Martin Perna is an educator, and multidisciplinary artist living in Houston, Texas.

Music

Perna, who is of Mexican American descent, founded the musical groups

Antibalas Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof") is an American, Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music generally follows the musical architect ...

and Ocote Soul Sounds, and has written for and/or recorded with Sharon Jones,

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

Baaba Maal Baaba Maal ( ff, 𞤄𞤢𞥄𞤦𞤢 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤, italics=no, born 13 June 1953) is a Senegalese singer and guitarist born in Podor, on the Senegal River. In addition to acoustic guitar, he also plays percussion. He has released several al ...

, Angelique Kidjo, David Byrne, the Whitefield Brothers, the Daktaris,

No Surrender No Surrender may refer to: Politics * "No Surrender!", a British Unionist slogan originating from Siege of Derry now used in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England *No Surrender (to the IRA), a political chant since used by England football fans ...

Apsci ApSci is an Australian video-centric avant pop duo with origins in indie hip hop. As individuals, their roots go back to punk rock and opera. The duo consists of Bronx born, New Jersey-bred Ra Lamotta and his Filipino- Australian wife Dana Diaz ...

Architecture in Helsinki Architecture in Helsinki were an Australian indie pop band which consisted of Cameron Bird, Gus Franklin, Jamie Mildren, Sam Perry, and Kellie Sutherland. The band released five studio albums before going on hiatus: '' Fingers Crossed'' (2003), ...

, and many other groups.

Education

Perna began his educational work in 1992 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia as an overnight docent during the Camp-In Program. From 1998-2000, he taught at El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice in Brooklyn, New York. He has integrated education into his work as a musician, conducting musical workshops at Yale, McGill, Haverford, New York University, Concordia, University of Texas-Austin, and University of St. Denis (Île Réunion).

Multidisciplinary Art

He is author of the children's book BLACKOUT! about the 2003 blackout in the Northeastern United States and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, published in 2006 by Magic Propaganda Mill and illustrated by

Ricardo Cortes Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portu ...

. An apprentice of earth architecture master

Nader Khalili Nader Khalili ( fa, نادر خلیلی; 1936–2008) was an Iranian-born American architect, author, and educator. He is best known for his inventive structures that incorporated a range of atypical building materials to provide shelter in the d ...

Perna also practices

superadobe Superadobe is a form of earthbag construction that was developed by Iranian architect Nader Khalili. The technique uses layered long fabric tubes or bags filled with adobe to form a compression structure. The resulting beehive-shaped structur ...

architecture and has created works in Michoacán,

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and Austin,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

Partial Discography

The Very Best "untitled" Flute, baritone saxophone
Daktaris "Soul Explosion" Flute, tenor saxophone.
Mike Jackson and the Soul Providers "Revenge of Mr. Mopoji"
Nino Nardini "Rotonde Musique" Flute, saxophone

Lee Fields Elmer Lee Fields (born April 26, 1950 in Wilson, North Carolina) is an American soul singer, sometimes nicknamed "Little JB" for his physical and vocal resemblance with James Brown. He has worked with Kool and the Gang, Hip Huggers, O.V. Wright, ...

"Let's Get a Groove On" Baritone saxophone
Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings "Dap Dippin'" Baritone saxophone

"Liberation Afrobeat Vol. 1" Baritone saxophone, percussion

"Talkatif" Baritone saxophone

"Who Is This America" Baritone saxophone

"Government Magic" Baritone saxophone

"Security" Baritone Sax

"Antibalas" Baritone Sax

TV on the Radio TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and ...

"Satellite" Flutes

Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes ''Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes'' is the 2004 debut album by the American art rock band, TV on the Radio. The album, recorded at Headgear Studio in Brooklyn, was awarded the Shortlist Music Prize for 2004. It was released on CD, 12" vinyl ...

" Flutes, saxophones

Return to Cookie Mountain ''Return to Cookie Mountain'' is the second studio album by American rock band TV on the Radio. It was released July 6, 2006, worldwide by 4AD, and issued in the U.S. and Canada on September 12, 2006, by Interscope Records and Touch and Go Reco ...

" Flute, saxophones, percussion

Dear Science ''Dear Science'' is the third studio album by the band TV on the Radio. It was released on September 16, 2008, digitally through Touch and Go Records, with the physical release coming a week later through Interscope Records and DGC Records in Nor ...

," Flutes, saxophones
Ocote Soul Sounds "El Niño y El Sol" Flutes, saxophones, guitars, percussion
Ocote Soul Sounds "The Alchemist Manifesto" Vocals, flutes, saxophones, guitars, percussion
Ocote Soul Sounds "Coconut Rock" Vocals, flutes, saxophones, guitars, percussion
Ocote Soul Sounds "Taurus" Vocals, flutes, saxophones, guitars, percussion
Elvis Costello and The Roots "Walk Us Uptown" Chico Mann

rework. Saxophones

DJ Sun Andre J. E. Sam-Sin (born January 19, 1966), known professionally as DJ SUN, is a Dutch-born American record producer and DJ. He is one of the most prolific musicians in Houston, having secured his position as the top-ranked DJ and as the owner/op ...

"Heart Seed featuring Leah Alvarez and Martin Perna", flute

References

External links

Ocote Soul Sounds

Personal site

Antibalas

Martin sits down with Ira Haberman of The Sound Podcast for a feature interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perna, Martin 1975 births Musicians from Philadelphia Living people American musicians of Mexican descent Hispanic and Latino American musicians Antibalas members