Koko
Jones has a story to tell. On Who’s That
Lady, her new album dropping from Motema Music on November 18, the percussionist
reveals her hidden abilities as a lyricist and songwriter. While building on the artistic excellence and
percussive brilliance of her previous world-jazz releases, Tenth World and
Tenth World Live!, Who’s that Lady delves deeply into the 1970s and 80s soul
and R&B crucible which first formed the percussionist and producer’s prodigious
musical vision, and at the same time renders a timeless musical narrative of
this extraordinary woman’s past, present and future.
In a
career spanning four decades, Koko has performed and/or recorded as a first call percussionist for some of the
most well known names in pop, R&B, jazz, house and African music. Her
resume and discography includes the likes of Whitney Houston, The Isley
Brothers, Carlos Santana, Angela Winbush, Raul Midon, Marcus Miller, Randy
Weston, , Jose Feliciano, Buddy Miles, Clarence Burke, Louie Vega, Luisito
Quintero, Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child, DJ Kenny Dope, Archie Shepp,
and Reggie Workman. Her two albums on
Motema (released as Kevin Jones) – Tenth World (2005) and Tenth World Live!
(2008) – drew major kudos from critics and audiences alike. Koko’s always
uplifting performances have been praised as having a “genre-crossing platform,
energy and relentless grooves” (All About Jazz); as being “a feast for the
ears” (Global Rhythm magazine); and as “a very special blend of Latin, soul,
world, and jazz.” (Jazz Times).Writing about Tenth World Live!, the reviewer at
Jazz.com went so far as to remark that “At the ten minute mark, I swear you will
feel the urge to rip off your shirt, throw yourself to the ground and writhe in
the beauty of it all.”
A
musician first and foremost, Koko – who was previously known as ‘Bujo’ Kevin
Jones – is a transgender woman of color. That identity, as integral to her
being as is her musical talent, has propelled her to a parallel role as an
activist and a voice in the trans community.
In addition to Koko’s ground-breaking work as an interventionist at the
Center for HIV Education Studies and Training (CHEST) at Hunter College, where
she is a part of T-Talk, a project delivered by trans women for trans women
that seeks to reduce sexual health risk, substance use, and internalized stigma
affecting the community, she frequently speaks at events, and recently gave a TEDx
talk at Seton Hall University and delivered a lecture on Current Issues in the
Trans Community at Columbia University Teachers College. She is also an active member of Trans Women
of Color Collective (TWOCC). The November release of Who’s That Lady happens to
coincide with the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance on November 20; several
tracks on the album reflect either personal or universal issues facing the
trans community: “Why” honors those
trans individuals who have lost their lives due to violence or suicide and
“Turn It” pays tribute to the heroes, past and present, who strive for civil
rights, justice and equality. “I’m Free”
celebrates the joy of reveling in who you really are despite societal norms and
constraints. And “Xtravaganzas” pays homage to the House of Xtravaganza, one of
the most important cultural institutions in the trans community.
With
Who’s That Lady, Koko brings these two elements of her identity – the expert
side artist and the charismatic bandleader – into perfect musical alignment.
Moving beyond the instrumental
world-jazz that marks her Tenth World releases, Koko here calls on her
early soul influences, creating a vocal driven album with a cast of players
firmly rooted in jazz, crossover jazz and R&B: producer Onaje Allan Gumbs
(Cassandra Wilson, Phyllis Hyman, Gerald Albright); vocalists Derrick Dupree
(Gloria Gaynor), Mike Hammond (Gladys Knight, Patti Labelle, Kelly Price, 50
Cent, Incognito), and Myoshi Marilla (former co-host of The BETJ List);
keyboardist Jesse Fischer (Ryan Shaw and his own band, Soul Cycle)and bassist
Kenny Davis ( Freddie Hubbard, Cassandra Wilson, Abbey Lincoln, Diane Reeves,
Art Farmer and with Kevin Eubanks in the Tonight Show Band). Together with her
extended group, Koko delivers a dozen groove driven tracks that serve as
powerful aural vignettes revealing the fascinating trajectory of her
intersecting musical and personal life.
Who’s
That Lady opens with the disco-era redolent beat of “Xtravaganzas,” Koko’s
tribute to the legendary House of Xtravaganza, the most publicly recognized
“house” to emerge from the 1980s NYC ballroom scene, and an on-going cultural
influence in the areas of dance, music, visual arts, fashion, and community
activism. The opening riff of “That Lady” is immediately recognizable to music
fans of every generation; Koko and band’s version of the Isley Brothers’
rock-funk fusion cover of their own earlier single (“Who’s That Lady,” which
appears later on this album as well), is just as funky and soulful as the 1973
original, courtesy of Mike Hammond on vocals and the relentless groove of
Koko’s propulsive arrangements for her expert band. “I included ‘That Lady’ out of my deep
respect and love for Ronald, Rudolph, O’Kelly, Ernie and Marvin Isley and Chris
Jasper, and to honor the years that I
created music with them, which were very formative years for me,”
explains Koko.
A casual
listener to Koko’s original “Why” might take the song for a 1970s style R&B
ballad; in fact, “Why,” featuring interchanging lead vocals by Koko, Derrick
Dupree and Myoshi Marilla, is among the most personal and poignant tracks on
the album. “Intimately, this is a song about something that happened to me
early in my transition, when I was brutally beaten,” says Koko. “But it is
dedicated to all of those who suffer senseless violence due their gender,
sexual or racial identity.”
As if to
echo Koko’s own ability to move forward despite that traumatic event, Who’s
That Lady moves forward with a positive, upbeat groove on Whitney Houston’s Top
Ten hit, “Love Will Save the Day.” That
affirmative attitude is one that has long been a stabilizing force in Koko’s
life journey, instilled by her early adoption of the Buddhist path. “In Buddhism the ultimate goal is happiness.
I often equate it to love, she explains. “It is a two-fold path. You might say
that you cannot achieve this absolute happiness without love for others as well
as self love. It has been easy for me to love others but difficult to have self
love. Like a mother’s love it is unconditional and the one thing that we cannot
live without.” Derrick Dupree’s “Get on Up” is a reggae-tinged funk paean to
that same message.
Michael
“Moon” Reuben’s lilting guitar opens Koko’s anthemic “I’m Free,” which quickly
unfolds into an exuberant Afro beat influenced romp that supports the whole
album’s theme of the importance of being free to feel comfortable in one’s own
skin. “Sometimes the bonds that hold us
back are of our own making, inside our own minds,” says Koko. “I’ve often found that music is the key to
releasing me from those bonds, so I wrote this to capture the freedom that
music can bring.”
“Decatur
Avenue Stomp,” another of Koko’s originals, is the album’s only instrumental
track, and it showcases the astonishing percussive chops that led to her early
– she was working professionally by the time she was 13 – and ongoing
success. “Decatur Avenue was the street
I grew up on and where I enjoyed endless days and nights of jam sessions,”
recollects Koko. The song also features
the incredibly talented Kevin Louis (Jimmy Heath, Kermit Ruffins, Nicholas
Payton, Gary Bartz, Will Calhoun, Mos Def) on trumpet and drummer Jerard Snell
(Jennifer Holiday, Glenn Jones, and the Elements of Life band) who is featured
on the percussion breakdown with Jones. Both Jerard and Koko have, for the past
14 years, been known as a “dynamic duo” of sorts, lending their percussion
prowess to the bands of Gloria Gaynor, Chops the Band and Louie Vega. Also contributing to this “jam” of a song is
the solid bass support from Mamadou Ba (Leni Stern, Regina Carter.)
Koko
dedicated “Turn It” to Sylvia Rivera and to Marsha P. Johnson , who were at the
center of the Stonewall Riots in 1969.
“In their honor, it’s also dedicated to all those fighting for justice
and equality around the world,” says Koko.
The
haunting, rhythmic “Yemaya, Parts 1 and 2”, written by vocalist Christelle
Durandy of CoCoMaMa, are based on a
traditional African Yoruba chant in honor of the orisha (goddess) Yemaya, who Koko describes as “the nurturer, the
ocean, the essence of motherhood and a fierce protector of children.”
Koko’s
composition, “The Treasure Tower,” is inspired by a Buddhist reference: ‘No
treasure tower exists other than the figures of the men and women who embrace
the Lotus Sutra.’ Those words, attributed to the founder of Soka Gakkai
Buddhism, represent the center of Koko’s driving life force. Koko says that the
song, which features an outstanding vocal performance by Myoshi Marilla,
“reminds me that everyone possesses the treasure tower within their own lives
and that, in the end, the heart – and nothing else – is what truly matters.”
Who’s
That Lady concludes with its title track, which was written by the Isley
Brothers in the 1960s, and is the precursor to their much more well-known “That
Lady.” Koko and band offer up a smooth,
Latin-tinged version of the song, one which the percussionist also dedicates to
the Isleys, with who she toured for years; however, more than merely paying
tribute to that rich piece of her history, the track truly encapsulates the
spirit of Koko’s re-emergence as a solo artist.
“Who’s That Lady?” The answer lies within the words and grooves on these
twelve delightful and powerful tracks.
A native
of Englewood, New Jersey, Koko grew up in a household immersed in jazz, soul,
gospel and blues, from Charlie Parker and Lou Rawls to Nat King Cole and
Mahalia Jackson, along with the pop and R&B legends of the times.
Reportedly, Koko’s grandmother, Maggie Walker Jones, once played with (and
maybe even recorded with) Bessie Smith. The arts of all types were nurtured in
the Jones household and piano lessons were a requirement, not an elective.
Jones
traces her percussion expertise to the age-old ‘academy of the streets.’ Over
the years she has evolved an increasingly comprehensive approach to her
instruments, commanding respect from artists such as the Isley Brothers, Whitney
Houston, Winard Harper, and Reggie Workman.
Immersed
in drumming since the tender age of 10, Koko literally learned to play by the
seat of her pants. Neighborhood drummers were prone to testifying on front
lawns and park benches, hand drums and various percussive enhancements in tow;
their massaging, pulsating, skin-on-skins thoroughly hooked the impressionable
youngster. Among these master drummers were Marvin “Bugalu” Smith (Sun-Ra,
Archie Shepp, Mal Waldron), Earl “Buster Smith (Eric Dolphy,Sun-Ra), Karl
Potter (The Isley Brothers, Pino Daniele) and Babatunde Lea (Pharoah Sanders,
Leon Thomas), who all spent time with her and made a long-lasting impression on
the young Koko’s life.
Along
with jazz, Jones also was magnetically attracted to Latin music, particularly
the Latin Soul sounds that permeated the New York/New Jersey byways during the
late 60s/early 70s; sounds by Nuyorican artists like Joe Cuba, Joe Bataan, and
assorted Fania soul-seros, and especially the bands of Mongo Santamaria and
Tito Puente. “I can remember watching Mongo on television when I was around 12
years old. I became a permanent fan.” She became immersed in Afro-Cuban flavors
through the influence and teaching of fellow percussionists Babatunde Lea,
Steve Kroon, and Richie “Pablo” Landrum, who taught the youngster at one of New
York’s premier music academies, Jazzmobile. However, it was a trip into the
city with Babatunde Lea and Thelma Mwandido, to a rehearsal of Tanawa Drum and
Dance 1976, led by Congolese griot-musician Titos Sompa, which hooked Koko on
African rhythms, song and dance.
Koko has
always continued to be an “eternal student of the drum” by constantly seeking
to increase her percussion vocabulary with studying various genres of drumming
and percussion. In addition to having recorded eight albums during her thirteen
years with the Isleys, Koko’s percussion prowess can be found on recordings by
Charles McPherson, Archie Shepp, Omar and Angie Stone, Babatunde Lea, Winard
Harper and Joey DeFrancesco as well as by House music icons Josh Milan and
BLAZE (Kevin Hedge), Louie Vega and Kenny Dope to name just a few. Koko has
also graced the bandstands of Archie Shepp, Benny Powell, T.K. Blue, Randy
Weston, Hilton Ruiz, hip hop artist Q-Tip and many, many more. She is perhaps most
proud of her work with Tenth World, the
band she created with pianist Kelvin
Sholar, Brian Horton, Jaimeo Brown, Kevin Louis and Damon Warmack. Tenth
World’s music represented a clear turning point in the development of Koko’s
vision and ability to bring talented players together. “The creation of Tenth
World was a distinct snapshot of where I was at that time, and the musicians
that I had the pleasure of collaborating with brought the most heavenly sounds
together.” Koko has not ruled out a reunion of some configuration of this band
to record once again in the future.
