Mausiki Scales & the Common Ground Collective

MAUSIKI SCALES & THE COMMON GROUND COLLECTIVE | Fundraising Concert | 8 p.m. | June 24 | $20 online or at the door

Throughout the history of African people in the United States, Africa's influence in African American music has continued to show up. One of its most powerful recent expressions is in the melding of Afrobeat pioneered by the great Nigerian musician activist Fela and new soul expressed in the music and performances of Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground Collective. Scales' music presents an authentic rendering of the pulsating African rhythm fused with jazz and R&B that is the hallmark of Afrobeat. Founded and led by Mausiki Scales, the Common Ground Collective, is a group of Atlanta-based musicians who have been working together since 1999. The band explores genres that reflect Africa and the African Diaspora including Afrobeat, Funk, Jazz, Soul, Blues and Hip Hop. With a commitment to performing that expands beyond mere entertainment, the band claims community healing as core to its mission. The combination of musicianship and scholarship elevates the meaning and delivery of the music. Mausiki Scales, an adjunct instructor in the African American Studies Department at Georgia State University, has taught history and African Studies for more than 15 years in Atlanta area colleges. Mausiki Scales' unique training triangulates between a profound awareness of Ancient Egyptian (Kemetic) civilization, and African diasporic traditions such as Funk, Soul, Hip Hop and Afrobeat. These three cultural dynamics blend seamlessly in his music and scholarship.

Together, Mausiki Scales & the Common Ground Collective have collaborated with artists such as Babatunde Olatunji, Russell Gunn, and Julie Dexter. They have released four albums, the most recent, "Passages: The Water Brought Us", and they were featured on the Roy Ayers Fela-fied afrobeat version of "Everybody Loves the Sunshine." In 2017, a new Mausiki Scales project, "Drums and Shadows" was released featuring the single - No Tables, No Chairs - inspired by his signature parade and concert on the Atlanta Beltline.

Mausiki Scales & Common Ground's sound concerns itself with the African ancestral musical arts, while being fully present in addressing contemporary experiences. They approach creativity with a high regard for music and they also act as active agents in maintaining an integral part of the sacred Black Music Tradition.