Godwin Louis: "Preaching Musically"

Godwin Louis was born in Harlem to parents of Haitian descent, and spent his childhood in Bridgeport, CT and Port au Prince, Haiti. He is a graduate of both the Berklee College of Music and The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, where he studied and performed with an array of the most legendary living jazz artists, including Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Clark Terry, Ron Carter, and Jack DeJohnette, among many others.We first heard Godwin in another recent Gallery debut performance by pianist Kris Bowers, who was the winner of the 2011 Thelonious Monk Competition (read The New York Times review of that concert here). In February, Godwin made his debut as a leader with the Xplosion; on Saturday, they return for their second performance. The lineup will feature the guitarist Ilan Bar-Lavi, the bassist Jonathan Michel, the pianist Victor Gould, and the drummer Nicholas Falk.Ahead of their first performance at The Gallery, we asked Godwin to say a few words about his relationship to the members of the band and their repertoire. You can read his notes here.Listen to Godwin via SoundCloud.