Galt Macdermot - Ghetto Suite '1972/2014

Tracks list

Galt MacDermot (1928-2018) was an award-winning Canadian-American composer,
pianist, writer of classical music and theatrical pieces. MacDermot also
composed music for several film soundtracks (like the 1970 blaxploitation film
‘Cotton Comes To Harlem’) and released several exceptional jazz and
funk albums on his own label Kilmarnock Records.
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He is best known for his work on the Grammy winning 1967 musical Hair (which
also produced several number-one singles like “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine
In”) and Two Gentlemen of Verona (1971) for which he won a Tony Award. In
2009 Galt MacDermot was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame and
in 2010 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
​
In 1979, MacDermot formed the New Pulse Jazz Band, which performed and recorded
his original music. Galt MacDermot’s music is extremely popular with
collectors of jazz and funk. Working with jazz and soul musicians such as
Bernard Purdie and Idris Muhammad, MacDermot created pieces that used African
rhythms (he made the study of African music his speciality).
​
In recent decades, his work has become popular with hip-hop musicians including
Busta Rhymes, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Gang Starr, Action Bronson, Public
Enemy, MF Doom, Madlib, J Dilla, Obie Trice, Naughty By Nature, Run DMC and
Digable Planets…the list is endless.
​
The album we are proudly presenting you today (Ghetto Suite written in 1970 and
released in 1972) is considered one of the most ground-breaking records ever
issued on Galt MacDermot’s Killmarnock label and consists out of a
selection of songs and poems by Harlem/Bronx school children, set to
Galt’s music, and sung by vocalist Angela Ortega.
​
Given That Galt’s handling the music, you can bet that there’s
plenty of nicely executed funky touches-supported by rolling bass-work, snapping
drums, and organ virtuosity. But the real charm of these groovy tunes comes from
the lyrics, which have a simple and to the point way of dealing with issues of
racism, poverty and other issues of the time. The story telling is surprisingly
gripping even after all these years.
​
The whole album creates an extremely personal direct sensitivity to the
environment of Ghetto kids…telling us with defiantly honest intensity what
it was like to be young and black, the drugs and the deaths, the topic of
incarceration…or simply the fact of being battered by the frustration of
Ghetto existence.
​
Ghetto Suite is way more than an entertainment record, it has been used by
teachers and counsellors to inspire and motivate the muted voices of the black
inner cities…documenting both their anguish and their triumphs.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Galt Macdermot - Do You Know (2:23)
1.02 - Galt Macdermot - Black Is Beautiful (2:20)
1.03 - Galt Macdermot - Slums (2:40)
1.04 - Galt Macdermot - Drugs (2:02)
1.05 - Galt Macdermot - The World of Today (1:48)
1.06 - Galt Macdermot - Set Us Free (4:08)
1.07 - Galt Macdermot - This Old Heart of Mine (2:18)
1.08 - Galt Macdermot - Cry Sound (2:01)
1.09 - Galt Macdermot - Everyday (3:21)
1.10 - Galt Macdermot - Black Is Beautiful. (3:58)
1.11 - Galt Macdermot - Evil Hands (3:59)

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