Herb Sundays 18: L'Rain
An evolving and cosmic set by the multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Taja Cheek.
Herb Sundays playlist 18: Apple Music / Spotify. Art by Michael Cina.
Let’s get the facts out of the way. Taja Cheek is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and vocalist and has become an acclaimed and sought-after figure in New York experimental music and beyond. In June of this year, she released her sophomore album, Fatigue, under the moniker L’Rain. Her songs are equally rooted in r&b, jazz, noise, and pop: at once visceral, spiritual, ethereal, and urgent. She also frequently collaborates and has worked with artists including Helado Negro, Vagabon, Anna Wise, Kevin Beasley, Justin Allen, Naama Tsabar, Sable Elyse Smith, and others. She is an Associate Curator at MoMA PS1 where she leads the institution’s performance program, with a special interest in sound.
I first met Taja in 2016 when I inquired with her brilliant MoMA PS1 colleague Alex Sloane who helped "booked the dome" (PS1 erects a courtyard dome for programming for the colder months) and we were introduced. With the summer institution Warm Up and other music-related programming, Taja and the related teams have consistently produced some of the most forward-thinking programming around. The list of events is vast, but for me, getting to see one of my art heroes Terre Thaemlitz speak, remains one of the most moving performances/presentations I can recall. She also helped Ghostly make our Last Crates exhibit/installation a reality.
But that’s just her day job, back to the music.
It's rare to move from a curator to a globally-feted artist. Usually it works the other way around. But Taja has found international acclaim for her art on her own terms. Further testament to both her talent and tenacity. Taja is no “herb” of course. She's one of the coolest people around, but she’s inviting and giving with her knowledge and all her work packs in many levels of information and verve, inviting you to participate.
The music of L'Rain is like hurtling through time-traveled space. You watch history fly by you, your life, and the lives of others. It has a disorienting effect, but you come out awakened to bigger possibilities. Taja's HS18 playlist is no different. It rides a spiritual plane and often gives way to prismatic gasps of feeling. A weightless but serious mood. It's the NOW sound that seems to have always been here.
I’ve been hoping for a L’Rain mix since Herb Season 1 and this one doesn’t miss a beat. A Pat Methenty and Lyle Mays 20 minute burner gives way to Space Afrika. Sonny Sharrock sends the whole thing skyward, making room for Alice Coltrane. Lonnie Liston Smith (rest in peace) floats and Toddd Rundgren grounds. It’s pretty astoudning stuff.
This NYT interview quote from Jon Pareles captures her intent perfectly, a chance to blur lines of convention and history to create something new:
"Yet in a video interview from her home in Brooklyn, L’Rain was cheerfully down-to-earth. Behind her was a bright-colored tapestry she had picked up long ago in a department store. 'I like bringing weird ideas to mainstream places,’ she said. ‘That’s what I look for in culture.'"
It’s working.
