Michael Mwenso, Bandleader, Activist, Curator and Entrepreneur

The Caring Economy with Toby Usnik

Michael Mwenso was born in Freetown, Sierra Leone but spent his teenage years hanging out at the legendary jazz club Ronnie Scott’s in London where he was exposed to musicians such as Betty Carter, Elvin Jones, Ray Brown and Cedar Walton. In his youth, Mwenso started honing his talents as a trombonist, singer and performer playing in swing bands, reggae and Afrobeat horn sections. Mwenso’s talent as a performer caught the attention of many, which subsequently led him to meet James Brown who allotted space for him to sing and dance at his London shows. In 2012, friend and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis brought Mwenso to New York City to serve as curator and programming associate at Jazz at Lincoln Center where he also booked nightly sets at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola. Over the next few years, Mwenso also booked throughout the institution at large. Through these performances at Dizzy’s, Mwenso began to collaborate with a wide variety of Juilliard trained musicians that soon became known as The Shakes. This unique group of global artists presents music that merges entertainment and artistry through African and Afro-American music. In addition, Mwenso continues to break new ground as a cultural ambassador and artist in residence at various universities. Driven by Mwenso’s deep ancestral understanding of the African-American music tradition, his role at these Universities is to not only teach numerous classes on Black music but grow the arts scene within their local community while creating more programming focusing on Black artists. Through this work, Mwenso has partnered with Penn State University, Georgia Tech, Miami University, University at Buffalo and Sonoma State University as a guest professor and cultural ambassador of Black music. Michael is a sought-after cultural curator as well as a master at distributing the spiritual nutrition inherent in Black music with Electric Root, the mission-driven company he co-leads with Jono Gasparro.
The Caring Economy made it onto FeedSpots Top 30 CSR Podcasts
Don't forget to check out my book that inspired this podcast series, The Caring Economy: How to Win With Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).