Omar Higgins, the trailblazing bass player and front man of Chinese Connection Dub Embassy and Negro Terror, will receive a posthumous Brass Note at Handy Park on Beale Street at 5 p.m. on April 18th, with a celebration concert to follow.
Higgins died suddenly of septic shock on April 18th, 2019 at the age of 37. Shortly thereafter, the Memphis Flyer‘s Chris McCoy published this remembrance of him and this story on how the Memphis music community reacted to his death.
“We will celebrate Omar’s legacy and all the genres of music he loved performing, and we will cement that legacy with a Brass Note on the legendary Beale Street,” said brother David Higgins in a statement. “Omar’s friends and family all around the world can then look at April 18th as a day of celebration, and not just sorrow.”
That celebration will feature a multi-genre bill reflecting the diversity and number of musicians and fans who were touched by Higgins’ life. Kween Jasira, Danny Cosby, SvmDvde, PreauXX, Moses Crouch, Ryan Peel, Tonya Dyson and others will join the Chinese Connection Dub Embassy house band to perform one song each.
Higgins brothers Joseph and David have continued to perform and release material as Chinese Connection Dub Embassy, as detailed in a recent Memphis Flyer feature, and also have plans to revive Negro Terror.
“Omar was a joyous, ebullient figure, whose devotion to music and those he loved was total,” Joseph Higgins noted in a statement. “The day will serve as a celebration of his legacy and contribution to the Memphis arts community.”
In being honored thus, Omar Higgins will join over 180 other artists and pivotal music industry figures who populate the Beale Street Brass Notes Walk of Fame. Notably, he is arguably the first punk rock/reggae artist to be celebrated by the organization.
To cover event costs, organizers are raising funds through an ioby crowdfunding campaign. Donations of up to $2,000 will be matched by ioby.
