Welcome

Who is Diatonic Dissonance? What is UrbangayGriot?

Some of you are wondering what foreign language class you signed up for by clicking on this page. Rest assured, you’re good.  These names speak directly to the many facets of my identity. I’m a musician. I’m Black. I’m Gay. I’m complex. I’m silly.  I’m sexual. I’m goofy. I’m social. I’m me.

If you’ve ever taken a music theory class “Diatonic Dissonance” may ring some sort of bell. Diatonic refers to a note belonging to a key or tonality. When something is diatonic, it belongs, it’s convention, it subscribes to the norm. Dissonance is like a discord. Dissonance is tension. Dissonance is conflict. Within every scale or mode there lies notes that are perfect when they stand alone within the key but when coupled with others can be problematic.  Diatonic Dissonance is acknowledging that I serve a unique purpose on this earth but everyday interaction can cause a tension that must be resolved. This is my quest to embrace, resolve, own, enjoy, challenge, or critique any physical and figurative dissonance in my life.

I live in the great city of New York. This city is the quintessential definition urban and modern. I identify as a gay man. That takes care of the gay. Griot is a storyteller in West African culture that passed the stories, the experiences, the culture, the struggle, and the direction of the village through song. I’m black and I’m a musician. I endeavor to tell my story through the powerful medium of song.

Welcome