Internationally acclaimed jazz composer, practitioner of canoe culture, multicultural educator Mixashawn is a descendant of the Maheekanew people of the Connecticut River Valley and and of Joseph A. Emidy, an eighteenth-century griot from Guinea in West Africa, who despite the tribulations of slavery, racism, and war succeeded in carving out an astonishing career as a classical musician and composer in England (see picture, below).

Mixashawn is leader of the Mixashawn Quartet and Wordout as well as co-leader, with his brother, bass virtuoso Rick Rozie, of Afro Algonquin. He has performed in concert, at powwows, in clubs, on radio and television, and has recorded extensively both as leader and as a sideman with many of music's avant-garde.

Among Mixashawn's accomplishments and credits are:

• Performances and recordings with some of the most innovative artists of our time, including Bobby McFerrin, Rashid Ali, Ronald Shannon Jackson, and Vernon Reid
  
• Leadership of the Mixashawn Quartet (MXQ) and Wordout; co-leadership (with Edward “Rick” Rozie) of Afro Algonquin
  
• Appearances on television and radio: "The Jazz Singers Summit" on Sudwest Funk (German TV); CPTV special guest with the Bill Barron–Bill Lowe Big Band at the opening celebration of the new Connecticut State Legislature Building
  
• Composed and performed "Original Saxophonics" solo for Hartford Stage Company’s production of "Dutchman"
  
• Featured in BBC radio production "The Quest for Joseph Emidy"
  
• Featured performer in Opsail 2000, Amistad maiden voyage to Hartford celebration, Foxwoods Casino
  
• Extended compositions and awards: “J. A. Emidy…Infinity,” “The Jazz Republic,” “While Dancing with the Dolphins I Remember”
  
• Connecticut Commission on the Arts, 1999 Fellowship, Meet the Composer 1998, The Jerome Foundation 1997
  
• Recordings: Jazz, indigenous traditional, Omnipop, “Afro Algonquin” (Moers Music [MoMu]), “Nasty” (MoMu), “Street Priest” (MoMu), “The Jazz Singers Summit” (MoMu), “Man Dance” (Island Records), “The Maheekanew View” (Indian Ruins Records [IRR]) , “Plastic Champions” (IRR), “Mixashawn & Word, Out…” (IRR), “The Ghostly Trio…Live at Schemitzun ’94” (IRR), “WAVEOUT…” (Omnipop Studio [OS]), “The Mixashawn Quartet, Jazz in 1999” (OS), “J. A. Emidy...Infinity” (OS)
• Founder and president of the Pequonawonk Canoe Society, dedicated to promoting traditional and contemporary Indigenous culture of the Connecticut River Valley, including the design, construction, and sailing of modified canoe trimarans—featured in the Hartford Courant, Soundings, and the Cape Cod Times
  
• Educational performances and presentations in museums and art Centers; National Museum of the American Indian (New York City), National Museum of Science and Technology (Washington, D.C.), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Museum of Modern Art (Columbus, OH), Mashentucket Pequot Museum (Mashentucket, CT), Pebody Museum (New Haven, CT)
  
• Multicultural educational consultant/performer in numerous universities,schools, and powwows: University of Hartford, Hartt School of Music (Hartford, CT), Wheeler Elementary School (Southington, CT), Guilford Handcraft Center (Guilford, CT,) Greater Hartford Arts Council, Schemitzun 1992, 1993, 1994, 1997