The American Negro

Behind no fewer than eight LPs in 2020, Adrian Younge didnt allow time for catch-up in early 2021. The songwriter, producer, arranger, and one-man band kept on pushing with his and Ali Shaheed Muhammads Jazz Is Dead series, and presented this album, a component of an intensive multimedia project that extends to a short film and four-part podcast. Central to the work is the psychological damage that racist behavior -- including enslavement and derogatory terminology -- has had on Younges people. In part, its also a history lesson with a range of emotion from lamentation of white-on-Black slaughter to affirmation of Black power. Aided by a handful of fellow vocalists heard individually and as a chorus, Younge is the only individual credited with instrumentation. He fills each role of a standard band plus an assortment of percussion and woodwinds, remodeling soul and groove-oriented jazz of the late 60s and early 70s with grit and elegance. That Younge is an engaging orator will not surprise anyone who has heard him talk about Swedish prog records and vintage studio gear. He addresses the audience with warmth and love throughout the album, spreading knowledge and impelling action without being excessively didactic. (No stretch of the imagination is required to see him following in the footsteps of James Mtume by hosting a community-oriented call-in radio program.) Younges spoken parts function as interludes, side commentaries, and supplemental statements related to a balanced mix of vocal numbers and instrumentals. The cuts with minimal or no vocals are poignant even without considering titles like Dying on the Run and A Symphony for Sahara. Those that more prominently feature singers Loren Oden, Sam Harmonix, and Chester Gregory are filled with riveting moments. Take the defiant Revolutionize, with a group vocal that reaches full flight at Say it with me, brother, Black is beautiful, or the undaunted I will fight for you that pierces through the choppy polyrhythm and soaring strings of The March on America. Most affecting is Odens tender first-person vocal on James Mincey, Jr. a tribute to a Los Angeles man who in 1982 was killed by police chokehold in his mothers driveway. Mincey was Odens uncle. ~ Andy Kellman

ヴィンテージ・ソウルの旗手が放つ新作は、衝撃的なジャケットと表題が示すように、米黒人が受けてきた醜い差別に対する糾弾や尊厳回復を謳ったプロテスト・アルバム。マルチに楽器を操るエイドリアンが、シリアスなスポークンワーズを挿みながらリニア・ラブズ製のオーケストラ・サウンドで抒情を醸す短編映画風の作品で、ラスト・ポエッツやワッツ・プロフェッツの再来とでも言いたくなる。ローレン・オデンらもコーラスで貢献。
bounce (C)林 剛