The unified cultural theory of saxophonist Godwin Louis, on The Checkout live at Berklee: Videos

Godwin Louis has been on a quest to trace the roots of jazz.

On this edition of The Checkout Live at Berklee, Louis and his all-star sextet take us on a journey first to New Orleans’ Congo Square and then to other early musical hotbeds: Bahia in Brazil, Santiago in Cuba, and Port-Au-Prince in Haiti, where his parents were born.

Louis asserts that the rhythmic DNA of jazz has origins in Benin, West Africa by way of his ancestral homeland, where he spearheads Experience Ayiti, a nonprofit committed to empowering Haitians through cross-cultural exchange.

Watch Godwin Louis’ album celebration of Global in The Red Room at Cafe 939, featuring Billy Buss on trumpet, Gilad Hekselman on guitar, Victor Gould on piano, Hogyu Hwang on bass and Obed Calvaire on drums.