I have to admit when I first found out about REVIVE, I felt somewhat dejected. An organization backed by Questlove’s Okayplayer was running a jazz website out of NYC and putting on dope concerts. They had more experience, more resources, better access to musicians and a five year head start on us. Anthony kept telling me: “Keep your blinders on. Just keep doing good, solid work”. Over the years, my angst and jealousy morphed into respect and admiration. REVIVE and Nextbop are simply not mutually exclusive. We both have our strengths and weaknesses and have been cohabiting the interweb quite gleefully. I won’t lie, I do wish it was us that had struck a partnership with Blue Note Records to begin co-releasing albums, but if it had to be someone else, I’m happy that it’s Meghan Stabile and her team at REVIVE. This isn’t to say that we aren’t doing our very own scheming and dealing and will have some pretty cool projects on the horizon for you, but I digress. So all this to say that REVIVE has just announced a new collaboration with Blue Note Records, following the 2014 co-release of Otis Brown III’s The Thought of You. The new project, entitled Supreme Sonacy Vol.1 is slated for an August 7th release and will feature no less than 40 of jazz’s most prominent modern artists.
“The title ‘Sonacy’ alludes to the supreme, transcendent power that exists at the intersection of every musical tradition,” says Stabile, who served as the project’s executive producer. “It is the term for the undefined, unexplained derivative of sound– a melodic experience without conformity, without category. Much too expansive to explain, it just is.”
The album brings together long-time REVIVE collaborators Igmar Thomas and Raydar Ellis, as well as Grammy Award-winners Jeff “Tain” Watts and Ben Williams (courtesy of Concord Records). But Stabile didn’t stop there. She also enlisted such well-known musicians from today’s scene as Marcus Strickland, Brandee Younger, Keyon Harrold, Maurice Brown, Justin Brown, Kris Bowers (courtesy of Concord Records), Jaleel Shaw, Marc Cary, Casey Benjamin, Dana Hawkins, Terry Slingbaum, Chris Potter, Chelsea Baratz, Nadia Washington, Louis Cato, Dezron Douglas, Eldar Djangirov, Anne Drummond, James Genus, as well as the composer Raymond Angry.
You can catch a short teaser for the album just below as well as a complete track list. Expect more videos to surface as we near the release date given REVIVE collaborated with HighBreedMusic, a self-funded, grassroots music and live video production company based in Brooklyn, for the recording, HBM prides itself on creating a final product that reflects the energy of a live performance with the quality of a professional studio product.
[arve url=”https://player.vimeo.com/video/130783583?color=ab9f35″ /]
REVIVE Music Presents: Supreme Sonacy (Vol. 1)
1. A Supreme Welcome (Intro) – Raydar Ellis
2. Trane Thang / Pinocchio – Igmar Thomas & Marc Cary
Igmar Thomas: Trumpet
Marc Cary: Piano
Marcus Strickland: Tenor Sax
Louis Cato: Bass
Justin Brown: Drums
3. All Aboard (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Igmar Thomas & Marc Cary
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by Written by Igmar Thomas and Wayne Shorter
4. Let’s Wait A While – Marcus Strickland & Christie Dashiell
Written by James Harris, III, Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson and Melanie Andrews
Arranged by Marcus Strickland
Marcus Strickland: Tenor Sax and Bass Clarinet
Christie Dashiell: Vocals
Christian Sands: Keys
Kyle Miles: Bass
Charles Haynes: Drums
5. 3 The Hard Wait (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Marcus Strickland & Christie Dashiell feat. Handclap Jenkins
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by James Harris, III, Terry Lewis, Janet Jackson and Melanie Andrews
6. Water Games – Ravel Re-imagined – Slingbaum feat. Eldar, Casey Benjamin, Troy Roberts, BIGYUKI, Vicente Archer and Mark Colenburg
Produced by Tariq Khan and Terry Slingbaum
Associate Producer: William “Cito” Vivas
Written by Terry Slingbaum
Based on “Jeux D’eau” by Maurice Ravel
Arranged by Terry Slingbaum
Eldar Djangirov: Piano
Masayuki Hirano: Auxiliary Keyboard
Vicente Archer: Bass
Mark Colenburg: Drums
Casey Benjamin: Alto Sax
Troy Roberts: Tenor Sax
Bendji Allonce: Percussion
Maria Im: Violin
Stephan Fillare: Violin
Matt McBane: Violin
Ada Pasternak: Violin
Maria Jeffers: Cello
Jody Redhage: Cello
Terry Slingbaum: Mandolin and Violin
7. 808s in France (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Slingbaum
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by Terry Slingbaum
Based on “Jeux D’eau” by Maurice Ravel
808s in France” Samples Gary Bartz, Wallace Roney, Keyon Harrold, Marc Cary, and Al Carty provided by Converse Sample Library and Indaba Music.
8. The Procrastinator – Keyon Harrold, Maurice Brown & Jaleel Shaw
Written by Lee Morgan
Arranged by Ben Williams
Keyon Harrold: Trumpet
Maurice Brown: Trumpet
Jaleel Shaw: Sax
Kris Bowers: Piano
Ben Williams: Bass
Justin Brown: Drums
Kris Bowers and Ben Williams appear courtesy of Concord Records
9. Playing Catch Up (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Keyon Harrold, Maurice Brown & Jaleel Shaw
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by Lee Morgan
10. Dorothy Jeanne – Brandee Younger
Produced by Casey Benjamin
Written by Brandee Younger
Brandee Younger: Harp
Anne Drummond: Flute
Chelsea Baratz: Alto Sax
Dezron Douglas: Bass
Dana Hawkins: Drums and Percussion
11. 1 For My DJ (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Brandee Younger
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by Brandee Younger
12. Celebration Of Life Suite: Awareness & Revolution – Ray Angry feat. Nadia Washington & Chris Potter
Written by Ray Angry, Kendra Foster and Nadia Washington
James Genus: Bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts: Drums
Chris Potter: Sax
Nadia Washington: Vocals
Daru Jones: Electronic Drums
13. Celebration of Life Suite: Awakening – Ray Angry feat. The Council of Goldfinger
Produced by Ray Angry
Written by Ray Angry, Kendra Foster and Nadia Washington
James Genus: Bass
Jeff “Tain” Watts: Drums
Chris Potter: Sax
Burinss Earl Travis, III: Bass
The Council of Goldfinger: Choir
Daru Jones: Electronic Drums
14. Drop Confetti Then We Jetti (Raydar Ellis Remix / Interlude) – Ray Angry
Remix Produced by Raydar Ellis
Written by Ray Angry, Kendra Foster and Nadia Washington
15. A Wally’s Good Night – Paul Poindexter
Executive Produced by Meghan Stabile
Associate Producer: Tariq Khan
Mastered by Josh Kessler at Kessler Mastering, Brooklyn, NY
Recorded and Mixed by Tariq Khan at The Breeding Ground, New York, NY
Except Track 6, recorded by Paul Wickliffe at Avatar Studios, New York, NY
Marc Cary appears courtesy of Motema Music