#Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra
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Music is an Essential Verb: Derek Taylor 2023
Music remains, along with family, friends, and a select few venial vices, my primary daily defense against the mental erosions of spiritual malaise and existential dread. Being a humanist also means being a realist, and little looks to be different on that score in the year ahead as we continue to careen toward a bleak and self-defeating dénouement. The veil of uncertainty around what ultimately feels like inevitability redoubles the need to remain thankful for and supportive of those who devote themselves to art. Summary capsules below describe some of the sounds that kept me going in 2023.
Peter Brötzmann, Wayne Shorter, Kidd Jordan, & Charles Gayle
“The trauma of my generation was what our fathers had done to the rest of the world, and so we said, ‘never again,’ and that was the whole impetus through all my life, and it still is.” ~ Brötzmann (2018)
Musician attrition and demise are dispiriting aspects of every annum, but the departure of four disparate octogenarian reedists exacted an especially steep emotional and cultural toll this year. Shorter and Jordan passed away in March, each of them leaving a rich legacy as indefatigable improviser and altruistic educator that continue influence and inspire. Brötzmann exited in June after the return of a protracted respiratory illness. Few if any can match the magnitude of his mileage and six-decade itinerary as an irrepressible, obstinately adventurous world traveler. Gayle ascended in September, an ardent, uncompromising eremite to the end. All four men left behind discographies and concert/interview footage that will leave the faithful and curious listening and marveling in perpetuity, but their collective absence still aches.
Kirk Knuffke & Joe McPhee Quartet + 1 – Keep the Dream Up (Fundacja Sluchaj)
One of the manifold joys of following the output of Kirk Knuffke is anticipating who he’ll collaborate with next. The cornetist’s ears and imagination are as huge as his heart, a trait he has in common with the equally equanimous Joe McPhee. They’ve known each other for years but Keep the Dream Up is their first released collaboration and it’s an affirming alloy of their complementary creative temperaments. Longtime McPhee comrades Michael Bisio and Jay Rosen complete the quartet with bass clarinetist Christof Knoche comprising the additive on a Brooklyn studio session that captures collective creative lightning in a digital bottle. My album of the year for these reasons and more, although hopefully Joe will bring his brass to a follow-up conclave soon.
Don Byas – Classic Sessions 1944-1946 (Mosaic)
Saxophonist Don Byas recorded prolifically during the 1940s. His porous sound and popular style bridged the schools of swing and bop through prowess and panache aligned with the most esteemed of post-WII tone scientists. That sustained industriousness hasn’t reflected in reliable access to his works, primarily because they’re spread across a plethora of independent labels and competing copyrights. Leave it to Mosaic Records to rectify the longstanding reissue lacuna. This long gestating collection corrals and sequences the bulk of them across ten discs, scrubbing their sound, and adding an expansive cache of rarified verité concert recordings made in a Swedish jazz fan’s residence. Indulging in one’s Byas bias has never been easier or as edifying.
Fred Anderson – The Milwaukee Tapes Vol. 2 (Corbett vs Dempsey)
Patience and long-game aptitude are among music producer/archivist/advocate John Corbett’s virtues. This unexpected, but abundantly welcome sequel to an archival Anderson collection on Corbett’s long defunct Unheard Music Series took 23 years to secure commercial circulation and offers an additional hour-plus from the same gig in improved sound. Fellow AACMers Billy Brimfield and Hamid (nee Hank) Drake join bassist Larry Hayrod in bringing vibrant, detailed life to the Lone Prophet of the Prairie’s (as Anderson was affectionately known) serpentine, cerulean melodies. Corbett’s current label released a plenitude of music in 2023 (see also below) but the uncommon opportunity to hear more Anderson of any vintage makes this release worthy of independent mention.
Jason Adasiewicz
Corbett vs. Dempsey also had a welcome role in Jason Adasiewicz’s return to record with two different projects. On vinyl, Roy’s World documents a 2017 Chicago studio session by the vibraphonist’s quintet originally intended as the soundtrack to a film based on neo-noir novelist Barry Gifford’s short stories. Chicago stalwarts Josh Berman, Joshua Abrams, Hamid Drake, join saxophonist Jonathan Doyle in the ensemble for a program that sounds at once fresh and nostalgic while always vital. On CD, Roscoe’s Village dispenses with band for a solo selective foray through the songbook of Roscoe Mitchell including evocative renderings of “Congliptious” and “A Jackson in Your House” that retain the composer’s essence while striking out in bold new directions.
Natural Information Society
Grounded as it is in core voices of guembri, frame drum and harmonium, codification of Josh Abrams’ NIS as a jazz ensemble immediately feels reductively incomplete. All participating instruments can be active architects in the undulating, melody-laced drones that frequently form the basis of the band’s gradual, granulated improvisations. Performances are more akin to collective expeditions where a galvanizing gestalt effect is afoot; one where earned communal peaks preserve the individual power and agency of the interlocking parts. Since Time is Gravity augments this already catalytic template by incorporating a larger contingent of Chicago colleagues including tenorist Ari Brown to the equation.
Abdul Wadud
A jazz-based improviser on the cello who didn’t double on other stringed instruments, Wadud was also a consummate collaborator and sideman. Magnanimity in lending his substantial talents to the projects of others resulted in a paucity of albums under his own name. By Myself from 1977 on the Bisharra label is a revelatory anomaly on that self-effacing resume. Wadud approaches the instrument as a multifaceted sound factory, plucking, strumming, and bowing, often simultaneously, to create solo tone poems steeped in personal poignancy. Gotta Groove’s vinyl reissue is a beautiful facsimile of the original album object in faithfully reconstructed fidelity.
Marion Brown
Georgia-born altoist Marion Brown had a lengthy, storied career but the body of recorded work that he left behind can present difficulties in terms of ingress to its totality. Scattered across labels, years, and circumstances, much of it is either out of print or commercially unreleased. That collective relative obscurity makes a trio of releases, two on the German Moosicus label, and a third Record Store Day viny reissue of Brown’s 1970 studio duets with Wadada Leo Smith under the shared sobriquet Creative Improvisation Ensemble even more valuable. Of the former two, Mary Ann presents concert material by Brown’s quartet from a 1969 Bremen club gig in soundboard fidelity. Gesprächsfetzen & In Sommerhausen combines two more German concert snapshots, quintet, and sextet, from 1968 & 1969 with Gunter Hampel originally released on the Calig imprint. Steve McCall is a boon on drums in all three contexts.
Art Pepper – Complete Maiden Voyage Recordings (Omnivore)
Art Pepper was an inveterate rake for most of his life, magnifying destructive interpersonal tendencies with drugs and frustratingly frequent acts of self-sabotage. That star-crossed propensity makes the fact that he left so much magnificent music even more miraculous. This lavish box is a fascinating compendium of the constantly competing artistic contradictions at his center, collecting a quartet gig across three nights and seven club sets in Pepper’s native Los Angeles, ten months prior to his premature passing at 56. Over half of the music is previously unreleased and the rhythm section, led by the impeccable and implacable pianistics of George Cables, gives Pepper a cumulative confidence boost that keeps him on the rails. None of it has ever sounded better.
Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra
Los Angeles of the late-1970s was an unforgiving environment for the economic necessities of orchestral jazz. The Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra, under the nominal leadership of pianist/composer/community organizer Horace Tapscott, was a tenaciously subversive force in the face of that ruinous rule. Adopting the Immanuel United Church of Christ as an informal base of operations, the large ensemble resourcefully engaged in an ambitious series of concerts in 1979. The Nimbus label, long a Tapscott exponent and repository, released the first three entries this year in an archival subscription series collecting the voluminous results. Titles are also available individually and present the pivotal band at a performative peak with star soloists Sabir Mateen, Billy Harris, Jesse Sharps, and Robert Miranda shining just as bright as their fearless foreman.
Alan Skidmore – A Supreme Love
Unexpectedly issued on Mark Wastell’s Confront label, an imprint better known for its fealty to free improvisation, this six-disc archival tribute to Alan Skidmore’s 70+ year career in music launches with the saxophonist’s 1961 radio debut and lands some seven-hours later with his intimate 2019 rendering of John Coltrane’s “Psalm.” The aural expanse between is brimming with bright moments and luminary collaborators the likes of which include Tony Oxley, Kenny Wheeler, Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland, Mike Osborne, Elvin Jones, and another dozen name drops from the top tier of improvised music. It’s a wild, illuminating ride and a sterling example of a musical memorial done right.
The Jazz Doctors – Intensive Care/Prescriptions Filled: The Billy Bang Quartet Sessions 1983/1984 (Cadillac)
Billy Bang and Frank Lowe shared a bottomless fraternal bond forged through parallel traumas internalized in Vietnam and expressed by the subsequent embrace of the restorative power of improvised music. The pair of sessions (one reissued, one archival) collected on this disc epitomize their deep attachment arguably as well as any of their other numerous collaborations. Outside the cardinal duo, the Jazz Doctors never really had a stable lineup, but the quartets here embody two of their best. Both programs are loosely adherent to freebop conventions with violin and tenor saxophone combining over contrabass and drums for a potent front line. Bang and Lowe are long gone now, their shared absence making the availability of this music even more precious.
Attila Zoller & Jimmy Raney
Hungarian guitarist Attila Zoller had selective affinity for other artists on the instrument, so much so that his mid-career period is seeded by fateful encounters with plectrist peers. Most prolific among these partnerships was his prudent pairing with Jimmy Raney. A popular proponent of bop-based jazz, Raney was in a similar exploratory headspace when the two joined forces on a trio of recordings for the German L + R label over a seven-year span. Concert dates from Frankfurt (’80) and Berlin (’86) find the duo spooling out lengthy dialogues that dabble in free improvisation while keeping codified melodies within reach. An earlier New York encounter (’79) explores their rapport in a studio. All three reissues on the Japanese Ultra-Vybe imprint are aces.
Steve Swell’s Fire Into Music
Simultaneously emblematic of NYC free jazz in the early aughts and fiercely dedicated to resisting pitfalls of provincialism by touring generously and rigorously, trombonist Steve Swell’s Fire into Music was one of the finest quartets of its kind. Posthumously dedicated to the late altoist Moondoc, this three CD set collects a trio of small venue concerts by the band from gigs in Texas and Ontario. As with the horns, William Parker and Hamid Drake are ideally suited to the extended, expository freebop safaris that formed the ensemble’s flexible repertoire. Swell’s the leader on paper but sagely embraces musical communalism without fail.
Intakt
Running a physical media imprint in the 21st century is an inherently parlous enterprise, but this steadfast Swiss label continues to evidence how it’s done. This year’s standout catalog entries include Andrew Cyrille’s Music Delivery/Percussion, the octogenarian drummer’s third solo album and first in 45-years; bassist Jöelle Leandré’s solo Zurich Concert; pianist Aruán Ortiz’s Serranías Sketchbook for Piano Trio; Beyond Dragons by the trio of saxophonist Angelika Niescier, cellist Tomeka Reid, and drummer Savannah Harris, and Ohad Talmor’s Back to the Land, a quartet-plus-guests survey that takes its compositional focus an archival workshop date by Ornette Coleman and Lee Konitz.
Ezz-thetics
The appearance of the Swiss Ezz-thetics imprint four years ago raised both eyebrows and ire. Lacking access to master tapes, veteran free jazz and new music producer Werner Uehlinger sourced commercially released editions instead, employing ace audio engineer Peter Pfister succeeded by Michael Brandli to rejuvenate and refurbish the recordings, stateside copyright considerations be damned. Reaction was expeditious and polemical, but proof is in the hearing as most of the label’s dozens of releases sound better than their original incarnations. Catalog highlights this year include another round of Albert Ayler airshots including his pivotal meeting with the Cecil Tayor Trio in 1962 on More Lost Performances, Charles Mingus’ At Antibes 1960, and Ornette Coleman’s At the Golden Circle.
Fresh Sound
Jordi Pujol is akin to Uehlinger in that he refuses to let his vision and ambitions as a producer be abbreviated by external opinion. In Pujol’s case it’s yielded a bountiful inventory of antiquarian titles that rights holders have shown little to zero interest in restoring to begin with. Cases in point for this year include a definitive collection of obscurando saxophonist Boots Mussulli’s works; concert and studio collections by the Count Basie alumni tandem of Al Grey and Billy Mitchell; hens’ teeth rare leader sessions by Arthur Lyman vibraphonist Julius Wechter; and a two-fer of Julliard-trained Ellingtonian Cass Harrison piano trio albums. Exciting guilty pleasures all around.
Playing for the Man at the Door
As complex as he was controversial, Robert “Mack” McCormick deserves consideration in the esteemed company of other maverick cultural archivists like Alan Lomax, George Mitchell, and Harry Smith. With a preservationist purview mostly comprising Texas and bordering states, McCormick spent much of his adult life obsessively documenting and disentangling the cultural capital of the region through recordings, photography, interviews, essays, and research. Smithsonian Folkways became repository for the massive reservoir after his passing and this box is the first in what will hopefully be multiple dispatches from the same. Unreleased field recordings of Mance Lipscomb and Lightnin’ Hopkins represent the big names, but works by the likes of Hop Wilson, Cedell Davis, Robert Shaw, and a handful of others are just as persuasive. Bongo Joe Coleman’s impassioned presidential pitch closing the set will have listeners pining for a time when third party Executive Branch candidacy didn’t seem so fraught.
Joni Mitchell Archives - Vol. 3, The Asylum Years 1972 to 1975
Mitchell’s continuing project corollary to her old friend Neil Young’s analogously exhaustive retrospective enterprise, this third entry in the series finds her 30-something-self further broadening the lens of her art beyond the solo concert music that dominated the first two boxes. There are stirring solitary shows here, too, but it’s the band offerings that prove most revealing, particularly in the company of reedist Tom Scott’s fusion group L.A. Express. James Taylor, Graham Nash, and David Crosby lend contributory hands, and there’s a brief but intriguing collaboration with Young alongside a trove of demos and workshop versions of songs from her first three albums for Asylum.
Martin Davidson
In closing, another memorial. Martin Davidson wasn’t a musician, but European free improvisation as an art and archive would be a fraction of what it is without his copious and enduring work. As steadfast proprietor of the Emanem label he put his resources into musicians whose efforts frequently fell outside the probability of consistent commercial remuneration. Under his aegis, influential improvisers like Steve Lacy, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, and Paul Rutherford gained robust catalogs alongside other aspiring artists who never garnered even niche cachet. Davidson was a curmudgeon and an anachronism, trusting his ears implicitly, suffering the indignities of inquiries from strangers seeking audience with the hip hop icon who shared the phonetics of his imprint’s name, and advancing the pleasures of physical media well past their purported expiration date. He was also a talented writer, adding invaluable context to his releases through first-person testimony and critique. Martin will be missed.
And as is tradition in this 20th iteration of this year-end exercise, 25 more titles in stochastic order. Thanks to all for reading, and gratitude to Jennifer Kelly for providing the forum and formatting.
Rodrigo Amado’s The Bridge – Beyond the Margins (Trost)
James Brandon Lewis – For Mahalia with Love (Tao Forms)
Henry Threadgill – The Other One (Pi)
Guillermo Gregorio – Two Trios (ESP)
Rob Brown – Oceanic (RogueArt)
Rich Halley Quintet – Fire Within (Pine Eagle)
Milford Graves w/ Arthur Doyle & Hugh Glover – Children of the Forest (Black Editions)
Mike Osborne – Starting Fires: Live at the 100 Club 1970 (British Progressive Jazz)
Jim Hall – Uniquities Vol 1 + 2 (ArtistShare)
Madhuvanti Pal – The Holy Mother (Sublime Frequencies)
V/A – On the Honky Tonk Highway with Augie Meyers & the Texas Re-Cord Company (Bear Family)
Mal Waldron & Terumasa Hino – Reminiscent Suite (Victor/BBE)
Oum Kalsoum – L’Astre D’Orient 1926-1937 (Fremeaux & Associates)
Sonny Rollins w/ the Heikki Sarmanto Trio – Live at Finlandia Hall Helsinki 1972 (Svart)
V/A – Equatoriana: El Universo Paralelo de Polibio Mayorga (Analog Africa)
Evan Parker – NYC 1978 (Relative Pitch)
V/A – If There’s a Hell Below (Numero Group)
John Coltrane – Evenings at the Village Gate (Impulse)
Derek Bailey & Paul Motian – Duo in Concert (Frozen Reeds)
Peter Brötzmann/Fred Van Hove/Han Bennink/Albert Mangelsdorff – Outspan 1 & 2 (FMP/Cien Fuegos)
Hasaan Ibn Ali – Reaching for the Stars: Trios/Duos/Solos (Omnivore)
Mark Dresser – Tines of Change (Pyroclastic)
Steve Millhouse – The Unwinding (Steeplechase)
Myra Melford’s Fire and Water Quintet – Hear the Light Singing (RogueArt)
V/A – Destination Desert: 33 Oriental Rock & Roll Treasures (Bear Family)
#dusted magazine#derek taylor#yearend 2023#Peter Brötzmann#Wayne Shorter#jazz#kidd jordan#charles gayle#kirk knuffle#joe mcphee#don byas#fred anderson#Jason Adasiewicz#natural information society#Abdul Wadud#marion brown#art pepper#Pan Afrikan People’s Arkestra#Alan Skidmore#The jazz doctors#Attila Zoller & Jimmy Raney
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Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra - 60 Years - one archival track for each decade from the 1960s through the 2010s
This release is the culmination of 60 years of Black history through sound. Since its conception in 1961, the Ark has had a mission echoed by every director since Horace Tapscott himself, "To preserve the music of Black composers, dead or alive. To perform this music in our neighborhoods, for our people." The institution of the Arkestra fostered a culture of community, spirituality, Black empowerment, and most importantly, love. I am forever indebted to my ancestors and grateful to you, reading this message, for your part in the music as a listener. Peace. - Mekala Session
These recordings were collected and assembled by The Village & PAPA
Individual song credits can be found within each track link
Mixed, Mastered and Remastered by Wayne Peet
Art by Jay Curry
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(via The Legacy of the Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra | Bandcamp Daily)
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Colloboh (a portmanteau of Collins Oboh) is a Nigerian-born, Los Angeles-based experimental producer and composer who has spent the past several years cultivating genre-spanning modular wizardry. We had a chance to chat with Colloboh about music as meditation, his summer residency with us, and trusting in the guide and the glide.
Let’s get started. What drives you to make music and what do you hope to share with it?
Collins: Making music is more like a meditation for me. It's just the way I express myself because I'm not the best at verbally expressing emotions, I'm still getting better at that. Music is an outlet for me to express myself.
What do you mean by music being a meditation?
Collins: It's like getting into a zone where I can spend hours listening to one loop. It feels meditative, you know? It's hard to explain. It's getting in a zone where your mind is clear, and you just flow into it. It's a way to practice intuition for me. When I'm making music, something pops out, and I'm like, "Okay, let's keep going with that idea." It's about flowing and practicing intuition, trusting the process of things.
Like being in a stable flow, I totally feel that. Is your interest in loops what got you into synthesizers?
Collins: Not necessarily synthesizers. I just like the idea of sculpting something. It's pretty analogous to being a sculptor with a marble piece: you have this raw thing that you can sculpt into anything you want. That's what attracts me to synthesis and using synthesizers. Starting with raw waveforms like sine waves, saw waves, and square waves, you can sculpt those sounds by filtering, adding delays, and other effects, combining different elements. It's just fun, you know?
Is there anything that led you to start playing with synthesizers in that way?
Well, I started making music with some friends back in high school. I was making beats for them, and we were in a little rap group. Then I watched this one YouTube video that convinced me to get into modular synthesizers. It's been about eight or nine years now. Shout out to YouTube.
Literally. It's free information. Love it. I heard that you used to study some kind of science before?
Oh yeah, I was into data engineering.
Do you feel like that has any crossover with your music practice?
I actually get asked that a lot, but it's funny because it feels like the other way around. When I was doing data engineering for a living, I was already into the synthesizer world. There are similar concepts, like having a sound source or data source, transforming it, and then outputting it in a different way. It was a concept I was already familiar with through electronic music. It actually helped my real life.
That's awesome. You do music full time now though, right?
Yeah, I do music full time. It's been almost a year now since I stopped my day job. We're trying to make it work. It's fucking hard as hell.
What kind of struggles have you experienced, especially with that transition?
Financial struggles, like most other artists. But we're making it work. You know, I have a lot of faith, maybe a foolish amount of faith (laughs), that things work out if you just follow the greater path, just quoting "Trust the Guide and Glide," a record by MatthewDavid. But I feel like it's a true thing. When I had my job, I was financially secure but not happy. Now it's flipped. I'm not financially secure, but I feel very happy and present. It's a priceless feeling. I'd rather have that than anything.
Yeah, I definitely feel there's truth to the idea that as long as you're true to yourself, you spread that energy and attract the right things. And maybe the money will come eventually.
Yeah, I believe in that. Mm-hmm.
I see that you grew up in the DMV area?
Yeah, I was born in Nigeria and then moved to Maryland when I was seven. I lived in Maryland until about a year and a half ago.
Do you feel like moving here influenced the way you see things or make music?
In a way, it's hard to say. I don't really feel like I'm fully American or fully Nigerian. I guess I'm just an Earth person (laughs). It's a benefit because I don't have to align with any particular thing. I can just be myself.
Growing up in Maryland was cool. There's a lot of diversity, especially in Montgomery County where I grew up. I'm grateful because I got to meet people from different cultures and befriend them. It influenced my taste in music and my openness to different things. Living in Baltimore for five years was a big part of my coming of age. I learned a lot about caring for others, empathy, and music experimentation. Baltimore has a huge experimentation scene. It was a big influence on my creativity.
How was your experience transitioning to LA? What kind of impression did you have of the city?
I feel very lucky because before I moved here, about a month or two before, I came and played one of the park shows for Leaving Records. That's when I got to meet everyone and actually met Sam. Sam was really nice and let me crash at her place (laughs). So I got so lucky because I met so many people at that show who I'm still close friends with today. Moving here made so much sense.
That's awesome.
Yeah, I feel so grateful. Everything feels so right. I have no doubt and no fear.
Being here has taught me a lot about community and the importance of having a shared mindset, shared vision, and uplifting each other to reach our fullest potentials. That's the vibe.
So sweet. For your residency, do you have any particular intention with regards to experimentation or challenging your current practice?
Definitely, I'll be challenged. The first show, which is gonna be on the ship, that's gonna be fucking amazing. I can't even believe that's happening now (laughs). It's been on my bucket list to go whale watching, and it was just a surreal thing when Noah was like, "Yeah, we're thinking about this whale watching thing." It was another moment where I was like, "Oh fuck yeah, this all feels so right." I'm so excited for that. I have no idea what I'm gonna play. I'm excited to see Green-House play, MatthewDavid is gonna play too. I'm probably gonna mess around with some of the aquatic microphones, but honestly I don't even really care too much about the music (laughs), I'm just excited for the whales.
And the next show, which is at the Hollyhock, I'm excited for that because I keep hearing how beautiful that space is. I've never been there. It's gonna be a good challenge because it's gonna be like a whole band with me, hopefully Mickey, Qur'an and Spencer. The three of us are gonna play my latest EP front to back, with some other songs here and there.
Saana Sahel is a gorgeous EP. It feels very elegant.
Thank you, I appreciate it. I made that while I was in LA and I was going through a breakup. It was kind of chaotic, but also there were moments of crazy energy and moments of super peacefulness, which is how my emotions were when I was going through all that shit. Living in LA for the first time, going through lots of changes, quitting my job, breaking up, moving to a new place. It's been a huge life change, but also just a blessing.
Totally. Through change, you kind of disintegrate and rebuild yourself, and then you're this new version of yourself, and it feels really exciting and sad. What about your last show in the Japanese Garden?
I'm actually gonna play a solo version of what I play with the whole band, but I'm gonna be on the side, and my friend Stephanie is gonna be doing a dance performance. So it'll be more of an elegant, low-key thing where she dances to it. She's one of my favorite dancers, and I'm just excited to see what she creates.
There's also a legendary poet named Kamau Daaood, and I'm trying to see if I can get him to read some poetry for that last show. So I would do this solo set with my friend Stephanie dancing, and then it would end with a poetry reading from Kamau Daaood. I feel like it would be a special thing, just to pay homage to the Pan African People's Arkestra, which has been super influential to my recent music. From their actual music to my friends like Mickey and Qur'an and Leaving Records. He can have all the money honestly.
It's literally just a labor of love, and I'm excited for the experience of it.
Do you have any particular relationship with the outdoors or sound in the outdoors?
I love being outdoors. The ocean, especially. It's a grounding space for me. I was at the beach two days ago, felt like I was recalibrating my energy. Now I sound like an LA girl.
(Laughs) You're centering yourself in Mother Nature.
But honestly, being by the ocean feels like that. Actually, my EP "Saana Sahel" on vinyl, the tracks are split into two sides. The first three tracks remind me of the desert, and the last three tracks remind me of the ocean. Those are two important spaces for me. When I moved to LA, I had psychedelic experiences in the desert, and I've always loved the ocean. It's one of the main reasons I moved here. The ocean reminds me of my ex because we both loved it. It holds a lot of personal meaning.
They're both endless expanses but extreme opposites of each other.
Beautifully said. I might steal that.
Go for it (laughs). What does "Saana Sahel" mean?
It's something I made up, actually. Making music is like a meditative space for me. "Saana Sahel" represents this place I strive to reach inward, a place of greater peace, higher self, and responsibility as a human. It's a made-up place, like a Mount Everest, where I'm working towards.
Like enlightenment.
Exactly.
Do you have a favorite plant?
Damn, I love that question. That's tough. Well, I like hydrangeas. I remember when I worked at Home Depot in the plant section, I learned about hydrangeas. They're pretty.
I also like thyme. It's an herb, but it's strong. I planted it, and it made it through the winter. Like, bitch you won't die. It's just always there, I never have to worry. When a recipe needs thyme, I can just go outside. Not like fucking parsley, which might be dead. (Laughs)
It's reliable. It shows up. Is there anything else you want to add or talk about? Anything on your mind?
Yeah, I feel really grateful for this. The Floating community, the staff at Floating, shout out to Noah, Nina, Sam, and everyone else. You guys make this a no-brainer.
Aww, thanks. That's what we try to do.
Hopefully you guys get a bigger budget one day. It's tough right now for what we're trying to do, but if we all believe in it and don't give up, that's what matters.
For sure. Something will manifest, even if it's not what we can imagine right now.
Save the dates for Colloboh’s summer residency! For more info visit our website at https://www.feelslikefloating.com/colloboh-summer-residency
#music#interview#ambient music#music outdoors#nature#music outside#indie#electronic music#art#synthesizer#whales#colloboh#matthewdavid#leaving records#pan afrikan people's arkestra#Bandcamp
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Horace Tapscott (April 6, 1934 - February 27, 1999) pianist, bandleader, and social activist committed his life to the empowerment of his South Central Los Angeles community. He founded the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra and its umbrella organization, the Union of God’s Musicians and Artists Ascension, both of which were at the forefront of the vibrant community arts movement in Black Los Angeles.
He was born in Houston. His mother, Mary Malone Tapscott, was a professional singer and pianist. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1943. He spent his childhood learning piano and trombone, immersed in the richly diverse Central Avenue nightclub scene. After attending Jefferson High School and Los Angeles City College, he served in the Air Force, playing trombone in a service band. He found that the LAPD, operating had dismantled the Central Avenue arts scene. While on tour with the Lionel Hampton orchestra, he was hoping to reforge the communicative link between Black artists and the community.
He envisioned an orchestra that could preserve Black culture, perform original music, and foster community involvement. With local musicians, he formed the Underground Musicians Association, which established the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. The Arkestra engaged the youth through musical instruction, revised history courses, and remedial reading and math classes. The Arkestra performed in public schools, parks, community centers, churches, hospitals, and prisons.
Although the Arkestra played in support of diverse political groups, internally it stressed only the importance of self-expression. The Arkestra developed a key relationship with the Black Panther Party. He and Elaine Brown composed “The Meeting,” which became the Panthers’ anthem, and the Arkestra performed original musical arrangements to back Elaine Brown on her albums Seize the Time and Elaine Brown.
He continued to encourage any community member with an artistic spirit to perform in the Arkestra, embracing poets, dancers, and improvisational martial artists. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence
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a jazz mix for the spring season 🌱💛 featuring Angel Bat Dawid, Oneness of Juju, Horace Tapscott & Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra + more
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fleshwater // pan afrikan peoples arkestra // porter robinson
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Listen to: Eternal Egypt Suite by Horace Tapscott with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra
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This previously unreleased album by the Horace Tapscott Quintet was unearthed from master tapes in the Flying Dutchman archives. Recorded in 1969 and was intended to be a follow-up album to the classic 'The Giant Is Awakened' which was released that year.
The iconic pianist and composer Horace Tapscott was one of the most unique and important figures in LA’s jazz world. This lost recording was produced by one of the pivotal figures in jazz, Bob Thiele, a leading behind-the-scenes star who worked with many of the greats in jazz, such as Quincy Jones, Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Della Reese, Shirley Scott, Gil Scott-Heron, the list goes on. His name can be seen gracing, arguably the best, Impulse! releases and those released on his own Flying Dutchman imprint set up in 1969.
Joining Horace for this three-track, deep, heavy, avant-garde session are the same stellar cast featured on 'The Giant Is Awakened'; Arthur Blythe on Alto Sax, Everett Brown Jr on Drums, with David Bryant and Walter Savage Jr. on Bass. Kicking things off we have 'World Peace’, which starts with an almost baroque-esque melody, leading to an eruption in sound, it then ends in the same manner it began. The beautiful 'Your Child' is the jewel in the crown, skirting modal, deep jazz and introducing elements of free jazz. 'For Fats' with its bow bass and piano intro takes you on a journey, dropping into, at times dark, stormy melodies and developing a driving energy as the composition progresses.
After recording this album, Horace was said to be wary of the music industry, so he retreated and distanced himself from this world, recording only for the independent labels UGMAA, Interplay Records, and Nimbus West Records. He set up The Pan-Afrikan People’s Arkestra and reintroduced the pan-African-roots sound back into the heart of jazz. He also developed and promoted the art form through performances and recordings.
Thankfully, this session from these wonderful musical pioneers was preserved and finally has its time to shine.
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tune into wlur from 8pm until midnight tonight for this week's episode of no love for ned with artists new (including another @nerf-cat request!) and old. as always, you can stream last week's show on mixcloud if you'd like to catch up!
no love for ned on wlur – february 2nd, 2024 from 8-10pm
artist // track // album // label
jeanines // tilt in your eye // each day 7" // slumberland
soup assistants // boys with plants // mummy what are flowers for? cassette // mangel
love child // cigarette ash // okay? // homestead
essential logic // wake up // john peel session on february 21st, 1979 10" // precious
billiam // i got a girl (and she's got a problem with you) // jump to 3d 7" ep // discos de muerte / cow tool
the serfs // the dice man will become // half eaten by dogs // trouble in mind
exwhite // fomo // this is future // spared flesh
cold cream // cactus wife // cold cream ii // (self-released)
watery love // face the door // decorative feeding // in the red
blues lawyer // our divide // sight gags on the radio 7" ep // dark entries
j mascis // can’t believe we're here // what do we do now // sub pop
the paranoid style // the ballad of pertinent information (turn it on) // the interrogator // bar/none
ramona and the holy smokes // i want you to be my man // i want you to be my man - single // (self-released)
matthew "doc" dunn // fantastic light // fantastic light // cosmic range
barbara morgenstern // zwischen den stühlen // in anderem licht // staatsakt
sigur rós // hoppípolla // takk // geffen
ariel kalma, jeremiah chiu and marta sofia honer // ten hour wave // the closest thing to silence // international anthem
jessica ackerley, kevin cheli and gahlord dewald // silently // submerging silently cassette // cacophonous revival
francisco mela and zoh amba // causa y efecto // causa y efecto, volume two // 577
pan afrikan peoples arkestra // nation rising // sixty years // the village
mourning [a] blkstar featuring dragonchild // jack johnson // mourning [a] blkstar in boston live // (self-released)
theravada and zoomo // sus tain // waste management // rrc music co.
jamila woods featuring peter cottontale // thermostat // water made us // jagjaguwar
corinne bailey rae // red horse // black rainbows // thirty tigers
surya botofasina, nate mercereau and carlos niño // so much love // subtle movements // leaving
shira small // lights gleam lonely // the line of time and the plane of now // numero group
jad fair and samuel locke ward // boys don't cry // the same cured hair as you- a tribute to the cure cassette // almost halloween time
corvair // tenseless // bound to be // paper walls
lavender blush // jealousy // there's nothing inside your heart ep // shelflife
silver biplanes // uas 29396 // a moment in the sun // where it's at is where you are
cheerbleederz // my condolences // even in jest // alcopop!
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Dwight Trible - Ancient Future - new album on Gearbox Records with a sweet guest list
Today, the inimitable jazz vocalist, activist, and nominal godfather of the LA jazz scene, Dwight Trible, returns with the announcement of his new album “Ancient Future”. Out 17th March via London jazz aficionados and analog specialists Gearbox Records , the new record follows his critically acclaimed album “Mothership”, which was released in 2019 and saw him collaborate with the likes of Kamasi Washington, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, and more.
On “Ancient Future”, Trible collaborates once again with Kamasi Washington (saxophone), as well as lauded LA multi-instrumentalist Georgia Anne Muldrow (vocals), who is signed to Brianfeeder and has previously worked with the likes of Madlib, Denzel Curry, Mos Def, Blood Orange, and Brittany Howard.
Elsewhere, the record also features double Grammy winning pianist, John Beasley; Kamaal Williams touring drummer Greg Paul; gospel bassist André Gouché; percussionist and backing vocalist Megashia Jackson; LA guitarist G. E. Stinson; and percussionist Rene Fisher.
A key figurehead in the LA jazz scene, Dwight Trible is a legend in waiting. With an incredible career spanning decades, he has played a pivotal role in creating as much jazz history through his work and inspiration in the new wave of US jazz, as he should be noted for in his undoubtable vocal and songwriting talent. He is the vocalist for the Pharoah Sanders Quartet and has collaborated with a huge variety of artists such as Kamasi Washington (singing on ‘The Epic’ and ‘Heaven and Earth’), J Dilla, Life Force Trio, Carlos Nino, John Beasley, Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Lloyd, and is also the vocal director for the Horace Tapscott Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra - a Los Angeles institution with a history stretching back forty years and an active engagement in the city's Black community since the Watts Uprising.
Trible has also been on the forefront of the US jazz resurgence, working as executive director of the hugely crucial arts space The World Stage - a vital component to Leimert Park, which has been the epicentre of African-American art and culture in Los Angeles since the late 1960s. Artists such as Kamasi Washington and Terrace Martin have credited the venue as having helped to shape their sounds and the sense of community surrounding the scene, whilst also being an essential influence to the likes of Kendrick Lamar and Biz Markey, as well as number of artists from LA tastemaker label Brainfeeder and more.
An avid and passionate activist, an enabler of the local scene and a figurehead in the LA jazz community, Trible’s focus is rarely self-seeking, always facing outward his focus is largely centred on giving, inclusion and teaching, whilst also inspiring others and expressing himself both on-stage on-record behind the scenes.
Dwight Trible; vocals
John Beasley; piano and keyboards
André Gouché; electric bass guitar
Greg Paul; drums and percussion
G. E. Stinson; electric guitar
Megashia Jackson; percussion and background vocals on ‘African Drum’
Rene Fisher; percussion on ‘African Drum’
Kamasi Washington; tenor saxophone on ‘African Drum’
Georgia Anne Muldrow; vocals on ‘Black Dance’
All tracks composed by Dwight Trible, John Beasley, André Gouché, Greg Paul and G. E. Stinson
All lyrics written by Dwight Trible and Megashia Jackson
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Conceived by Horace Tapscott in 1961, the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra’s mission has always been “To preserve the music of Black composers, dead or alive.” Both veteran and young members are performing in the Ark today, all led by Mekala Session along with Jamael Dean and veteran members. As radical as ever, the Ark has continued to create original works that reflect the current moment and honour Black composers. Released on The Village, this collection of previously unreleased material is one of the best jazz albums you’ll likely hear all year; highly recommended.
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“All Power to the People” On a Sunday night in March, a multicultural mix of Echo Park creatives, Leimert Park poets, and a few old school jazz heads from all over sat transfixed at the Lodge Room in Northeast Los Angeles listening to three generations of musicians jamming a chorus of horns, bass, piano and drums. The scents of sage and incense filled the air as the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra played a 100-minute set dedicated to the recently deceased percussionist Derf Reklaw whose djembe drum sat empty at the end of the stage flanked by flowers. The Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra sits at the center of Los Angeles’ spiritual jazz scene, a constellation of performers like saxophonist Kamasi Washington, the all-women choir Voices of Creation (founded by Arkestra member Jimetta Rose Smith), and the Miguel Atwood Ferguson Orchestra. Melding jazz, funk, soul, and spoken word poetry, they’re connecting younger listeners and longtime West coast jazzheads. This is an excerpt from my recent essay on the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra that just published in @altajournal This issue also spotlights 85 West Coast bookstores. #books #california #LA #letterstoourcity #Letterstomycity (at Lodge Room Highland Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf4Q7LMJdLA/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Horace TAPSCOTT with The PAN-AFRICAN PEOPLES ARKESTRA
"Live at I.U.C.C."
(3LP. Outernational Sounds. 2019 / rec. 1979) [US]
youtube
#horace tapscott#1979#usa#jazz#spiritual jazz#free jazz#pan afrikan peoples arkestra#improvisation#records#Youtube
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