Sacred Noise Unknown (SNX) A Tribute to Fela Kuti

For years, audiences have known Duain Richmond as a performer capable of inhabiting one of music's most prolific and towering figures portraying the role of Fela Atikulapo Kuti in the Broadway production FELA!. Night after night, city after city, Richmond carried the weight of a legacy that stretched far beyond the stage extending into music, political consciousness, and the unwavering belief in art’s power to challenge and unite.

Born in Sierra Leone and raised in the United States, Richmond's creative life has unfolded across film, television, theatre, and music. He discovered his passion for performance as a member of the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta (YEA) under the mentorship of Tony Award-winning educator Freddie Hendricks, laying the foundation for a career that would span across stage and screen. His credits include Stomp the Yard, Drumline: A New Beat, Daddy's Little Girls, and numerous theatrical productions, but it was the stage that continually drew him back. In finding purpose through theatre, that journey ultimately led him to playing Fela Kuti, immersing him in a flagship role revealing a reverence that would serve as creative vision that continues to guide his work today.

That realization became the foundation of Sacred Noise Unknown—a project that extends beyond reprising a role and explores the space between tradition and reinvention.

Rather than recreating the past, Richmond envisioned a project that could speak to the present: a contemporary ensemble rooted in afrobeat's spirit while embracing the sounds that have guided his artistic journey, transcended cultural boundaries, and continue to resonate with people from all walks of life. The result is a borderless musical conversation where afrobeat, afrobeats, highlife, jazz, funk, and diasporic traditions intersect honoring lineage without becoming confined by it.

The project's name serves as its guiding philosophy.

Sacred speaks to ancestry, purpose, preserving legacy, and the role of music as a communal force. Noise represents movement, disruption, celebration, resistance, and the joyful chaos of life itself. Unknown acknowledges both the unfinished journey ahead and the countless stories, identities, and histories still waiting to be discovered. The abbreviation SNX carries its own symbolism, drawing inspiration from the letter X as a marker of reclamation, possibility, and self-definition.

Among Richmond's closest collaborators is Los Angeles-based musical director, arranger, and baritone saxophonist Leah Concialdi, whose experience as both a performer and longtime advocate for independent artists helps shape the ensemble's musical identity. Together, they have cultivated an ensemble that functions less as a backing band and more as a creative community, bringing together musicians, educators, journalists, dancers, designers, and producers united by a shared artistic vision. Mainstay members include singers and dancers Aimée Wodobodé, an original cast member of FELA! on Broadway and its first national tour, and Nigerian-American singer-songwriter Lily Ogé. The debut SNX lineup is comprised of prolific musicians Marcos Garcia (Antibalas, Here Lies Mann) on guitar; Tosin Aribisala (AMAYO) on drums; Greg Bryant (Concurrence) on bass; Lidia Rodriguez (Madame Gandhi, La Misa Negra) on tenor saxophone; and Roberto Navarro (Buyepongo) on percussion.

While SNX is far from a tribute act or nostalgia project, it is invigorated by the same questions that have fueled generations of artists before: How do we honor where we come from while remaining open to where we are going? How do traditions stay alive without standing still? What new possibilities emerge when cultures meet, exchange, and create together? SNX transforms those questions into a tangible ecosystem that is an evolving musical community rooted in connection, curiosity, and Richmond’s inimitable gift for storytelling and expression.

As the ensemble continues to grow, Sacred Noise Unknown stands as a simultaneous reflection of Richmond’s journey as well as an invitation into what comes next—a space where heritage and innovation move in lockstep where every performance becomes part of a larger conversation still being written. Sacred by intention. Unknown by design.