Mali Obomsawin Sextet performing Sweet Tooth: A Suite for Indigenous Resistance

Known for her work as a bassist and singer, the project is Obomsawin’s debut as a composer-bandleader. Sweet Tooth highlights exciting intersections in Obomsawin’s own roots: incorporating a deep knowledge of rock, jazz, and folk traditions, it juxtaposes Wabanaki stories and songs passed down in her own family with original pieces addressing contemporary Indigenous life, blood politics, colonization, continuity, love and rage.

With an eclectic background in jazz & creative music, American roots & folk, and indie rock, Obomsawin carries several music traditions. A Smithsonian Folkways Recordings artist, Mali has toured internationally, receiving acclaim from NPR and RollingStone and several Boston Music Awards nominations with her band Lula Wiles. She frequents the folk & roots circuit as both frontwoman and sidewoman, appearing at Newport and Philly Folk festivals, and performs as a bassist & singer in the jazz and creative music scene with the likes of Bill Cole, Taylor Ho Bynum, Peter Apfelbaum and Delbert Anderson. In 2020 she joined Welcome to Indian Country, an Indigenous Performance Production featuring six leading Indigenous artists in Jazz and roots music.