Black Spirituals

**Black Spirituals** was a dynamic experimental duo consisting of guitarist/electronic musician Zachary James Watkins and drummer Marshall Trammell. Active in the 2010s, their sound fused free jazz improvisation, abrasive noise textures, and hypnotic electronic pulses, creating a visceral blend that felt both chaotic and meditative. Their work often explored themes of Black identity, spirituality, and resistance, channeling raw energy through Trammell’s thunderous percussion and Watkins’ searing guitar manipulations and modular synth explorations.

Known for electrifying live performances, Black Spirituals released projects like *Of Deconstruction* (2016), which captured their knack for deconstructing genre boundaries, and collaborative splits like *Black Access / Black Axes*. Their music balanced spontaneity with meticulous tension, reflecting a shared interest in Afrofuturist concepts and the legacy of Black experimentalism. Though the duo’s activity slowed in later years, their recordings remain a bold testament to improvisation as a form of liberation.