Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman is a musical collective formed in 1998 by guitarist/vocalist Brandon Ross, bassist Melvin Gibbs and drummer JT Lewis.

The band’s most recent album, “The Terror End Of Beauty,” landed on various “Best Of” lists, including those of Rolling Stone magazine and the New York Times in the year of its’ release, 2018. The trio is renowned for their live performances. They were recognized by NPR, National Public Radio, for giving the “Best Jazz Performance” of 2018, as well as the New York Times, which cited them as giving a “Best Jazz Performance” of 2017.

Named after an African-American liberator, this collective uses ALL of their musical experiences to communicate a vision of musical freedom and invention.

As individuals, Lewis, Ross, and Gibbs have worked with a who’s who of 20th-century musical figures, including Herbie Hancock, David Byrne, Henry Threadgill, the Rollins Band, Tina Turner, Archie Shepp, Femi Kuti, Tony Williams, Sonny Sharrock, Lou Reed, Muhal Richard Abrams, dead prez, and Lawrence Butch Morris, among many, many others.

As a group, Tubman’s diverse set of musical collaborators includes Meshell Ndegocello, Laraaji, Kyp Malone of TV On The Radio, and DJ Logic, as well as Cassandra Wilson, who collaborated with them in the project “Black Sun,” and Pulitzer Prize finalist Wadada Leo Smith, who collaborated with them on their “Araminta” album. On their most recent (yet to be released) recording, the trio collaborates with producer/composer/singer Georgia Anne Muldrow.

“Imagine the Venn-diagram overlap of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, electric Miles Davis at its gnarliest, and Lee Scratch Perry’s murky dub experiments and you’ll start to get a sense of Harriet Tubman’s heady sonic terrain” – Rolling Stone

“This is black music at its best.” – NPR

“A band as danceable as they are deranged, as physical as they are cerebral, as fired by the past as they are committed to finding a future.”  – The Wire

“Two decades into its career, this power trio has hit a new stride “  – New York Times 

“As free as their iconic abolitionist namesake, Harriet Tubman is an irresistible force of truth, beauty, and electric improvisation” – Village Voice