JuJu - 2002 - Live At 131 Prince Street

JuJu 

2002 

Live At 131 Prince Street

01 At Least We Have A Horizon Now 19:04

02 Thembi 14:56

03 Mozambique / Azucar Pa Ti 22:55

04 Out Of This World 9:39

05 Rosalie / Juju's Door 13:01

Digital Download version from the label has two extra tracks:

06. Out of this World 09:21

07. Logos / Mojo 22:14

Bass, Percussion, Vocals – Ken Shabala

Congas, Percussion, Vocals – Babatunde

Keyboards, Shekere, Vocals – Al-Hammel Rasul

Saxophone, Flute, Vocals, Shekere, Cowbell

Timbales, Congas, Percussion – Jalango Ngoma

Vibraphone, Flute, Percussion – Lon Moshe

Recorded in 1973 at Ornette Coleman's Gallery, 131 Prince Street, N

A much-needed slice of work from Juju – the group who later transformed into spiritual funk ensemble Oneness Of Juju! Juju only recorded two full albums in the early 70s, so this unissued live set is a key addition to their catalog – and the whole thing's got this bold quality that's much more jazz-based, and often more avant than the group's later work – more in line with work in the tradition of the AACM, or some of the earliest loft jazz talents. No surprise, the set was recorded at Ornette Coleman's space on the lower east side in the early 70s – with the mighty Plunky Nakbinde on saxes and flute, sounding a lot more searing than any of his records from the 80s onward – plus Babatunde on percussion, Lon Moshe on vibes and flute, and Al-Hammel Rasul on keyboards. There's a bit of vocalizations, and lots of percussion from group members too – and the sound is very spiritual, with touches of more percussive Afro-centric playing. Includes a great version of Eddie Palmieri's "Azucar Para Ti",

Rrecorded 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.”