Carlos Simon Essentials

Heartfelt melody flows in torrents through Carlos Simon’s music. The African American composer (born in 1986), a native of Atlanta, Georgia, was immersed in the evergreen gospel songs he heard and played as a boy at his preacher father’s church. He crosses genre boundaries with ease, embracing influences from traditional and contemporary jazz, gospel, blues, spirituals, and classical music. Simon’s commitment to social justice resounds in pieces such as Requiem for the Enslaved and brea(d)th, a searing indictment of George Floyd’s murder and the unceasing oppression of Black Americans. Thoughts of salvation, powerfully expressed in Angels in Heaven and Prayer (Gather Up), also shape his work.