Lee “Mixashawn” Rozie has collaborated and performed with artists such as Donald Alexander Strachan and The Freedom Ensemble, Bobby McFerrin (Sorrow is Not Forever, Love is), Ntozke Shange (Where the Amazon Meets the Mississippi) , Rashid Ali, Ronald Shannon Jackson and The Decoding Society, Saheb Sarbib and his Multinational Big Band, Daniel Carter, Pheeroan Aklaf, Ravi Coltrane, Don Pullen, Henry Grimes, William Parker (Extended Breathe Suite), Dave Douglas (Don Cherry’s Symphony for Improvisors Project), Kali Fasteau (Intuit, Piano Rupture, Oneness), Steve Swell, Hamid Drake and Dave Burell, and James Brandon Lewis to name but a few.

Together with his brother, bassist Rick Rozie, and several iconic drummers such as Rashied Ali, Pheeroan AkLaff, and Royal Hartigan who have alternated over the past four decades, Mixashawn created Afro Algonquin Trio, a project celebrating the fusion between African-American music and that of the indigenous people of the Americas. The trio made its recording debut in 1980 with Afro Algonquin (Moers Music).

Mixashawn has appeared on stages internationally, including the Moers Festival, The Public Theater, Vision Fest, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Schemitzun (Mashantucket Pequot Nation), The Stone, Roulette Intermedium, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Park Avenue Armory, Real Art Ways, Hartford Jazz Festival, institutions such as Museum of the American Indian, American Museum of Natural History, Weslyan University, University of Massachusetts, University of Connecticut, Western New England University and Harvard University, as well as numerous powwows. He appears in Ken Levis’ documentary film, Jackie McLean on Mars. Mixashawn also served as music director for the play Red Ink, which explores issues of contemporary Native life. The work received its world premiere at Mixed Blood Theatre, Minneapolis.

Mixashawn hails from the community that became known as the Windsor Indians or River Indians and is of Maheekanew, Mohawk, and Cherokee descent. His work is rooted in what he calls “Hemispheric Principles” or Indigenous principles of culture, sound, and engineering. Mixashawn’s multi-hull canoe designs have been featured in “Cape Cod Times,” “Hartford Courant,” and “Soundings Magazine.”