Greg Tate

Greg Tate is a playwright, journalist, musician, and cultural critic. In 1986, he published his groundbreaking essay “Cult-Nats Meet Freaky-Deke” in the Village Voice, establishing him as an influential voice in cultural criticism and Black aesthetics. He subsequently became a staff writer for the Voice, writing from 1987–2004. Tate served as Guest Curator, Literature at The Kitchen in the 1990s. Tate contributed the libretto for Julius Hemphill’s opera "Long Tongues" in 1990 and released his short feature film, "Black Body Radiation," in 2006. Along with Vernon Reid, Dk Dyson, and Konda Mason, Tate is a founding member of the Black Rock Coalition. In 1999, he founded Burnt Sugar, The Arkestra Chamber, an ensemble of musicians exploring American diasporic music and experimental soul-jazz-hip-hop hybrid sound, with Jared Michael Nickerson. Tate continues to lead the Arkestra Chamber as its musical director. Tate is also is the author of several books, including "Flyboy in The Buttermilk" (1992), "Everything But The Burden—What White People Are Taking From Black Culture" (2003), and "Midnight Lightning: Jimi Hendrix And The Black Experience" (2003). He has been a visiting professor at Columbia University’s Center for Jazz Studies, Brown University, Williams College, and the Yale School of Art. His awards include the USA Ford Fellowship in Literature.