JuJu - Live at 131 Prince Street '1973/2021

Tracks list

Strut continue their in-depth archive reissues from the Black Fire label with a
definitive edition of JuJu’s ‘Live At 131 Prince
Street’,recorded in 1973 at Ornette Coleman’s gallery in New York
and featuring a previously unheard recording of the Pharoah Sanders composition
Thembi. After forming in San Francisco while working on the Marvin X theatre
piece ‘The Resurrection of the Dead’, JuJu began to hone their
uncompromising fusion of Afro-Latin rhythms with free and spiritual jazz before
signing to Strata-East for the ‘A Message From Mozambique’ album in
1972. “We moved to New York and became part of the avant-garde community
on the Lower East Side and Greenwich Village,” remembers bandleader Plunky
Branch. Following a high profile live show at the Lincoln Center, Ornette
Coleman invited JuJu to his gallery and loft at 131 Prince Street to perform
there and to stay on while he left on tour. “That was life-changing for
us,” continues Plunky.“It was fabulous. The recordings you hear on
this album are in close proximity to each other, maybe across one day or a
weekend at the gallery.” Alongside tracks written by the JuJu band
members, like the 5/4 tempo ‘At Least We Have A Horizon Now’, they
play choice covers from their peers. Plunky explains,
“‘Thembi’ is a Pharoah Sanders piece which he wrote for his
wife in 1971 and it’s one of my favourite pieces by him. ‘Azucar Pa
Ti’ was written by Eddie Palmieri; we loved him too and enjoyed Latin
music in general. Here we play ‘Mozambique’, based on an Afro-Cuban
rhythm and we regularly played that for 10 minutes before morphing into
‘Azucar’. ‘Out Of This World’, written by Johnny
Mercer and Harold Arlen, was inspired by John Coltrane who recorded a version of
it on his ‘Coltrane’ album in ’62.”

Recorded in 1973 at Ornette Coleman’s Artist House Gallery, 131 Prince
Street, New York Produced by J. Plunky Branch Remastered by The Carvery from the
original reel to reel tapes.

PLUNKY NKABINDE: SAXOPHONE, FLUTE, VOCALS, SHEKERE, COWBELL KEN SHABALA: BASS,
PERCUSSION, VOCALS BABATUNDE: CONGAS, PERCUSSION, VOCALS AL-HAMMEL RASUL:
KEYBOARDS, SHEKERE, VOCALS JALANGO NGOMA: TIMBALES, CONGAS, PERCUSSION LON
MOSHE: VIBRAPHONE, FLUTE, PERCUSSION

Tracklist:
1.01 - JuJu - At Least We Have a Horizon Now (18:53)
1.02 - JuJu - Thembi (14:57)
1.03 - JuJu - Mozambique / Azucar Pa Ti (22:36)
1.04 - JuJu - Black Experience (13:43)
1.05 - JuJu - Rosalie / JuJus Door (13:04)
1.06 - JuJu - Out of this World (9:22)
1.07 - JuJu - Logos / Mojo (22:15)

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