BLUEs.Weave in the Artist Studio
Date & Time
Thursday, June 19, 2025
10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
This event is in the past.
Tickets
Included with admission;
FREE for Burke members
Not a member? Join today.
BLUEs.Weave will present two interrelated demonstrations of explorative Black American music in honor of the holiday of Juneteenth.
The first demonstration will feature original music works, lyrics, and improvisations meditating on the various forms and aesthetics of celebration as they appear throughout the sonic lineage of Black American music. Interspersed among the musical examples, BLUEs.Weave will also discuss their artistic influences and priorities, the importance and history of Black music and the guitar in relation to Black resilience, and the legacies and complexities of Juneteenth.
The second demonstration will be a live, collaborative composition session where BLUEs.Weave will showcase their compositional process and techniques, culminating in a piece and performance reflecting on the importance of Juneteenth and Black freedom.
About the Artist
Jai Kobi Kaleo'okalani is a Seattle-based guitarist, composer, producer, and poet. Graduating in 2025 with a BM in Jazz and Improvised Music from the University of Washington, they studied with Steve Rodby, Cuong Vu, Ted Poor, and Kassa Overall. Often performing under the moniker BLUEs.Weave, her genre-defying work seamlessly blends the sonic worlds and approaches of improvised Black American music traditions and experimental sound design, delivering innovative, immersive sets featuring resonator and electric guitars, drum machines, samplers, and electronics. Her work as a soloist began with a DXARTS commission to compose and perform the beat-suite “Let Loose Thy Soul: Black Alchemy and the Upper Arcana” for the 2024 SPAM New Media Festival at the Georgetown Steam Plant; since then, Jai has presented original music and multimedia performances at the Frye Art Museum, the Jacob Lawrence Art Gallery, and ARTS at King Street Station Gallery.
As an accompanying voice, she has had the privilege to perform with internationally renowned and incredible local artists alike, including Bill Frisell, Steph Richards, Ted Poor, Luke Bergman, Jahnvi Madan, and Kyra “Wolf” Wolfenbarger. Jai’s debut release The Blues is Best Sung at Sunrise hit Bandcamp in February, under BLUEs.Weave; the Jacob Lawrence Gallery displayed the project and its accompanying cover art for two months during the Artists and Poets exhibition.
Learn more on Instagram @Blues.weave and on Bandcamp.
