Devin Brahja Waldman is a New York saxophonist, drummer, synthesizer player, and composer who leads the group Brahja. Waldman has accompanied his aunt, poet Anne Waldman, since the age of ten. Waldman is a co-founding member of Radical Reversal, Diva of Deva Loka, and Notable Deaths. He has performed with Patti Smith, William Parker, Nadah El Shazly, Malcolm Mooney, Thurston Moore, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Charles Hayward, Luke Stewart, and Yoshiko Chuma. Waldman is also a member of NYC's Heroes Are Gang Leaders (led by poet Thomas Sayers Ellis and saxophonist James Brandon Lewis), of Sam Shalabi's Land of Kush, and of the Norwegian hardcore group MoE. As a youngster, Waldman was taken under the wing of avant-garde giant Paul Bley. Along with Anne Waldman and cousin Ambrose Bye, Waldman is a co-producer for Fast Speaking Music, a NYC poetry and music label which has released recordings with Amiri Baraka, Meredith Monk, William Parker, Laurie Anderson, Eileen Myles, CAConrad, Fred Moten, Daniel Carter, Clark Coolidge, Thurston Moore, Joanne Kyger, and many others.
The moment the first bass note of Luke Stewart kicks in on Watermelancholia, followed by the swelling drum roll of Malick Koly and the lush leading voice of Janice Lowe you feel Devin Brahja will take you on a deep mind-blowing spiritual journey. Channeling wild seventies Impulse vibes on "O.P.K" or, could you say, even resonating the guts of early Art Ensemble of Chicago and the tempering spirit of Max Roach's We Insist era: Brahja is soul searching their spirit on Watermelancholia. A poetic stream of consciousness, backboned by top-notch musicians, transcending the cosmic universe, trying to find answers and musically connecting. Watermelancholia is a meditation on healing the inner schism between the sense of self -- the ego -- and the inner being. It is about bringing the ego to justice; putting it on trial, as it were. Includes booklet with extended liner notes.
"Ancient to the future 2.0. Watermelancholia is about the law of Karma: a law so obvious that it often goes unspecified and ignored. Neglecting this law invites a world of chaos. It's been articulated in endless ways. Some have called it Cosmic Law or Natural Law. Others translate it as Do No Harm." --liner notes excerpt