On Sunday, June 28th, over 50 artists and tens of thousands of fans came together for Justice Comes Alive, a one-day, virtual festival harnessing the power of music to bring about collective change in response to racial inequality. The donation-based streaming event generated $55,000 and counting in funds for the participating artists, who remain out of work as the pandemic continues, as well as a number of social justice-oriented causes via PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund.

The 12-hour live-stream marathon featured new contributions by an array of amazing artists from around the world including The Original Nth Power, who reunited remotely for a run through “Only Love” featuring an interlude of Bob Marley‘s “War”. The audio for the segment was mixed by Bassy Bob and the video was edited by Jason Hann (The String Cheese Incident).

While The Nth Power has spent the last few years touring as a stripped-down power trio comprised of drummer Nikki Glaspie, guitarist/vocalist Nick Cassarino, and bassist Nate Edgar, the outfit made its bones as a soulful quintet featuring keyboardist/vocalist Nigel Hall (who now plays with Lettuce) and lauded percussionist Weedie Braimah.

In 2019, The Original Nth Power reunited at the Blue Nile in New Orleans for the band’s traditional Jazz Fest ‘Last Hoorah’, their annual send-off on the Monday following the ten-day live music marathon each spring in the Crescent City. With this year’s Jazz Fest canceled due to the ongoing pandemic, the Justice Comes Alive performance by The Original Nth Power felt like a much-needed consolation prize.

Even beyond full-band performance, the members of the OG Nth Power had their fingerprints all over Justice Comes Alive. Both Nikki Glaspie and Nigel Hall served as co-hosts of the event, conducting enlightening conversations about race relations in the U.S. with the likes of Karl Denson, George Porter Jr., Oteil Burbridge, Patrice Rushen, Eric Krasno, and more. Nikki even conducted a stimulating conversation with Original Nth Power bandmate Weedie Braimah, who also showed off some of his deep-rooted djembe prowess with a solo performance and an appearance on Everyone Orchestra‘s remote improvisation session. In addition to co-hosting duties, Nigel Hall performed on the stream with Terence Higgins & The NOLA Krewe and Lettuce while Nikki Glaspie played some protest music with her all-female outfit, The OGs. Nick Cassarino also offered up a performance with Erin Boyd and his parents as well as a clip of a collaboration with Jennifer Hartswick and Christian McBride.

Relive The Original Nth Power segment from Justice Comes Alive below. If you enjoyed the Justice Comes Alive performances and have the means, consider making a donation to Plus1 For Black Lives Fund via www.JusticeComesAlive.com.

The Original Nth Power – “Only Love” > “War” (Bob Marley) > “Only Love” – Justice Comes Alive

Presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with PLUS1 and Nugs.TV, Justice Comes Alive was conceived as a way to harness the power of music to bring about collective change in response to racial inequality. All funds raised from Justice Comes Alive will be split evenly between the artists on the bill and the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund, which was developed to address and continue the fight against anti-Black racism and violence in the U.S.

Directly supporting organizations like Equal Justice Initiative, Impact Justice, and The Bail Project, the PLUS1 For Black Lives Fund focuses on empowering Black communities, movement building, keeping people out of the criminal justice system while dismantling it more broadly, and a collective, international narrative change toward the equitable treatment of Black people. 30% of the PLUS1 for Black Lives Fund is also committed to small grants for Black and Indigenous-led grassroots efforts combating racism. For more information on Justice Comes Alive, head here.

On Saturday, May 30th, The Nth Power also took part in Justice Comes Alive’s precursor, Quarantine Comes Alive, a 15-hour virtual music festival that raised over $150,000 for a slew of charities via the comprehensive PLUS1 COVID-19 Relief Fund. For their Quarantine Comes Alive segment, The Nth Power offered up a never-before-seen video from their late-night tribute to Nirvana at One Eyed Jacks during Jazz Fest 2018. Check out the clip below:

The Nth Power Presents: Nth Utero ft. Skerik –”Radio Friendly Unit Shifter/Scentless Apprentice” – 4/28/18