At a time
where it feels like history is repeating itself and the world has lost its way,
drummer, composer, educator and activist Jaimeo Brown asks, "What is
important?" For Brown, the answer is to tell the unheard stories in the
name of those who need them. To tell the stories of life and the human
experience. To tell the stories of the forgotten: to honor the workers and the
music of their lives. February 12, 2016 marks the release of Work Songs, the
second installment in the Jaimeo Brown Transcendence series. "Work Songs
represents us," Brown explains. "It's our human journey of
transcending the difficult."
Jaimeo Brown
Transcendence is the product of long-time collaboration between Brown and
co-producer/guitarist Chris Sholar (who won a GRAMMY® Award for his work on
Kanye West and Jay-Z's Watch the Throne). Both emerging from a generation that
appreciates the jazz in hip-hop, the artists with whom this duo has
collaborated with speaks for itself. Brown, as drummer, has sat behind the
skins for Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Q-Tip, Carl Craig, Kenny Garrett, Geri
Allen, and Bobby Hutcherson, among others. Sholar's work as guitarist and
producer has spanned the likes of Beyonce, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Frank Ocean, A
Tribe Called Quest, Robert Glasper, D'Angelo, Just Blaze, Common, Dr. Dre and
more.
The digital
tapestry that birthed Work Songs also hosts several contributors: Jaleel Shaw
and JD Allen on alto and tenor saxophone, respectively; legendary soul and
blues vocalist Lester Chambers; the Gee's Bend Quilters (who were the central
focus of Jaimeo Brown Transcendence's debut album), and rising star keyboardists
BIG YUKI and James Francies.
More than
just music, Jaimeo Brown Transcendence is a movement, a moment, and an
imperative: home to a variety of collaborators and contributors, from different
eras and across the globe. Work Songs is a call to action, a call to transcend:
transcend traditional limits of creativity; transcend oppression; transcend to
come together through the essential humanity that unites us. Work Songs samples
the unknown laborer, the jailhouse, the coal miner, gandy dancer, and stonemason.
The album resonates with echoes of protest and rhythms of a call to freedom.
Borne of
oppression and sung in conditions of hardship, the music is visceral but
inherently uplifting. It weaves the present through the past to the future,
teaching us how to transcend an immediate suffering through strength and mutual
support. "The music of Transcendence, on a social scale, allows us to
reach out to communities and help restore culture and identity. Work Songs
tells powerful stories of perseverance and human ingenuity," explains
Brown. "Tales of enduring communities through song, from African-American
slaves to the stonemasons of Japan. These songs paint a picture of struggle we
still feel today."
In search of
new sounds (which includes sampled sounds of construction outside of Brown's
own apartment), Work Songs deftly weaves together the acoustic and the digital,
connecting jazz and classic blues with contemporary rock, hip-hop and
electronic music.
"My
goal is to create something that feels good, is soulful and speaks to hearts.
Something spiritual and moving," says Brown of his creative process.
"I hope that people will be moved in the way I was when creating it."
Through an
exploration of differing global "scenes" (as Brown refers to the
tracks), Work Songs depicts the tale of the human condition, that which make us
all the same. The album is sonic cinema. "For Mama Lucy" is a
powerful intersection between blues, rock and jazz. The track prominently
features a sample of Leroy Grant, a prison inmate from the Parchman Farm Prison
in Mississippi in 1959, grieving over a sick family member, singing the
multiple emotions associated with love and death. The accompanying video
juxtaposes Grant's cry and a driving guitar riff with sensory-blowing visuals.
Flashing images of oppression and injustice, which echo several overarching
themes of Jaimeo Brown Transcendence, overwhelm the video's protagonist.
"Be So
Glad" showcases the divergent musical influences that typify Jaimeo Brown
Transcendence. It at once exhibits the soulful-hip hop influence that underpins
the group, highlighting also their drum and bass influences. The sample sounds
workers using hoes in fields under a hot sun. The emotional chant repeats, the
refrain lifting and falling with each effort.
"Safflower"
imagines a young Japanese boy listening to records in his basement, discovering
a cultural tradition of another lifetime, and celebrating it in his own time.
The song also pays tribute to the resilience of a country surviving the 2011
earthquake and tsunami disaster.
Jaimeo Brown
Transcendence was born when the drummer connected with JD Allen and Chris
Sholar while in search for new forms of musical expressions. With an MPC
salvaged from the garbage, the group sampled songs from the Gee's Bend Quilters
in Alabama for their debut eponymous album. The rest of the project grew
organically from there and continues to flourish.
"When
recording, our aspiration is always to marry art, history and technology so
Transcendence can live as a music and movement that speaks to tomorrow, as well
as yesterday," explains Brown. "We created the album Work Songs to
explore the interaction between work and music. It's fascinating to see the
variety of ways that music and work actually weave together."
Brown's view
of the world is one of togetherness. His life, like his work, is a patchwork of
people, cultures and examples of the great human potential for acceptance and
integration. His early years were spent living on a Native American reservation
in Arlee, Montana, a community in which the Native American voice was an
ever-present part of the social dialogue. Later, as a teen amidst the aimless
youth and gang culture of the Bay Area, Brown discovered multiculturalism
within a west coast hip-hop culture shared and celebrated by a broad group of
minorities. Inspired equally by the beats and samples of J Dilla, Dr. Dre, and
DJ Premier, and the raw eloquence of John Coltrane, Miles Davis and Art Blakey,
he found shelter in creation: the epicenter of his spiritual awakening.
2013 marked
the international debut of Jaimeo Brown: a fearless renegade; an artist who
seeks new pathways for personal musical expression; an artist who honors a deep
and broad lineage of musical and cultural traditions. With the release of
Transcendence on Motéma Music, the drummer launched an international
career-playing festivals including The Love Supreme Festival and London Jazz
Festival-and garnered critical acclaim, earning a spot on year end lists for
NPR, The Los Angeles Times, DownBeat, and more. Shortly after the release of
the album, Jaimeo Brown Transcendence collaborated with eminent producers Carl
Craig and Q-Tip to produce a promotional single with a radical recasting of
"Mean World," one of Transcendence's singles.
Jaimeo Brown
Transcendence · Work Songs
Motéma Music
· Release Date: February 12, 2016
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