A Suite of Freedoms

1,000 Recordings: Max Roach‘s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite is among a handful of jazz works to directly address slavery, racism, and the African American experience. On a purely musical level, it’s arguably the most successful of them, because the drummer, a bebop-era veteran, does more than merely inventory the long list of injustices. With the help of a tremendous ensemble that includes three percussionists, he translates the frustration of the civil rights years into gales of vibrant sound—purposeful chants and grieving screams and inquisitive solos (from tenor legend Coleman Hawkins and others) that amplify the indignation of the title

Stones Throw Records : Young Jazz Rebels is a Madlib jazz group from the Yesterdays Universe collective. The album Slave Riot, their debut, is an avant-garde free jazz record, a style Madlib has been developing with Young Jazz Rebels since their debut on 2006’s Chrome Children compilation with the track “Nino’s Deed.”

Brother Yusef : Brother Yusef has gained recognition from audiences and musicians throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County area for his range of sounds and emotions -sadness, joy, anger and laughter. He keeps “one foot in the past and one in the present”, by combining “traditional” finger picking and slide guitar playing with the contemporary feel of urban blues. Audiences love the full sound of his solo performances (he uses his right hand thumb to beat out a percussive bass-line and shuffle, while the index finger plays rhythm and lead lines); and musicians nicknamed him “Fatback” or “Fatt-Back Bluesman”, for his intense playing and vocal style.Plus d’infos : http://www.myspace.com/brotheryusef#ixzz0zbJwzWGX

Soul-Patrol.com : The name of the group was,ROGER AND THE HUMAN BODY. Roger Troutman was the nut that could make any instrument succumb to his control! This guy was great!!! The Group was awesome!! So we hung out after the show. I met everyone. Roger was the leader, Larry Troutman was the oldest and the business manager and percussionist, Lester Troutman was the drummer, Zapp was the baby brother and bassist, Greg Jackson was the keyboardist and singer, Bobby Glover was the lead singer and Janetta Boyce was the female lead singer.

Carleen Anderson : As a divorced single mother, I moved to England with my son in 1990 and joined the Young Disciples band, which won a Mercury Prize nomination in 1992 for our Road to Freedom album that included the dance floor hit, Apparently Nothin’. My 1st solo album, True Spirit, was nominated for a Brit Award in 1995. My 2nd solo album in 1998 was co-produced with Paul Weller.

CD Universe : In the late 1980s and early ’90s, the Leaders was a part-time all-star group consisting of trumpeter Lester Bowie, tenor saxophonist Chico Freeman, altoist Arthur Blythe, pianist Kirk Lightsey, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Don Moye. The new Leaders only retains Freeman and McBee, with trumpeter Eddie Henderson succeeding the late Bowie and altoist Bobby Watson, the lesser-known but talented pianist Fred Harris and drummer Billy Hart taking the places of Blythe, Lightsey and Moye.

Cuba Headlines : The Cuban group Aceituna sin hueso is led by the vocalist, composer and director Mariela Moreno, and has achieved a musical combination of Caribbean rhythms and Andalusian folkloric music that has put them at the fore of the so-called “new era fusion” of Cuban music. “Our music has many roots, mainly in Spanish music. Its a mix that covers the entire European continent and much more, because we fuse various folkloric styles,” said the singer.

Cascade Blues : Peetie Wheatstraw also emphasized a relationship with the Prince of Darkness as a means to attract an audience. An enormously popular musician during the 1930s, he often publicized himself as the “The Devil’s Son-In-Law” or the “High Sheriff of Hell.” Eventually, like Robert Johnson before him, if he had indeed sold his soul, his time came due, leaving this world at a much too early age and at the height of his career.

[/toggle]