The ensemble would go through various ups and downs, but the mantra, and the power of P.A.P.A. was never lost. In 1999 Horace Tapscott passed. The gravity of this was hefty, but still didn’t stop the Ark. That year the torch was handed down to the saxophonist Michael Session, a mentee of Horaces and an Ark member since 1974. Session led the Ark until 2018, when he passed the leadership to his son Mekala. Currently the Ark is directed by Mekala along with many of the veteran ark members including his father and Jesse Sharps.