Two Detroit traditions meet in the "Livin' in a New Day," the first release
of a collaboration between members of the 1970s collective Tribe and producer
Carl Craig, one of the founding members of the Techno movement of the 1990s.
http://www.myspace.com/tribedetroit
The Tribe story, for those who don't know, goes back to 1971 when trombonist
Phil Ranelin and saxophonist Wendell Harrison founded a magazine, a record
company and a band with that name. A new consciousness was in the air, a sense of
self-determination, from politics to aesthetics, and organizations formed
across the nation. Tribe was very much an expression of the times, from an
analysis of the contemporary scene on glossy pages to the music played on stages and
pressed into discs. In Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of
Creative Musicians was the rallying point for progressive musicians. In St. Louis,
it was the Black Arts Group. In Los Angeles, Horace Tapscott and associates had
the Underground Musicians Association . In New York, there was a long
tradition of independent musicians' projects and organizations, including Max Roach
and Charles Mingus' Debut records and the Strata East Collective. In Detroit,
there was Tribe, and few people in the area's music scene have been untouched
in some shape or form by its influence. That includes those in the House,
Techno and Hip Hop generations.
Drummer Doug Hammond, trumpeter Marcus Belgrave and the late pianist Harold
McKinney were the other core Tribe members. Others under the Tribe umbrella
included the band The Mixed Bag; bass clarinetist and wood winds player Aaron
Neal; trumpeter Charles Moore; bassists Ed Pickens, Will Austin, Lopez Leon, John
Dana, Reginald (Shoo-Be-Doo) Fields and Ralph Armstrong; percussionists and
drummers Charles Miles, Roy Brooks, Billy Turner, Ron Jackson, George Davidson,
Bud Spangler, Danny Spencer, Ike Daney, Lorenzo Brown, Barbara Huby, Gayelynn
McKinney (Harold Mckinney's daughter) and Michelle Jhara-McKinney (Harold
McKinney's wife, also a vocalist); keyboardists and pianists Pamela Wise, David
Durrah, Keith Vreeland, Buddy Budson , Charles Eubanks, Daryl Dybka and Kenny
Cox; vocalists Jeamel Lee, Spanky Wilson and Leon Thomas; poetry group The
Black Messengers. The list could easily go on longer.
The collective tapped into the explosive energy of post-Coltrane
improvisation, but with a pulse and momentum straight out of the streets of Detroit. The
music "packed a strong musical punch remarkable for its unorthodoxy" as " Jazz
Times" described it in a 2001 profile of Wendell Harrison. That "punch" is one
reason why discs like Phil Ranelin's "Vibes From The Tribe," Marcus
Belgrave's "Gemini II ," Harold McKinney's "Voices And Rhythms Of The Creative Profile
," Doug Hammond and David Durrah's "Sea of Nurnen" and Wendell Harrison's "An
Evening with the Devil " became underground collectibles for followers of jazz,
funk and electronic music alike. More recently, the Tribe discs have been
reissued in the U.S. and abroad. Labels such as Hefty, Soul Jazz, P Vine and
Ubiquity have all helped fuel the Tribe revival.
Last spring, internationally respected producer Craig lent his own uniquely
contemporary sensibility to recording sessions reassembling the surviving core
members of the Tribe collective: Harrison (still living and working in
Detroit), Ranelin (now living and working in Los Angeles), Belgrave (still living in
Detroit) and Doug Hammond (now living in Germany). In Craig's newly improved
Detroit Studio, a brand new collective album started to take shape. The record
will feature classic material, including " Vibes from The Tribe," as well as
new compositions written especially for the record. The first release (a teaser
for the spring 2008 album on Community Projects, the sister label to Craig's
Planet E) is the single " Livin in A New Day," a new composition by Ranelin.
Describing the new song, Ranelin said, "It felt great to be back laying down
some tracks with the guys. The inspiration for 'Livin In A New Day' comes as
usual for me just checking out the daily vibes on the planet. We are in very
critical times, in my opinion, and there are lots of issues that need our
attention. Things have drastically changed in the last twenty or thirty years, and
unfortunately most of it hasn't really been good for the planet or the people of
the planet, and then you have all of these on going wars, lies, disruptions
and fear-promotion that's taking place. It's really crazy! That's 'Livin In A
New Day.'"
And as in those days back in the '70s, Tribe is here to help folks through
them.
Tribe Discography
1973: The Tribe Presents Wendell Harrison & Phillip Ranelin: Message From The Tribe – LP
1973: Wendell Harrison: Farewell To Welfare Part 1 & 2 – 7"
1973: Wendell Harrison: An Evening with the Devil – LP
1974: Marcus Belgrave: Gemini II – LP
1974: Harold McKinney: Voices And Rhythms Of The Creative Profile – LP
1974: Phil Ranelin: The Time Is Now – LP
1975: Doug Hammond & David Durrah: Sea of Nurnen – LP
1975: Doug Hammond & David Durrah: Venus Fly Trap – 7"
1975: Phil Ranelin: Vibes From The Tribe – LP
1976: The Mixed Bag: The Mixed Bag – LP
Upcoming:
November 2007: Tribe: Livin' In A New Day (Community Projects / Planet E) 12"
Spring 2008: Tribe: The Return of Tribe (working title) (Community Projects /Planet E) album
You can use the PayPal "Add to cart" functionality to purchase the CDS below, or you can buy them at Amazon.
NEW!
Listen below!
Pamela's Club
by Pamela Wie
Featuring: Pathe Jassi, Naima Shambourguer and Wendell Harrison
The Eighth
House
"The EIGHTH HOUSE is mystic music of the moment; one
man's harmonic quest to unlock Rudnyar's "wondrous equation
of destiny with a skeleton key--his horn". Christopher
Bahnsen - Electric Current
WENHA RECORDS - Wendell Harrison and
Pamela Wise
Listen below!
Urban Expressions
by Wendell Harrison
Featuring: Jean Carne and Robin Bradley
"Harrison's music is well polished and executed" JazzTimes Magazine
"The results of Harrison's URBAN EXPRESSIONS are well
crafted, unpretentious and fun." Mark Stryker, Detroit Free Press
Pamela Wise
Songo Festividad WCD210
"Wise, an assured bop pianist with a Tyneresque touch,
composes strong melodies and braces them with the simmering
rhythms of the Afro-Cuban tradition" Dan Ouellette-Down Beat
Wendell Harrison
Live in Concert WCD190
Wendell Harrison and his Detroit colleagues enjoy their
live concert performance so much that the listener gets
caught up in the fun of serious music" Doug Ramsey - JazzTimes
Harold McKinney
& Wendell Harrison Something for Pops WCD200
"Two Detroit based veterans play graceful tribute to
the New Orleans sound." John Andrews - Down Beat
Wendell
Harrison Forever Duke WCD180
Featuring the Clarinet Ensemble "On PRELUDE TO A KISS,
Harrison on clarinet doesn't waste a note as he rings
the full spectrum of colors and inflections from the
melody much as a masterful singer would." Steve Goldstein - Arts Midwest
Pamela Wise
Negre Con Leche (Black With Cream) WCD270
"Wise's NEGRE CON LECHE (Black With Cream) offer alluring
summation of her gift for blending Afro-Cuban rhythms
with a personal and straightforward melodicism." Mark Stryker - Detroit Free Press
Wendell Harrison
Fly By Night WCD170
Featuring: Kirk Lightsey, Doug Hammond & Cecil McBee
Clarinetist and saxophonist Wendell Harrison features
veteran jazz greats pianist Kirk Lightsey, bassist Cecil
McBee & drummer/percussionist Doug Hammond
Philip Ranelin & Wendell Harrison
P Vine Records/Blues Interaction - Japan
Message from the Tribe
Featuring Wendell Harrison, Philip Ranelin and Jeamel
Lee- Scorpio Music, Inc. USA
Message from the Tribe
An Anthology of Tribe Records; 1972-1977
Universal Sounds/Soul Jazz Records London
Reawakening
Wendell Harrison Anthology - Tribe & P VINE Records/Blues
Interactions - Japan
Vibes from
The Tribe Volume 1
Tribe & P VINE Records/Blues Interactions
Vibes from
The Tribe Volume 2
Tribe & P VINE Records/Blues Interactions
Evening with
the Devil REISSUED!
Wendell Harrison - Tribe Records - LP's only - Available
at
Searching for Soul
Rare and classic soul, funk and jazz from Michigan. The finest track of Searching For Soul is "Wendell Harrison's Farewell to the Welfare blends jazz, funk and African rhythms into a lengthy, cohesive suite." Martin Johnson - The Wall Street Journal
For Prices & Ordering Go To
WWW.AMAZON.COM
Browse Music KEYWORD: Wendell Harrison/Pamela Wise
You can also order from Northcountry/Cadence at
www.cadencebuilding.com search cadence music sales
KEYWORD: Wendell Harrison/Pamela Wise
Two Detroit traditions meet in the "Livin' in a New Day," the first release
of a collaboration between members of the 1970s collective Tribe and producer
Carl Craig, one of the founding members of the Techno movement of the 1990s.
