JOVIA ARMSTRONG
In August 2022, DownBeat magazine heralded percussionist, composer and educator JoVia Armstrong’s heady brew of electronics, creative percussion, bass and groove as “the future.” It was a product of her upbringing in techno-steeped Detroit and a long stint in the creative jazz center of Chicago, as well as her own commitment to experimentation.
In a strictly chronological sense, Inception is a follow-up to her critically acclaimed debut album The Antidote Suite; but in reality, Armstrong penned Inception first. It serves as a prequel of sorts, “music that is the story of my childhood. My transition from childhood to adulthood,” she says. Inception unveils a roadmap to a brave new future.
“Creation” mirrors her conception, while “Embryo” and “Birth” are, according to the artist, “the evolution of my nascency…entering into the wrong universe, on the wrong planet.”
Armstrong has always been concerned with what lies below the surface: the speculative, not just the concrete. She classifies her father as both “alien” and “superhuman…He’s a country boy from Alabama, not far from where Sun Ra was raised.” Referencing the mythology around Ra’s oft-cited early alien encounter, she suggests “I think they saw the same alien…possibly at the same time. He can do anything, build anything, prototype anything and is simply brilliant. I’ve watched him do the impossible with very little.” That same echelon of inventiveness permeates JoVia’s artistic practice.
A member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians, Armstrong gravitates towards “the small instruments that people ignore.” She aims to “do something magical with it,” as evidenced by her signature hybrid cajon setup—usually a cajon with high hat and ride cymbal—sometimes seasoned with a floor tom, and often enhanced by electronics. “I’ve learned to give the impression of a drum set, that there is a groove, but I am not trying to replace a drum kit.”
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