Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra

The Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra is a Los Angeles jazz ensemble founded in 1961 by the pianist and composer Horace Tapscott (1934-1999) to preserve, develop and perform African-American music. The Arkestra became part of the Underground Musicians Association, formed in 1963 and later renamed the Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension (UGMAA), and it gave many local musicians their first gigs. The Arkestra recorded The Call and Flight 17 (both 1978) and Live at I.U.C.C. (1979) for Nimbus West, which issued the archival Live at Century City Playhouse 9/9/79 in 2020.