment, looking to our elders who have passed down survival strategies, and trying to understand how we, especially as artists, can imagine collective liberation moving forward.

This month, I head to Los Angeles where so much of my community is still reeling from the aftermath of the wildfires. I'm so glad to be reunited in a group with Jeff Parker, Max Jaffe and Patrick Shiroishi, for a rescheduled gig from January at Venice Townhouse on March 8th. Toward the end of the month, Elder Ones heads to New Music Circle in St. Louis to debut some new material, and then I'll meet my dear friend/comrade/sister Angel Bat Dawid for a show/gathering in Chicago.

Hope to see you out there somewhere.

Love and solidarity,

Amirtha

Dates + Details

Saturday, March 8th @ Venice Townhouse, Los Angeles with Jeff Parker, Max Jaffe and Patrick Shiroishi with Sara Sithi-Amnuai solo

Friday, March 28th @ New Music Circle, St. Louis with Elder Ones

Saturday, March 29th @ The Blk Room, Chicago with Angel Bat Dawid

February Gigs in NYC

Hello dear community,

Although 2025 has been off to a very rough start, I feel somehow delusional in my optimism of what we might be able to do together collectively to transform this world, now that we can see our systems mask off, with painful clarity.

My first shows of the year were actually supposed to take place in the first week of January in Los Angeles, just days before the devastating fires, but had to be canceled because I had the flu. I still haven't been able to wrap my head around the devastation of my former town, where I have so much community and family. Those shows with Jeff Parker, Patrick Shiroishi and Max Jaffe will be rescheduled for March. In the meantime, there is so much rebuilding to be done in the music community and beyond. I've included a list of links below to donate to various fundraisers to help support those efforts.

In January, I've mostly been focused on getting started with the Working Artist Fellowship at the incredible Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. My project is focused on improvisation as a tool for collective liberation, and strengthening local and global networks of solidarity as we see how interconnected our struggles are. Right now I'm in a research/composing phase, but there will be shows, a podcast, workshops and a new Elder Ones album in the works. There is much to say about the simultaneous ongoing crises we are dealing with in the States and beyond, but for now, I'll just say I'm grateful to focus my work on how we can use our skills and creativity as artists to build something new from the ashes.

February, I get back to playing with some really nice local offerings. After a year being on the road, I'm very happy to be back in New York among my community. The first show feels meaningful as it is the Tarka benefit for Palestine. Seeing images of people returning to the North after 15 months has been unbelievably emotional, though we know there is a long and complicated road ahead.

All show details below (and more TBD).

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Solidarity!

Amirtha

February Shows:

February 1, 6pm-12am - Tarka Benefit for Palestine @ Secret Location in Brooklyn (DM or email me for the address) Duo with gabby fluke-mogul, Roshni Samlal, Dynoman, Geng PTP and Zara Dekho *there will be vegetarian biryani!

February 5, 7:30pm & 9pm - Quartet with Henry Fraser (bass), Lesley Mok (drums) and David Leon (sax) @ Close-Up (154 Orchard St., Manhattan)

February 15, 7:30 - Please Ys @ Secret Location in Brooklyn (DM or email for address), an evening I am pleased to have curated! Duo with Maria Grand (sax), Adam Turay (guitar) & Kwami Winfield (trumpet/electronics) and Justine Lee Hooper (flute/electronics)

February 19, 8pm - Free Dimensions: VOICES produced by PocketWatch @ Nublu (62 Loisaida Ave, Manhattan)

Feb 23, 7pm - With Nathan Chamberlain (guitar) & Friends @ Brothers Wash and Dry (54-20 Nurge Ave, Queens)

Fundraiser links for LA Wildfires:

Black Music Action Coalition Fund

Los Angeles Fire Relief to Support Music Professionals

GoFundMe list for Displaced Black Families in Altadena

Fundraiser Update!

For those of you who supported our Elder Ones/Nu Jazz concert fundraiser for Gazan Musicians:

The Al Kamandjâti Association extends its best wishes to you for this new year.

We are finally taking the time to inform you of the arrival, a few days ago, of the Gazan musicians and their families in Angers, Bordeaux, and Montpellier, in the framework of the PAUSE Program and in partnership with Rocher de Palmer and Uni'sons.

The final moments before their arrival kept us very busy as we worked to complete the preparations for their homes, ensuring they could settle in under dignified and comfortable conditions.

Their arrival was an intensely emotional moment for everyone, whether at the train station in Angers, Bordeaux, or Montpellier. They were then accompanied to their homes, where they can finally begin a more serene life.

Studio at Pioneer Works

UK + EU Fall Dates with Elder Ones and special collaborations

It is a bit unfathomable that it’s already Fall, marking one-year of a genocide as we’re on the cusp of another in Lebanon. It feels more important than ever to build awareness, connection and community locally and globally, which is what I’m focused on right now as an artist.

I had the honor recently of performing with Ethan Philbrick, Joanna Mattrey and Sugar Vendil at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the Creative Time Summit which brought together artists and activists from around the globe, discussing the abolition of property and Land Back. We had an incredible organizing meeting on Monday of musicians and music workers who want to take concrete and material action on Palestine, that is leaving me feeling inspired in dark times.

This upcoming tour is all about fostering global solidarity through community. London’s show is a very special meeting of artists from NYC to London and Palestine with Dirar Kalash (Sonic Liberation Front) coming from the West Bank and Saint Abdullah, with London musicians Alabaster DePlume, Dan Nicholls and Momoko Gill. Everyone involved is a fierce supporter of Palestine and all global anti-oppressive struggles. From there I’ll head to Glasgow for an international Desi connection with Ravish Momin of Sunken Cages and Kapil Seshasayee, who interviewed me for his Desi Futurism publication back in 2020. We’ll be improvising also with musicians from Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. Then, Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music for a collaboration with Irish harpist Manon McCoy. These shows are extra exciting because they are my UK debut!

For the EU leg, I’ll be all over the map with more collaborations and a packed Elder Ones tour. I’m honored to be joining the brilliant Polish guitarist Raphael Roginski at the legendary Unsound Festival, before meeting my bandmate Lester St. Louis in Vienna for a collaboration with the killer drummer Lukas Koenig and synthesist Isabella Forciniti.

This will be the last Elder Ones EU tour of the year after so many incredible trips to Rewire, Moers, Saalfelden, Meteo Festival and a mind blowing tour in Latin America. This time we head further east to CZ, Latvia and Lithuania!

Coming up on this grim anniversary I will continue to speak out onstage. I’ve noticed everywhere that the people are not their governments and overwhelmingly want an end to the genocide and what could be a catastrophic a war in the region. A ceasefire is not enough, we must have an Arms Embargo from the US and Western powers.

All power to all Liberation struggles from Palestine to Haiti, the Sudan, Congo, the incarcerated peoples of the United States and around the world.

Viva, lucha.

In solidarity,

Amirtha

Poster by Rohan Chander

Upcoming Events

Hey friends,

The season is in full swing and I have some upcoming events that I’m really excited about. This weekend, I’ll be joined by two of my favorite musicians, Qasim Naqvi and Rafiq Bhatia to perform at the Ragas Live Festival at Pioneer Works. I’m excited about this collaboration not only musically, but also in terms of our capacity to build solidarity with our Pakistani family in the diaspora, challenging the hard lines drawn in our respective motherlands. For me ‘Raga’ is an impossible to define and expansive concept, ever evolving and ever changing as nature itself. In this collaboration, I hope we can soften pre-existing notions of tradition and borders.

I’m thrilled to be part of Suneil Sanzgiri’s exhibition “Here the Earth Grows Gold” opening at Brooklyn Museum from October 27-May 5. Booker Stardrum and I scored his latest film Two Refusals which will will be premiered as part of this solo exhibition, which examines “the complexities of anti-colonialism, nationalism, and diasporic identity”. This collaboration with Suneil is near and dear to me, after working with him now on four films!

Decolonization is not theoretical and theory means nothing without practice. There can be no peace without justice. No peace without the dismantling of apartheid, genocide and colonialism.

Thanks for reading.

In solidarity,

Amirtha

Upcoming Events…

10/14 - Ragas Live Festival with Rafiq Bhatia and Qasim Naqvi at Pioneer Works (10-10:45pm set)

10/24 - Duo with Luke Stewart at Bennington College, Carriage Barn 8pm

10/27-5/5 - Exhibition of Suneil Sanzigiri's Films featuring music by Amirtha Kidambi and Booker Stardrum at Brooklyn Museum

11/16 - Neti-Neti, Fire Museum Presents, Philadelphia

12/2 - ellen o "Sparrows and Doves" Vinyl Re-Release and Tribute Concert at Public Records

12/9 - Angels & Demons (Kidambi/Darius Jones) at The Kitchen