Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph The World at Peace, Music for 12 Musicians [1995]

Picture a 12-piece orchestra with percussion from Africa, the Americas, India, and the Middle East; a rainbow of wind instruments (shenai, musette, kudu horn, bass clarinet, tuba, saxophone, trumpet, flute); and ethereal strings (cello, harp, violin, and classical acoustic and electric MIDI guitar). Now, picture a seamless integration of those textures and tones, a ritual celebration of live trance beats, shamanistic polyrhythms, melodies with wings, drum skins on fire, space and silence between thick brush strokes of color.
The compositions are as harmonically elegant as any score in the Duke Ellington catalog. At once earthy and cosmic, Lateef & Rudolph's two-CD set transcends the myopia of genre-based thinking. Reaffirming the power of the creative spirit, The World at Peace offers up pure expression as a source of positivity and wonderment. Its cultural import spans the planet.   

                                       

                                    Enjoy!   CD1  &  CD2

 

 

Roy Brooks - Ethnic Expressions [1973]

Ethnic Expressions by Roy Brooks & the Artistic Truth is one of two recordings drum master Roy Brooks cut for the tiny Afrocentric New York imprint Im-Hotep. Released in 1973, it has been one of the most sought-after "Holy Grail" recordings on the collector's market, with copies selling at auction for over $1,200. The reason is not merely its rarity, but the stellar quality of its music and the focus of its vision reinventing the unity of African-American self-determination through music. Recording at Small's Paradise in Harlem on the tenth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, this large collective of musicians created a positive, musically sophisticated, emotionally powerful performance that epitomized 1970s jazz as it incorporated the free, progressive, and spiritual jazz elements of the 1960s in a setting that also included soul and blues expression. The personnel includes Brooks on drums and percussion; Olu Dara and Cecil Bridgewater on trumpets and flügelhorn; Hamiet Bluiett, Sonny Fortune, and John Stubblefield on saxophones, flute, and bass clarinets; pianists Joe Bonner (acoustic) and Hilton Ruiz (Rhodes); bassist Reggie Workman; and Richard Landrum and Lawrence Williams on African percussion. Vocalist Eddie Jefferson also appears on the "The Smart Set" and "Eboness," at his most expressive and soulful. The album's five tracks include two longer pieces in "M'Jumbe" (whose arrangement reflects the time Brooks spent with Charles Mingus a year earlier) and the closing "Eboness (Kwanza)," as well as three middle-length pieces

The 16-minute "M'Jumbe" begins in a free call and response between trumpet, percussion, and bowed bass, gradually adding more instruments until its groove emerges at two minutes and its melody unfolds near the three-minute mark. Even as the horn sections quote the theme, improvisation moves in and out, funky themes are introduced with another melodic statement, and brief moments of free playing slip through before formal solos are taken. The tune is always circular due to its impeccably preeminent rhythmic elements. "The Last Prophet" showcases the band's groove side with stellar piano work from Bonner and a horn section in full swagger. The interplay between Workman and Brooks is magical. Jefferson's hip R&B roots are brought into play on the finger-popping "The Smart Set" and his blues authority on "Eboness," with some deep soul work from Workman and Ruiz as well as a fine flute solo from Fortune. On "Eboness (Kwanza)," the vocalist referred to as "Black Rose" is Dee Dee Bridgewater. This is a bona fide jazz classic; its importance as an example of the best that jazz had to offer in the 1970s cannot be overstated. 

                                                                Enjoy!

Donald Byrd - A New Perspective [1963]

  A hauntingly beautiful album, trumpeter Donald Byrd's A New Perspective is a unique pairing of a jazz septet with an 8-voice choir. The choir's wordless harmonizing lends an incredible heaviness to the music, a weight that leaves a deep impression in the mind of the listener. Although the group features such stars as Herbie Hancock and Kenny Burrell, they take care to act in support of the overall concept and not overplay, while Byrd's solos provide a perfect compliment to the choir, often quoting the same melodies. While some cuts like the opener "Elijah" swing jubilantly, the album works best on slow, somber numbers like "Beast of Burden" and "Cristo Redentor", the languid paces of which allow them to resonate with an almost unbearable degree of solemnity. An absolute must-have album.

 

                                                                               Enjoy!

VA-Eccentric Soul - Soul Messages From Dimona (2008)

One of the grooviest compilations we've ever seen – a collection of work by American expatriates living in Israel at the end of the 70s – a hip blend of US funk and Hebrew spirituality! Most of the work here sounds like the best spiritual funk of the 70s – very much in an Earth Wind & Fire tradition of joy, love, and life – played in righteous ensemble mode with a good deal of jazz in the instrumentation alongside funkier rhythms on the bottom! The artists on the set originally hailed from Chicago and Detroit – and there's still strong influence from those scenes, particularly the early 70s sound of the Windy City. If you dig The Pharaohs and Pieces Of Peace, you'll find plenty here to love – and as usual with Numero Records, the whole thing comes with an amazing booklet of notes – the full story of this unique musical diaspora, supported with some great images as well. Titles include "Go To Proclaim", "Equilibrium", "Prince Of Zeal", "Junky Baby", and "Savior In The East" by Soul Messengers; "Holding On" and "Dimona" by Tonistics; "Daniel", "Burn Devil Burn", and "A Place To Be" by Spirit Of Israel & Soul Messengers; and "Hey There" and "Modernization" by Sons Of The Kingdom.

DG

Enjoy!