Member Since: 02/03/2008
Band Members: MAMA NATA'ASKA HUMMINBIRD, MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF, MAHATRA YOUSSEF, NAVASHA DAYAOur Grandmother, Mountain Eagle Woman, was the founder of Three Generations. She was THEE most phenomenal person I've ever known. Born of women who could cook, sew, cut and shoot. Her bones told of mixed Cherokee, and Mississippi Choctaw blood. She was a singer, healer, dancer, beading master, teacher, writer, secret keeper, spiritual advisor, seamstress, chef, named Chicago's best female chior director, mother, grandmother, and the best friend one could have. Our grandmother started this group to make sure that the memory and legacy of our ancestors continued to be pasted down from generation to generation. One of the most heinous aspects of colonization was forcing indigenous people to forget themselves. Most of our heritage was oral and when we were not allowed to speak our own language, and when we were not allowed to mention our ceremonies, who would teach the next generations.?Who would teach the children the culture? The ceremonies were given to us by our prophets to keep us connected to the divine. The only way a person can be subdued is if there connection to the Divine is broken. Some of our most powerful ceremonies were outlawed until the late 1970's. It is imperative now that we use our sweatlodge ceremonies, our mourning ceremonies, our vision quest ceremonies, and our sundance ceremonies to reconnect with the Divine and melt back into the eternal womb of oneness. Mountain Eagle Woman is no longer with us in flesh but we carry on her mission and legacy through this group,Three Generations. Thank You Grandmother.MAMA NATA'ASKA is our Eldest member. She is our spiritual advisor, and medicine woman. She started out as a gospel singer in our Grandmother's Church. Later she went on to become a jazz singer. She worked for Lionel Hampton and traveled nationwide singing with the late great Sammy Davis Jr. for many years. She has graced the stages of legendary performance venues such as Las Vegas Ceasars Palace, The Copacabana, Carnegie Hall The Winter Garden Theater and many more. She was the original female vocalist for "Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band." Then at the age of 24, she had what she now calls her spiritual "walk out." Her spirit led her in a completely different direction. It led her on the path of The Healer. And anyone who's ever been down that path knows that it's usually not an easy one. When spirit calls for you, she will either take you willingly or unwillingly, you choose. lol She began translating and integrating her spiritual journey into her music and also channeled a few other skills along the way. She began using her talents to teach children our Native and African culture. She taught Rites of Passage to inner city youth and parenting classes for young single mothers. Over the past 30 years, Mama Nata'aska has helped hundred, maybe even thousands, of people to heal cultural and historical wounds, reconnect with the Divine, create healthier families, and start on a personal journey towards boundless abundance. MAIMOUNA YOUSSEF is the youngest member of the group. She was brought up in music and ceremony. As a child member of Three Generations, she used to travel all across the United States with her mother, grandmother, brothers and sisters, singing traditional Native and African music, dancing traditional dance in the pow-wows and other ceremonies, and helping to teach people about Native culture and the power in honoring both the red and the black shield. When Maimouna became a teenager, she and her cousin, Omari Forman-Bey, put together a hip-hop jazz band called Cirius B. They released their first album called, Subversive Activity," at the tender age of 17. Being put on stage in professional settings at the age of 5 prepared Maimouna for the future that was to come. Subversive Activity reached the ears of people like The Roots, James Poyser, Queen Latifa, and many more. The duo then moved to Philadelphia to further pursue their music careers. Once in Philadelphia Maimouna took advantage of the amazing opportunity to develop and learn the art of recording, performance, and songwriting on a major level. A year after she moved to Philadelphia, she recorded the hook for the Roots' Grammy nominated single, "Don't Feel Right." 6 months later, they asked her to go on tour. Maimouna toured with the oots performing with such Artists as Angelique Kidjo, Common, Kanye West, Dave Chapelle, Erykah Badu, Nas, Wilco, and Big Daddy Cane to name a few. However traveling and performing in the mainstream kept Maimouna away from home and slowly but surely she was beginning to forget the necessity of the ancient ceremonies. The ceremonies were given to us to protect us, and keep our spirits balanced, and to keep us connected to all other parts of creation, so that just as the animals can sense when there is danger days before it happens, so will we. Years later when Maimouna finally did come home, it was there that she got the call from spirit. Her grandmother wanted her to record Three Generations' album to show people the way back home. She was told in a vision that this album was to serve as a sonic portal to 4th and 5th dimensions of divine consciousness and that it would be a spiritual road map for the youth's ethereal senses to find their way home. It was divine order that Maimouna was sent out into the world to acquire the skills to record this sonic manuscript. It then became so clear: "Just be open and the new reality will be channeled through you. Be a vessel and you will do the world a great service. The message will be delivered one way or another. Melt into all of creation and you will find yourself again and again. intoxicating bliss is your divine purpose. The time is now; It is so urgently now. You must come back home to your original cosmic consciousness. The spirits need you as much as you need them. Let go of your baggage and ascend without inhibitions; fly,. It's possible." So Maimouna packed up her things, her son and moved down to her grandmother's land in southern Virginia, and said to her mother, "Ma,... I'm In.
Influences: Ulali, Zap Mamma, Pilgrim's Rest Gospel Choir, Nina Simone, Angelique Kidjo, Letta Mbulu, Marvin Gaye, Areatha Franklin, Miriam Makeeba,Nancy Wilson, Gloria Lynn, Sheila Chandra, Carlos Nakai, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Holiday, James Cleveland, Indigenous Women around the world, All of the soldiers for the people.
Record Label: unsigned
Type of Label: Indie