Music entrepreneur Charles Blass just hooked me up with a couple of brand new shits that’ll drop in mid-March. Let me share a little taste. This is progressive funk from two notable leaders – Melvin Gibbs and Greg Tate.Gibbs has a new band called Elevated Entity, and its forthcoming album is “Ancients Speak.” The Afro-Brazilian vibe is thick in it.
Click here to hear “Mojuba.”
As for Tate, I’ve admired his journalism since the 1980s. (The first time I ever heard of Fishbone was when Greg Tate wrote: “I have seen the future, and it is Fishbone.”)
Devoting himself now to creating music of an ambitious and experimental kind, Tate leads a band called Burnt Sugar, recombining DNA from Miles, Eno, Sun Ra and Funkadelic.
Click here to hear “Love to Tical” from the new album “Making Love to the Dark Ages.” (Vernon Reid’s featured on lead guitar.)
9 comments:
Dawg, those two cats are part of that progressive funk/jazz/avant garde music that I love. I'm ashamed to say I have no Burnt Sugar. Gotta order some when the cash flow gets a little better.
I'm a fan of Tate too!
When I was in J school in the city, I contacted him for a class assignment and he was cool enough to invite me to pop over to their offices to hang for a bit! It was awesome getting to see the Voice, but it was already getting weird there, managementwise and I picked up on it a bit. He got a kick out of the CIA-emblazoned T-shirt I had on.
Then every time I saw him out at a cultural event, I was always too starstruck (lol) to walk up and speak. Even when I sat right by the tiny ass stage at Joe's Pub during a Burnt Sugar performance.
That track doesn't do Melvin Gibbs justice. He's one of the great versatile bass players. He even joined the Rollins band for a time.
That's Henry, not Sonny, although Gibbs has a lot of jazz chops too--Ronald Shannon Jackson, Sonny Sharrock. The guy can play anything.
It was awesome getting to see the Voice, but it was already getting weird there...
How cool you got to see the place, daughterofthedream. For years, the Village Voice was an absolutely indispensable part of life for the culturally literate Negro.
Tate. Crouch. Nelson George. Thulani Davis. Barry Michael Cooper. Joan Morgan. Harry Allen. Hilton Als. Colson Whitehead. Dream Hampton. Peter Noel.
Remember how it used to feel, opening up the pages of that paper, knowing there would be some kind of treat in there?
^ Didn't mean to leave out Michael A. Gonzales! I'm sure I'm forgetting other bylines I used to look forward to.
Sam, that Melvin Gibbs of the Rollins Band was the sheeitt! He kicks ass on those two cds. Besides Living Colour and Nirvana, they played the most intense rock in the 90s. Also, check out Melvin on Jean-Paul Bourelly's Saints and Sinners - nasty! Of course, what can you say about his work with Harriet Tubman. Some son-of-Bootsy shit.
I LOVE that Mojuba! :)
http://www.livewiredmusic.org/ for more info .... see also http://www.rockpaperscissors.biz/go/gibbs - check the audio samples - especially track #2 "sometimes" - for some basss.........!!
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