Nathaniel Dykstra
Track 7 is simply wonderful. Everything just melts and fades away - as if I was traveling into a dream.
Favorite track: Songs She Never Heard (Feat. Logan Richardson).
Paul Currion
This album is on fire from start to finish. I've been meaning to explore Adjuah's music for a couple of years, and now I wish I'd started sooner. He manages to successfully bring together many strands of the diaspora music and spin them into something new and old and beautiful.
Favorite track: Before (Feat. Elena Pinderhughes).
Tom Colquhoun
This time aTunde Adjuah's signature trumpet, steamy and reverberant, is a delicate backdrop to the various percussive rhythms which seek to redress a historical imbalance in perspective.
Favorite track: Songs She Never Heard (Feat. Logan Richardson).
*** Grammy Nominated for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
“All forms of expression in sound are valid, as all people are… this is the mantra of Ancestral Recall.”
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah sets the tone for his new project - Ancestral Recall - with this powerful statement. In his mission to unify cultural voices and tear down the sonic and social constructs that separate based on race, class, and culture, Adjuah asserts music has historically been disseminated to people with harmony and melody prioritized over rhythm. The value distinction leads to harmful hierarchal sentiments and perpetuates the view that cultures who prioritize harmony and melody are more nuanced and sophisticated than those who prioritize rhythm. It is an inaccurate portrayal.
Ancestral Recall looks to excavate and update hidden histories in sound by displaying a sonic tapestry that illuminates the har-melodic movements found within rhythm, rendering previous contexts baseless, Adjuah explains: "In its inception, Ancestral Recall was built as a map to de-colonialize sound; to challenge previously held misconceptions about some cultures of music; to codify a new folkloric tradition and begin the work of creating a national set of rhythms; rhythms rooted in the synergy between West African, First Nation, African Diaspora/Caribbean rhythms and their marriage to rhythmic templates found in trap music, alt-rock, and other modern forms. It is time we created a sound that dispels singular narratives of entire peoples and looks to finally represent the wealth of narratives found throughout the American experience. One that shows that all forms of expression in sound are valid, as all people are." The goal is to connect people in one understanding rather than dividing them by definition.
The music of Ancestral Recall focuses the mind. As the ear adjusts to the shifting tapestries of rhythm, Adjuah stands firm in the mix, heralding the histories of rhythm and song. Walking hand-in-hand with listeners through his and their musical histories, clearing the way for a new reading of what all musical futures can become. Ancestral Recall is an album that might easily be misunderstood in its own time, but will certainly be seen as a moment in history that marked a momentous shift in musical and perhaps social understanding.
credits
released March 22, 2019
All songs written by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC)
Additional composers include
I Own The Night - written by Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC), Saul Williams (Martyr Loser King Music -ASCAP)
The Shared Stories of Rivals [KEITA] - written by Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC), Saul Williams (Martyr Loser King Music -ASCAP)
Forevergirl - written by Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC), Sarah Elizabeth Charles (Sarah Elizabeth Charles Music - ASCAP), Chris Turner (Chris Turner Music - ASCAP), Mike Ward Jr (Dotbox - ASCAP)
Prophesy - written by Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC), Saul Williams (Martyr Loser King Music -ASCAP)
Ancestral Recall - written by Christian Scott (Stretch Music Publishing - SESAC), Saul Williams (Martyr Loser King Music -ASCAP)
PRODUCTION
Produced by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Executive Producers - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and Louis H. Marks
Recorded April 10, 15 - September 6, 20 - December 1, 2 of 2018 by Dave Weingarten at The Champagne Room West
Recorded April 29 and 30 of 2018 by Nick Guttmann at The Parlor, New Orleans, LA
Mixed by Qmillion at Flyin' Dread Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Mastered by Paul Blakemore, Cleveland, OH
ART DESIGN
Creative Direction - Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah
Creative Direction & Photography - Eric Ryan Anderson
Concept Ideation - Kiel Scott, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Devan Mayfield
Design - Eric Hurtgen
Videography - Steven Stauffer
Art Production - Matt Campbell
Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah [formerly Christian Scott] is a two-time Edison Award-winning, six-time Grammy Award-nominated, Doris Duke Award in the Arts Award-winner.
supported by 301 fans who also own “Ancestral Recall”
I was brought here after listening to a live performance of Makaya's on you tube. I instantly loved the song Holy Lands so much that I had to see if the album version was the same rendition as the live one. Then I listened to the whole album! Universal Beings is a just a groove... It's a mix of traditional and something new, very nice. pandr1900
supported by 296 fans who also own “Ancestral Recall”
Magic in its purest form. I love Floating Points, I love Pharoah Sanders, I love The London Symphony Orchestra. It's a match made in heaven, and the result is absolutely gorgeous. I have loved this record since its release, and realized I don't own it for some reason. So its time to change that. 9.5/10 honestly could become a 10/10 on an indepth vinyl relisten. angrypizza98
A gorgeous blend of jazz, Arabic music, and flamenco, the latest from Mohannad Nasser celebrates the music that influenced him. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 27, 2021