(Steve) We've just experienced an original work by Stafford Hunter.

His band Continuum.

It's called “Suite Kwanzaa”.

You took the challenge and met it head on.

Thank you for giving us original work.

For a holiday that is not even 50 years old.

(Stafford) Yeah, well, Yeah, well, you know, that was a difficult part thinking about music, because I couldn't find any Kwanzaa music.

> It's not there.

> Yeah.

> So this will help.

> I heard that there we a couple like, children's songs that existed > Yeah.

> I couldn't find anything significant enough to, to write, you know.

> Did you.

Did you take the seven principles of Kwanzaa and develop it piece by piece?

> Yeah.

Well, you know, the first thing , Arturo Gomez and Brother Jeff, I asked them and they were like, well, yeah, I'm not really sure what you can find.

You know, it's no standards for them.

And so you might have to write your own.

So write my own.

So I said, you know, I'm trying to figure out how am I going to write my what what what do I really know about Kwanzaa?

So look at the things.

And then I made this sheet here, and I had seven principles.

> Right.

There they are.

> And I sat there and put them above my computer, and I just thought about them and thought about them.

Everything in relationship to each other and, you know, and kind of like, what does it mean to me, you know, what does it mean to me in like my, my, you know, relationship with my musicians and things?

And, and that's really where everything came from, just thinking about, you know, it is all one is thinking about situations, me thinking about the whole story.

> It all ties together.

When Maulana Karenga built this, really with some African connection, that we would have something other than commercialism to, to celebrate and to remember, maybe to pull us together.

It begins with unity.

And I'll spare us both the Swahili as as we mentioned, the principles, you sort of began with, with the shells and sort of an ancient call to come together?

> Yeah, yeah, that was definitely the idea.

You know, first, everything that I listened to about, Kwanzaa and any musics that I listened to and checked out everything started with drums, which pretty much that's the existence of all music.

It all started with the drums.

And, you know, and it was kind of just built everything just built on top of each other.

And it was it was not about any kind of.

It was.

No, it's no rule.

The first piece to play, there's no real lead, you know, and it's kind of just all kind of call and response and all kind of togetherness and things and and just kind of builds up to this climax to go somewhere and, and I that's what I heard.

And all the musics that I, that I heard about Kwanzaa And definitely, you know, I think in every African culture, you know, musically, soul and all in there.

> Well, we needed this more than, you know.

The principles, that built on top of unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics.

You're taking us through, musically, the way the musicians work together and, they, they told the story.

> Yeah.

> Purpose.

Creativity.

Oh my goodness.

You let you let the crew run and they the tide rose up and came at us.

We loved it.

> Yeah, well, you know, and then again, it's I literally I mean, I planted some ideas saying some stuff into my phone and Thanksgiving, I pretty much wrote most of this, and, and it's just on the page.

So once I put it in front of these musicians, everybody has different thoughts and what all these things mean to everybody personally and musically.

You know, I throw in an idea to have a drummer, you know, and, and he's going to do something else with it, and then that's going to affect me, and then that's going to affect Jonathan, and that's going to, you know, and it and it's meant a whole nother piece.

> Where do you hope Suite Kwanzaa goes as you save the document and send it around?

Or how do you take something like this and see it multiply?

What do you do?

> I don't know, I just wrote it, you know, you guys said, hey, we would like you to do something for Kwanzaa.

And that's where it was.

I mean, that was, I don't know, maybe at the, at the a party here.

> One of those parties.

> Yeah.

Yeah.

I think the last party with the members party.

Okay.

So I think Arturo threw out the idea, you know, and I flipped around with it a little bit in my mind and everything, and then kind of forgot about it.

And then he reminded me again about it.

Then I said, oh, man, I got to get this done.

And then finally did.

And now, now I hear I'm hearing it.

Me hearing it on the computer using, you know, nothing.

Me, me doing my little piano skills and writing it down is nothing compared to what it sounds like.

So now that I've heard it as I was just telling Jonathan, I said, man, I really like some of that stuff.

He said, oh man, it was incredible music.

So yeah, I got to do it again.

I got to like recorded.

Well, we should start recording like right now and, and, you know, see.

Where it goes.

> Well, we've been privileged to record it for video and for audio.

And, when you watch this, where are you going to do?

You're going to share the link with somebody that needs to hear it.

Right on time.

Thank you very much.

Oh.

>Oh, thank you.

> Congratulations.

> Thank you man.

Appreciate you man.

> It's a baby.

Let's watch grow.

> Yeah yeah yeah I definitely want to see I want to watch it myself.

So, you know that.

Yeah, I got a lot of folks to send the link around to.

You know, the folks been asking me about it, and, you know, I will post it.

> Thanks so much.

> Oh.

Thank you.

I appreciate you, man.