The origins of Electric Root lie in years of mentorship by Wynton Marsalis, whom Mwenso and Gasparro both met as teenagers in separate countries (Mwenzo in England, Gasparro in the United States). When they were first introduced to one another, in their early twenties, at a music festival in Italy, they realized they were both protégés of Marsalis and, after hours of conversation, decided they “wanted to change the world through Black music together,” according to Mwenso. Their friendship developed further once they were both in New York; Gasparro had become Maslis’s right-hand man, and, at Gasparro’s urging, marsalis brought to Mwenso to Jazz at Lincoln Center to join its programming team and head the after-hours series at Dizzy’s Club.

Once they had both left Jazz at Lincoln Center, they formed Mwenso and the Shakes, a genre-spanning band the New York Times has called “intense, prowling, and ebullient,” and whose music NPR has described as “an explosion of ideas and sounds” radiating “infectious joy.” And because they were by now both accomplished curators- Gasparro went on to program Ginny’s Supper Club at marcus Samuelsson’s Red Rooster restaurant in harlem- they started developing themed concert programs that could cultivate an appreciation of Black music, its history, and it’s relevance, such as We Shall Overcome and Harlem 100, which have toured nationally.

Mwenso explains that in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and in response to the murder of George Floyd, they realized, “Now is the time to push doors down.” They established their mission-driven company, Electric Root, and set out to collaborate with universities and other institutions in order to “revolutionize how Black music is presented, expose lesser-known artists, decolonize music curriculum, provide artist-led anti racism training, and heal people.”