THE SOULJAZZ ORCHESTRA
''RISING SUN''
FEBRUARY 16 2010
45:26
1. Awakening/2:49
2. Agbara/5:02
3. Negus Negast/4:45
4. Lotus Flower/5:23
5. Mamaya/4:19
6. Serenity/7:53
7. Consecration/7:36
8. Rejoice, Pt. 1/2:22
9. Rejoice, Pt. 2/5:12
Tracks By Chrétien (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) & Ferrell Sanders (8, 9)
Rising Sun is the Souljazz Orchestra's first all-acoustic afro-jazz album. Playing over thirty different instruments, the group creates a rich soundscape of otherwordly jazz, driven by heavy African rhythms and soulful grooves. The esoteric arrangements and fiery improvisations make it one of the Souljazz Orchestra's most unique offerings.
Philippe Charbonneau /Bass
Pierre Chrétien /Accordion, Bottle, Harp, Marimba, Piano, Producer, Vibraphone, Vocals
Nicholas Dyson /Trumpet
Zakari Frantz /Clarinet, Flute, Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Vocals
Jason Jaknunas /Producer
Philippe Lafrenière /Bongos, Congas, Cuica, Drums, Vocals
Ray Murray /Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone), Vocals
Steve Patterson /Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Nimali Ramanayake /Vocals
Marielle Rivard /Bells, Claves, Flexatones, Gankogui, Giro, Shekere, Tambourine, Vocals
REVIEW
by Marisa Brown
Ottawa, Canada's Souljazz Orchestra have been around since 2002, releasing three albums of Afro-beat-inspired jazz before Rising Sun, their fourth. But despite a name that's unfortunately similar to jazz-fusion and jam band favorite Soulive, the Canadian sextet manages to make music that stays relatively true and honest to its inspirations without sounding either derivative or exploitative. This is especially true of the songs that stay closer to the jazz realm, which makes sense: Souljazz's members were trained in, and started in, jazz, and they seem most comfortable here. This means even when the African and Latin influences are added in, as in "Mamaya" (the name of a Guinean dance from the '40s) or the lovely "Consecration" -- which starts with a riff off the first section of Miles Davis' version of "Concierto de Aranjuez" (albeit with saxophone instead of trumpet) before moving into something more upbeat, a swinging modal jazz piece with plenty of room for exploratory solos -- there's an understanding in the listener that the music comes from a sincere and well-kept place. It's not that the songs that move away from this direction -- the Afro-beaty "Agbara" and Mulata Astatke-inspired "Negus Negast" are the two prominent examples -- sound insincere, there's just something a little bit off, the drums in "Negus Negast" mixed just a little too loud, the background vocals in "Agbara" a little too pretty (something, that needs to be noted, contemporaries like Antibalas and Budos Band have been able to avoid), something that hints just slightly of the "world music made palatable" phenomenon. Fortunately, these moments are few and distant enough that after all is said and done, Rising Sun still feels like a victory.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andy Kellman
A multicultural, high-energy collective from Ottawa, Ontario, the Souljazz Orchestra -- featuring keyboardist Pierre Chrétien, alto saxophonist Zakari Frantz, baritone saxophonist Ray Murray, tenor saxophonist Steve Patterson, and percussionists Marielle Rivard and Philippe Lafrenière, all of whom are also vocalists -- took root in 2002 and debuted with a fully developed sound that fused Latin and African jazz, funk, and Afro-beat. The group’s first album was Uprooted, released in 2005 on the Funk Manchu label, but it was the overtly political 2006 single "Mista President," off second album Freedom No Go Die (Do Right!), that really increased their audience, voted to the number nine spot in the 2006 Top 30 of BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's Worldwide program. Manifesto, the third Souljazz Orchestra album, was released in 2008. Two years later, they moved to the higher-profile Strut label for Rising Sun, another Peterson favorite. After nearly constant touring for a year, the band re-entered the studio; the result was Solidarity, released in the early fall of 2012.
''RISING SUN''
FEBRUARY 16 2010
45:26
1. Awakening/2:49
2. Agbara/5:02
3. Negus Negast/4:45
4. Lotus Flower/5:23
5. Mamaya/4:19
6. Serenity/7:53
7. Consecration/7:36
8. Rejoice, Pt. 1/2:22
9. Rejoice, Pt. 2/5:12
Tracks By Chrétien (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) & Ferrell Sanders (8, 9)
Rising Sun is the Souljazz Orchestra's first all-acoustic afro-jazz album. Playing over thirty different instruments, the group creates a rich soundscape of otherwordly jazz, driven by heavy African rhythms and soulful grooves. The esoteric arrangements and fiery improvisations make it one of the Souljazz Orchestra's most unique offerings.
Philippe Charbonneau /Bass
Pierre Chrétien /Accordion, Bottle, Harp, Marimba, Piano, Producer, Vibraphone, Vocals
Nicholas Dyson /Trumpet
Zakari Frantz /Clarinet, Flute, Flute (Alto), Sax (Alto), Vocals
Jason Jaknunas /Producer
Philippe Lafrenière /Bongos, Congas, Cuica, Drums, Vocals
Ray Murray /Clarinet (Bass), Sax (Baritone), Vocals
Steve Patterson /Sax (Tenor), Vocals
Nimali Ramanayake /Vocals
Marielle Rivard /Bells, Claves, Flexatones, Gankogui, Giro, Shekere, Tambourine, Vocals
REVIEW
by Marisa Brown
Ottawa, Canada's Souljazz Orchestra have been around since 2002, releasing three albums of Afro-beat-inspired jazz before Rising Sun, their fourth. But despite a name that's unfortunately similar to jazz-fusion and jam band favorite Soulive, the Canadian sextet manages to make music that stays relatively true and honest to its inspirations without sounding either derivative or exploitative. This is especially true of the songs that stay closer to the jazz realm, which makes sense: Souljazz's members were trained in, and started in, jazz, and they seem most comfortable here. This means even when the African and Latin influences are added in, as in "Mamaya" (the name of a Guinean dance from the '40s) or the lovely "Consecration" -- which starts with a riff off the first section of Miles Davis' version of "Concierto de Aranjuez" (albeit with saxophone instead of trumpet) before moving into something more upbeat, a swinging modal jazz piece with plenty of room for exploratory solos -- there's an understanding in the listener that the music comes from a sincere and well-kept place. It's not that the songs that move away from this direction -- the Afro-beaty "Agbara" and Mulata Astatke-inspired "Negus Negast" are the two prominent examples -- sound insincere, there's just something a little bit off, the drums in "Negus Negast" mixed just a little too loud, the background vocals in "Agbara" a little too pretty (something, that needs to be noted, contemporaries like Antibalas and Budos Band have been able to avoid), something that hints just slightly of the "world music made palatable" phenomenon. Fortunately, these moments are few and distant enough that after all is said and done, Rising Sun still feels like a victory.
BIOGRAPHY
by Andy Kellman
A multicultural, high-energy collective from Ottawa, Ontario, the Souljazz Orchestra -- featuring keyboardist Pierre Chrétien, alto saxophonist Zakari Frantz, baritone saxophonist Ray Murray, tenor saxophonist Steve Patterson, and percussionists Marielle Rivard and Philippe Lafrenière, all of whom are also vocalists -- took root in 2002 and debuted with a fully developed sound that fused Latin and African jazz, funk, and Afro-beat. The group’s first album was Uprooted, released in 2005 on the Funk Manchu label, but it was the overtly political 2006 single "Mista President," off second album Freedom No Go Die (Do Right!), that really increased their audience, voted to the number nine spot in the 2006 Top 30 of BBC DJ Gilles Peterson's Worldwide program. Manifesto, the third Souljazz Orchestra album, was released in 2008. Two years later, they moved to the higher-profile Strut label for Rising Sun, another Peterson favorite. After nearly constant touring for a year, the band re-entered the studio; the result was Solidarity, released in the early fall of 2012.