Nasir Dickerson presents A Kwanzaa Celebration Experience: Bridging the Black Diaspora, Discipline, and Jazz Expression | Dec 26 & 27 | Showtimes Vary by Day

Nasir Dickerson, BA, MA Nasir Dickerson is an Emmy Award-winning music educator, saxophonist, kora player, African flutist, composer, producer, and recording artist. A student of the late greats Charles Bowen, Robert “Bootsie” Barnes, and Leon Mitchell, and presently Cullen Knight, Nasir is the leader of the jazz sextet The Renaissance Messengers and Life Light Empower, and serves as Artistic/Music Director of The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble. Nasir has performed with artists including Lauryn Hill, Dave Chappelle, Erykah Badu, Doechii, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Angie Stone, The Legendary Roots Crew, Bilal, Questlove, and Jeff Bradshaw, among many others. He has also opened for jazz legends including Dr. Donald Byrd, Robert “Bootsie” Barnes, Wallace Roney, Jimmy Heath, Cyrus Chestnut Trio, and Duane Eubanks.

Audiences can expect a deeply immersive experience when Nasir Dickerson takes the stage—where improvisation meets ritual, and sound becomes a tool for reflection, power, and uplift. As the leader of Life Light Empower, Dickerson brings together African diasporic rhythm, martial arts discipline, and spiritual jazz in a performance philosophy shaped by movement, clarity, and cultural memory. “It’s not just music—it’s movement. It’s a vibration of history and future colliding,” says Dickerson.