Carlos Niño Conversations and Music with Jowee Omicil
In a recent episode of Conversations and Music, Carlos Niño, the producer behind André 3000's Grammy-nominated album New Blue Sun, connects with Jowee Omicil for an inspiring discussion. The two first met backstage in Paris before an André 3000 concert, where Jowee was invited to perform this year.
Carlos shares how Jowee’s album LekTure profoundly influenced his own creative journey. Their encounter marked the beginning of what promises to be a powerful and ongoing collaboration, filled with deep musical and spiritual connections.
Moments on Carlos Niño's Conversations and Music with Jowee Omicil
(starting 00:40:00)
Carlos Niño: .... The Elements flowing up next, dear homie, ultra-creative Jowee Omicil. Jowee! BasH! BasH! BasH! BasH! - So, this is really interesting.
Since the album New Blue Sun came out in November 2023, in many interviews when people ask me who I’m most looking forward to playing with and creating with—people I haven’t yet worked with—I might say Q-Tip, Hermeto Pascoal, Hariprasad Chaurasia, and other beings that I just love and have loved for so long. And I’m always frequently, pretty much every time, mentioning Jowee Omicil.
Jowee Omicil, who I know to be Haitian, who I also know to have been in Montreal, and who I cross paths with here in Paris. It turns out he's an old, dear friend of Deantoni Parks, who is in the New Blue Sun live band and group. And it’s just wild, ‘cause it didn’t happen the way I thought it would, where maybe somebody was going to link us. It happened just in real time, in real life. And I’ve asked him to play with us two nights later, and here we are backstage at the venue. Jowee Omicil, self-proclaimed nomadic being.
So, the likelihood that I’ll be able to get him to Los Angeles to work on an album—that he was able to, like, actually be with us here tonight—that maybe he’s omnipresently in other places at the same time. Without further ado, brother, great to have you on the program.
This new radio show is called Conversations and Music, and it’s sort of like the conversations are the music. The music is our conversation.
Jowee Omicil: Carlos Niño, what can I say? I’m just totally flabbergasted, delighted, humbled, and I feel so honored. I’m in deep gratitude for your existence and, more importantly, for your honesty—your honesty that shows your heart. I can already feel the ancestors speaking through you, and I feel the purity. To me, this is truly an emotional moment. Beings of your caliber don’t come in large numbers, and you are among those few. I’m just honored to be in your presence today.
Carlos Niño:
Oh, brother, that’s exactly how I felt when I listened to LekTure. (...) very, very few people have heard it. To me, it’s one of the great contemporary albums, and I’m very interested in sharing it more widely.
When I did a Bandcamp Weekly radio program a few months ago, I included one of the pieces from it. And I also love this album! Thank you so much for bringing me a copy of the vinyl and CD of your incredible new album, Spiritual Healing.
Jowee Omicil: … Bwa Kayiman Freedom Suite.
Carlos Niño: What does Bwa Kayiman mean?
Jowee Omicil: Bwa Kayiman is actually the forest in Haiti where that ancestral revolution started in 1791. (...) We recorded it in France—a really improvised suite, a bit like what you’re doing with André 3000—a totally free suite from the beginning to the end. We just went non-stop. As I was listening to it, I realized this is the soundtrack of that revolution my dad used to tell me about. (...) It felt as if I was there.
Carlos Niño: But you were there.
Jowee Omicil: I was there in spirit. I truly feel that. Because when I receive that kind of telegram, I’m there—I’m seeing the battle. I could feel everything: the turmoil, the fight, the rapes, the plight, the suffering. I felt all of those emotions. That’s how the title came to me. It was Spiritual Healing, because it healed me too, as I listened to it and as I journeyed through it. (...)
It was, in a way, the second part of LekTure, to be honest. It was the kind of record where I didn’t want to do interviews or care about who listened to it. I just wanted to put it out into the world as a sort of postscript or a telegram for my ancestors.
Carlos Niño: I listened to like eight or nine of your albums—basically as many as I could find—and LekTure and this album were the ones where I was really like, Oh, this is it! I have to meet this guy. And you’re a historian as well. I mean, clearly, your ability to articulate and coherently share not just about your inspiration, but also what you know... the factual reality... it’s deep.
Carlos Niño: What does BasH! mean? It’s your logo; it’s like your mantra.
Jowee Omicil: BasH! is the beauty ascending socially with the community, so it’s about ascending beautifully in society. Honestly—or happily—you could interpret it in multiple ways. It’s all organic. It’s an organic concept that ultimately means love. At the end of the day, it’s about ascending beautifully in society with honesty, happiness, heavenly. That’s what BasH! is all about.(...)
Carlos Niño: So, we have Shabaka in common.
Jowee Omicil: Absolutely.
Carlos Niño: But I don’t know why we didn’t make the connection sooner somehow. But we’ve talked—a lot—about music, and I feel like maybe he said your name at some point. It might have been this very distant little seed. I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask him, because he might be like, “Remember?”
Carlos Niño: We’ve been crisscrossing; we’ve almost met before.
Jowee Omicil: It’s been in the air, bro. I’ve been putting it out there. You did you—you just didn’t hear it directly.
Carlos Niño: … So, I hope we do this more often. This is really just the intro—us sharing some voice energy, presenting. And I want to bring you to Los Angeles—I’m saying it publicly. I really feel like we should make a record there. I can hear something. I heard it when I first listened to LekTure .