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VARIOUS ARTISTS - AFRICAN
SPIRITS
A Spiritual Jazz
Journey Looking back to Africa
This album consists of 10
tracks that represent a spiritual jazz journey looking back to Africa: the
motherland, the roots of jazz, the birthplace of black music and the ancestral
origins of the musicians themselves.
Individually the tracks -
some of the best music of its type ever recorded - are in demand in their own
right, with most being compiled for the first time. In the 1960's and 1970's
many Afro Americans started to look back to their roots and the roots of the
music for inspiration, direction and confirmation. Alex Haley, author of the
best selling 1976 book 'Roots' (later adapted for an acclaimed television
series) travelled by safari to the village of Juffure, in the Gambia to trace
the history of his ancestors back to Africa. Musicians including Yusef Lateef,
John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and many of the artists on this compilation
experimented with African instruments and sounds during this period. It was a
time of black celebration, the 'Afro' hairstyle was a prerequisite for hipness.
The drum - the most basic rhythm instrument and the foundation that almost all
modern music rests on - came from Africa. Indeed, Jazz music itself can also
trace its origins back to Africa; in fact scientists, historians and
archaeologists have suggested that the entire human race took its first steps
in Africa and evolved from there. The music contained on this album, whilst
rhythmically strong is also imbued with haunting melodies and spiritually
uplifting shades. A major factor behind the making of this music was a reaction
against a society based on commercialism and insincerity: this is music with a
message, music of substance, music that demands the listener be drawn in. It's
music that you can really feel…music that moves and fulfils you, leaving
you spiritually uplifted. This album is not just about selecting and bringing
together a collection of in demand Jazz cuts…it's about inviting the
listener on a musical journey back to Africa, back to ancient civilisation.
Enjoy the ride. Laurence Prangell October 2004
TRACKLISTING |
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